As an MBA student, I have had the opportunity to reflect on my experience as a talent acquisition

manager, where I developed and implemented diversity and inclusion initiatives to attract and hire a
diverse workforce. While the initiatives yielded positive results, the following review recognizes the
steps I would take to further improve the results of the previous project.

Report on Developing and Implementing Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

Introduction
As the Talent Acquisition Manager, I've worked to increase diversity and inclusiveness in the
recruiting process. In order to retain anonymity, I have avoided identifying any specific organisations
or businesses in this paper. I can, however, state that I have designed and executed these
programmes, such as collaborations with organisations that assist underrepresented populations,
analysing and enhancing recruiting methods to minimise prejudice, and assuring a diverse interview
panel. We were able to recruit a more diverse pool of candidates and guarantee that our hiring
process was fair and inclusive by taking these steps.

Partnerships with Organizations

Creating alliances with groups that assist underserved areas was a critical step in our attempts to
attract and hire a diverse workforce. Following are the measures I undertook to establish these
partnerships:

1. Research: I performed research in order to discover organisations that promote diversity and
inclusion. This entailed looking for organisations in our sector and in the local community
that help underrepresented populations.

2. Outreach: After identifying possible partner groups, I contacted them to explain my strategy
and our business. I described our diversity and inclusion programme and expressed our
desire to collaborate with them.

3. Collaboration: My team worked with these groups to determine the best methods to reach
out to their members with our job advertising. This entailed working with them to create
marketing materials like fliers and social media postings. I also made certain that our job
posts were disseminated on their employment sites.

4. Events: We arranged and attended events sponsored by our partnered organisations in

order to promote our firm as an employer of choice. Career fairs, networking events, and
workshops were among the activities.

5. Feedback: I checked in with our partnered groups on a regular basis to seek feedback on our
outreach efforts and identify areas for improvement. This allowed us to fine-tune our
methods and guarantee that we were targeting marginalised groups successfully.

By developing partnerships with organizations that serve underrepresented communities, we were

able to expand our reach and attract a more diverse pool of candidates. These partnerships also
helped to establish our company as an inclusive employer, which is essential for attracting and
retaining top talent.

Recruitment practices
Recruitment practices play a critical role in ensuring diversity and inclusion in the hiring process.
Here are the steps that we took to review and improve our recruitment practices:
 1. Job Postings: We reviewed and revised our job postings to ensure that they were inclusive
and avoided language that could be seen as discriminatory. This included using gender-
neutral language and avoiding terms that could be interpreted as age, race, or gender
biases.

2. Resume Review: We implemented a blind review process to eliminate bias in the resume
screening process. This involved removing any identification information such as name,
gender, or ethnicity from resumes before they were reviewed by recruiters. This helped to
ensure that candidates were evaluated solely based on their skills, experience, and
qualifications.

3. Interview Process: We revised our interview process to ensure that all candidates were
asked the same set of questions. This helped to ensure consistency and fairness in the
evaluation process. I also trained our interview panel on diversity and inclusion and how to
avoid unconscious bias. This helped to ensure that candidates were evaluated based on their
skills, experience, and qualifications, rather than any personal biases.

4. Selection Criteria: I reviewed and updated our selection criteria to ensure that they were
job-related and objective. This helped to ensure that candidates were evaluated based on
their ability to perform the job and meet the required qualifications, rather than any
prejudices.

5. Data Collection and Analysis: We collected and analysed data from our recruitment process
to identify any potential areas for improvement. This included analysing the diversity of our
applicant pool and identifying any potential biases in the recruitment process.

By implementing these measures, we were able to eliminate bias and ensure that our recruitment
practices were fair and inclusive. This helped to attract a more diverse pool of candidates and ensure
that we were hiring the best talent based on their skills and qualifications, rather than any personal
biases.

Diverse Interview Panel

Having a diverse interview panel is an important step in ensuring diversity and inclusion in the hiring
process. Here are the steps that I took to ensure a diverse interview panel:

1. Identify the Interview Panel: I first identified the team members who would be involved in
the interview process. This included the hiring manager, team members who would be
working with the new hire, and any other relevant stakeholders.

2. Review the Panel’s Diversity: We reviewed the diversity of the interview panel to ensure that
it was representative of the diversity we wanted to attract in our candidate pool. I looked at
factors such as gender, ethnicity, age, and background.

3. Add Diverse Members: If the interview panel lacked diversity, I worked to add diverse
members to the panel. This involved identifying team members from underrepresented
groups who could provide valuable perspectives during the interview process.

4. Provide Diversity Training: I provided diversity and inclusion training to the interview panel
to ensure that they were aware of potential biases and knew how to avoid them. This
training included understanding the importance of diversity and inclusion in the hiring
process and identifying unconscious biases that could affect the evaluation of candidates.
 5. Monitor the Interview Process: We monitored the interview process to ensure that all
members of the interview panel were providing valuable insights and perspectives. This
helped to ensure that the interview process was fair and unbiased.

By ensuring a diverse interview panel, we were able to get a range of perspectives on candidates,
which helped to eliminate unconscious biases and ensure that we were selecting the best candidates
based on their skills and qualifications. Additionally, having a diverse interview panel sends a
message to candidates that we value diversity and inclusion in our workplace.

