78% of Employers Are Trying to Recruit More Women — Here’s How The Best Ones Are Doing It

Seventy-seven percent of CEOs see the limited availability of skilled candidates as the biggest barrier to their business. And in today’s tight job market, the importance of appealing to diverse candidates to acquire these important skills has become more and more apparent to employers. 

According to research by PwC, 78 percent of employers are actively trying to recruit more female talent to ensure their companies are yielding the best possible results. But they’re hitting three major barriers. 

Thirty-eight percent of employers say they struggle to hire more women because they’re not satisfied with the candidate pool accessible to them. Twenty-four percent report that they have trouble hiring more women because their industry is not attractive to women, and 21 percent say women do not pursue career opportunities as aggressively as men do. 

However, successful employers are finding a way around these barriers by implementing impactful diversity practices. In fact, 71 percent of employers who said they had adopted diversity practices reported that these policies were having a positive impact on their recruitment efforts. According to employers, the five most impactful diversity practices are: 

1. Establishing gender diversity recruitment targets

2. Delivering diversity/unconscious bias training to interviewers 

3. Establishing equality policies

4. Actively focusing on having an inclusive talent brand

5. Requiring mandatory diverse slates for open positions

Meanwhile, 86 percent of women believe an employer’s policy on diversity, equality and workforce inclusion is important when they’re deciding on a job. Therefore, companies looking to hire more women should prioritize fostering a culture of inclusivity — and projecting their inclusive brand to prospective hires. 

Seventy-six percent of employers have incorporated diversity and inclusion into their employer brands. PwC found that the most popular ways to highlight diversity and inclusion into an employer brand are: 

1. Incorporating imagery of diverse professionals into website and recruitment materials

2. Sharing details of the company’s diversity strategy online

3. Sharing the story of the company’s diversity strategy and diverse employees on organizational social media accounts

4. Publicly sharing details about the diverse makeup of the company’s workforce and leadership team

The most successful employers are recruiting more women by implementing diversity practices and clearly communicating their progress through employer branding. 

What are you doing to keep up?

Fairygodboss makes it easier and more cost effective to attract top female talent. We work with over 100 top employers to enhance their employer brand, showcase why they are a great place for women to work and drive more qualified women to apply to their key open positions. 

Ready to stand out from the crowd? Contact Us.