Cultural sensitivity is about recognizing cultural differences and behaving respectfully. Intercultural competency involves the ability to self-reflect on personal values and how these affect our interactions, and learning how to bridge cultural differences. Communication styles, workplace etiquette and expectations for hierarchical relationships vary from culture to culture. Embedding cultural sensitivity and intercultural competency in hiring practices will enable organizations to widen their talent pool and strengthen the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. Here are resources to help HR and recruitment teams develop inclusive hiring practices.
This article is part of a CareerWise series on Culturally Responsive Career Development. Watch for more on this topic in the coming days.
And don’t miss CERIC and ASPECT BC’s webinar series, coming this September, on “Culturally Integrated Storytelling: Empowering Diverse Clients for Life Transitions.” Learn more and register at ceric.ca/webinars.
Anti-racist recruitment: 4 strategies to meet talent needs (CareerWise) [Article]
This is the second installment in a three-part series on what HR professionals can learn from the field of community development. It offers four tips on integrating tools for equitable hiring to help HR professionals reach untapped labour pools.
Challenging cultural assumptions: Integrating newcomer talent into Canada’s workforce (CareerWise) [Article]
John Edward McGraw is an intercultural trainer and led a session on building cross-cultural competency in Canadian career development at Cannexus24. In this article, he shares the experience of Miguel Abascal, who dealt with cultural misunderstandings that led to missed opportunities as a newcomer in 2010. McGraw discusses the role that HR professionals play in enhancing open communication in interviews and considering their own biases in decision-making.
Cultural Sensitivity in Global Hiring: Strategies for Success (Ontop) [Blog]
This piece explores the positive impact of cultural sensitivity in hiring and offers strategies to effectively navigate diverse cultural landscapes. One example is establishing local partnerships to learn more about nuances in customs and expectations, and using this knowledge to make informed decisions and create targeted recruitment strategies.
Creating Diverse Slates and Retaining Diverse Talent (LinkedIn) [Course]
Creating a diverse workforce is an investment in the future. In this course, culture and diversity workforce consultant Christie Lindor covers strategic hiring, staff retention and diversity recruitment. She explains how to expand recruiting sources while developing a cultural environment where underrepresented candidates will organically become part of an organization’s talent pipeline.
Diversity Equity & Inclusion Hiring, Recruiting, & Sourcing (Udemy) [Course]
This course aims to provide learners with tools for creating a more inclusive and equitable hiring process, common pitfalls to avoid, ways to disrupt how bias impacts hiring decisions and guidance on assessing existing hiring practices.
Diverse Talent in Recruiting and Hiring (LinkedIn) [Course]
This course aims to help recruitment teams develop a diversity hiring strategy, increase their candidate pool, and remove bias from screening and interview processes. It also touches on how teams can make authentic efforts by understanding the motivational triggers and factors that candidates consider when weighing new roles and opportunities.
Inclusive Recruitment and Selection (TRIEC Learning) [Workshop materials]
TRIEC Learning is a free online learning hub that provides training and development resources for building inclusive workplaces. HR and training and development professionals can use these materials to deliver workshops on inclusive recruitment and selection, the value of a culturally diverse workplace, sourcing talent, inclusive resume screening and competency-based interviewing.
Recruiting for cultural sensitivity – attracting and retaining diverse talent (Country Navigator) [Blog]
This piece explores the importance of cultural sensitivity in the workplace, including how to cultivate it through diversity and inclusion in recruitment, training, and development. It offers five strategies for culturally sensitive recruitment, such as bias-free selection process, and tools and methods to measure the impact of cultural sensitivity in recruitment.
Strategies for Integrating Cultural Competencies into the Interview Process (Diversity Integration) [Course]
This learning module defines skills and competencies needed for interviewing and hiring diverse applicants. It covers methods for integrating diversity and cultural competencies into the interview’s style and structure of interviewing. Alternative methods for asking inclusive interview questions are also covered.
Transforming Workplace Culture through Inclusive Hiring Practices (University of Phoenix) [Webinar]
This session provides actionable insights on creating inclusive job postings, designing unbiased interview processes and implementing accessible recruitment practices. At 00:20:27-00:25:50, these topics are discussed: job descriptions (having inclusive language and gender-neutral terms); stating commitment to DEI (such as in a code of conduct); seeking feedback from diverse employees; reaching out to diverse communities; assessing AI bias in hiring software; and measuring and adjusting hiring representation.
Working Towards Inclusion: 2021 Equitable Practices for Hiring Student Staff and New Professionals (Canadian Association of College & University Student Services (CACUSS) [Guide]
This guide encourages readers to think more critically when recruiting new professionals and student staff. It explores myths about equitable hiring, inclusive job postings, candidate selection and strategies for inclusive hiring.
Additional resources
- A Guide to Intercultural Competence in the Workplace (Indeed) [Article]
- Cultivating Cultural Competence and Inclusion (LinkedIn) [Course]
- Diversity Hiring to Enhance Inclusive Workplace Culture (Queen’s University) [Article]
- How Cultural Competence in the Workplace Creates Psychological Safety for Employees (University of Southern California) [Blog]
- Uncovering Unconscious Bias in Recruiting and Interviewing (LinkedIn) [Course]
