The Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s held a meeting of its Diversity and Inclusion Forum this week for all members with an interest in improving their recruitment of diverse talent.
At the meeting, the Forum heard from Stephen Frost, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at LOCOG, the organisation responsible for staging the Olympic Games. He said that including paid staff, volunteers and contractors, there will be nearly 200,000 people working at the Olympic site. Diversity and inclusion is already at the very heart of LOCOG’s recruitment strategy.
Commenting on the meeting, Sarah Gordon, Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion said:
“Clients expect high standards to be embedded in the practices of the suppliers they use and there are many things recruiters can learn from LOCOG’s example. It is also important for clients to recognise that they need to embed diversity and inclusion throughout all parts of their organisation.
“More often than not, recruiters find that decisions made at the top to improve the diversity of an organisation do not filter through to the rest of the organisation. Line managers who ultimately make the recruitment decisions need to understand why diversity is important. Through using a network of diversity champions within the organisation and asking line managers to report to HR on the diversity of their teams each month, LOCOG has shown a positive example from which others can learn.”
The forum also heard from Kate Headley of the Clear Company who discussed a new toolkit for businesses recruiting people with disabilities. She identified that many employers are fearful of recruiting disabled talent but there is a real opportunity for the recruitment industry to play a role in helping employers overcome this. The tool will be published within the next few months both online and via hardcopies. Kate will also be speaking at the REC’s public sector resourcing summit in June.
To find out more about the REC’s public sector resourcing summit, please go to:
