EDI Case Study resource 2025
Spotlight on recruitment and training
For many organisations we spoke to, recruitment had been the starting point, and for good reason: subtle shifts in approach, like including a CV blind round or shortlisting stage, have the potential to pay significant dividends. Other examples for practices that can make a real difference include strengths-based recruitment, improvements to job descriptions, advertising in different networks or places to access a more diverse pool and outreach through targeting individuals or groups (e.g. at university)
- One organisation mentioned the issue of managers typically recruiting for ‘team fit’ – as this enables a sense of looking for ‘people like us’. A number of the other interviewees we spoke to said that they had a strict ‘no d*** heads’ policy – meaning they would not recruit anyone to the role who didn’t fit their team values including inclusion and openness, regardless of how well they performed in the interview. This was put in a more agreeable way by one IHPN member: “we only want people that care about people”.
- Another change made by some national charities was to try strengths-based recruitment – focusing on the person and their attributes rather than the CV.
- One organisation strongly recommended inclusive employers – a membership organisation that includes lots of resources that can be used off the shelf or tweaked. It is not necessary for every organisation to reinvent the wheel. This includes webinars and access to networks, suggested consultants and speakers and much more.
- The Mining Remediation Authority found that one of the big things that’s helped with ethnic diversity is widening the guaranteed interview scheme to ethnically diverse candidates. This has increased both the number of people applying and getting to interview stage from more diverse backgrounds.
- One large NHS body trialled a scheme for a mixture of people from ethnically diverse backgrounds, disabled group and women – but found that it really missed the voice of the men – the rounded voice of an inclusive approach. It felt as though the impact was lower as a result.
- The Mining Remediation Authority have combined this with improving the accessibility of interviews, trialling things like sharing the interview questions in advance.
- Bevan Brittan use a contextual recruitment system that uses technology to reduce bias and enables them to progress more candidates with a challenging background that meet their standards.
Training has been one of the areas that is most challenging from an impact perspective, with Inclusion at Work panel finding that many employers were spending money on ineffective training. Acacium found that practical, hands-on training – or better still – learning whilst doing e.g. with prompts through a real recruitment process, rather than theory in a classroom landed far better with managers and delivered higher impact.
EMS Healthcare found training had impact when it was targeted at a very specific challenge. After looking at the data, EMS realised that they had gender balance at early career levels of the organisation, and leadership, but not at middle management. Upon investigation, they discovered that many of the women they would expect to progress had not felt confident to apply for promotion. They introduced a development programme (available to all) to develop that cohort of people who were not yet in managerial positions and give them the confidence to apply.
Recruitment and training is an area where partnership can be very powerful – if you are specific about what dial you are hoping to shift. A general ‘increasing diversity’ training is likely to be far less impactful, for example, than working with an expert partner on a specific issue or campaign. This might include working with specific disability charities to understand barriers to access – e.g. through the Autism Inclusive Employers Scheme or RNIB. It might involve signing up to initiatives such as the Workplace Equality Index for an LGBTQ+ focus, or 10,000 black interns. It might involve deciding to create opportunities for specific groups, for example signing the Care Leavers Covenant, becoming a Forces Friendly employer or supporting TalentTap.
Useful resource: ‘Why ineffective diversity training won’t go away’, NHS Employers Inclusive Recruitment Guide, NHS Leadership Competency Framework.