Conclusion
The initiatives outlined in this report demonstrate the steps taken to develop and implement
diversity and inclusion initiatives for talent acquisition. These initiatives are essential to attract and
hire a diverse workforce, and they have been successful in achieving this goal. It is essential to
continue to evaluate and improve these initiatives to ensure that we are meeting our diversity and
inclusion goals.

Review and Potential Changes

As an MBA student reviewing my report as a talent acquisition manager, there are a few steps I
could take to improve the results of my previous project. Here are some potential areas for
improvement and the business theories that could inform my approach:

Strengthen Partnerships with Underrepresented Communities:

One area where we could improve is through strengthening our collaborations with organisations
that support marginalised groups. To do this, I would apply stakeholder management theory
(Freeman, 1984) to better understand the requirements and interests of these organisations and to
build mutually beneficial partnerships with them. This could include holding focus groups or surveys
to better understand the needs of underrepresented communities, providing opportunities for
career development or training to members of these communities, or providing financial support to
organisations that support diversity and inclusion initiatives (Clarkson, 1995).

Conduct a Bias Audit:

While I was reviewing and improving our recruiting methods in order to minimise prejudice, I could
take it a step further by performing a bias audit. A bias audit is a thorough examination of rules and
procedures that may lead to discrimination or uneven treatment (Shore et al., 2011). I may discover
any hidden prejudices in our recruiting process and take measures to eradicate them by performing
a bias audit. This would not only assist to guarantee a fair and inclusive employment process, but it
would also help to prevent any discriminatory legal difficulties (Devine et al., 2017).

Emphasize Diversity and Inclusion in Onboarding and Training:

Another area for development is to place a greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion in our
onboarding and training programmes. While the interview panel received diversity training, we
could expand this training to all workers and include it into our onboarding process. This would assist
to guarantee that all employees appreciate the value of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and
are capable of identifying and eliminating prejudices. This approach is consistent with social identity
theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), which states that individuals have a desire to identify with groups and
will frequently want to safeguard the interests of their group.

Use Blind Hiring Techniques:

Blind recruiting approaches can be a valuable tool for reducing hiring prejudices. Blind hiring
procedures entail deleting any information from the candidate's application that might lead to
unconscious prejudices. This might contain information such as their name, age, gender, and
educational history. Instead, concentrate on job-related information such as abilities, experience,
and achievements. This strategy is consistent with human capital theory (Becker, 1964), which states
that investing in employee development may lead to a competitive advantage for the firm.

Foster Inclusive Culture:

While attracting a diverse workforce is important, it is equally important to foster an inclusive
culture where everyone feels valued and respected. To achieve this, I would leverage the theory of
social identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) to create a sense of belonging and common purpose among
employees. This could involve creating affinity groups for underrepresented employees, providing
leadership development programs for diverse employees, and encouraging open communication
and feedback from all employees.

Measure and Monitor Progress:

To ensure that our diversity and inclusion initiatives are effective, we need to measure and monitor
our progress. This aligns with the management by objectives theory (Drucker, 1954), which suggests
that setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals can help
organizations achieve success. I would establish metrics to track our progress, such as the
percentage of diverse candidates in our applicant pool, the percentage of diverse candidates hired,
and the retention rate of diverse employees. This data would help us to identify areas for
improvement and to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of our diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Incorporate Diversity and Inclusion Training:

I would integrate training programmes that educate employees on the significance of diversity and
inclusion to better encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This is consistent with
Bandura's (1977) theory of social learning, which states that individuals may learn by witnessing the
behaviour of others. We can assist employees realise the significance of diversity and inclusion by
offering training and development opportunities, as well as the skills and tools they need to
communicate effectively with people from varied backgrounds.

Encourage Employee Feedback:

Employee feedback is essential to creating a workplace that values and respects diversity and
inclusion. I would leverage the theory of employee voice (Morrison, 2011) to encourage open
communication and feedback from all employees. This could involve conducting regular surveys to
gather employee feedback, creating an open-door policy where employees can voice their concerns,
and incorporating employee feedback into decision-making processes. By creating a culture that
values employee feedback, we can identify areas for improvement and continuously evaluate the
effectiveness of our diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Engage in Community Outreach:

We must participate in community outreach in order to attract a broad pool of applicants. This is
consistent with the stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984), which holds that organisations must
consider the interests of all stakeholders, including the community. I would form alliances with
community organisations and attend job fairs and career events aimed at underrepresented groups.
We can demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion and recruit a broad pool of
applicants by engaging in community outreach programmes.

References:

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performance. Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 92-117.

Devine, P. G., Forscher, P. S., Austin, A. J., & Cox, W. T. (2017). Long-term reduction in implicit race
bias: A prejudice habit-breaking intervention. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 1-8.

Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Pitman.

Shore, L. M., Cleveland, J. N., & Sanchez, D. (2011). Toward a better understanding of the individual-
organizational relationship: How psychological contracts can help. Organizational Dynamics, 40(4),
255-262.

Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. Psychology of
Intergroup Relations, 7, 7-24.

Becker, G. S. (1964). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis with special reference to
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Drucker, P. F. (1954). The practice of management. Harper.

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Morrison, E. W. (2011). Employee voice and silence. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and
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