Enhancing diversity and inclusion in your healthcare hiring practices isn’t just essential in today’s environment. It’s the right thing to do. After all, your patients come from many different walks of life. So should your staff.
Diversity and inclusion are concepts that reflect the range of differences in our human experience and make people feel valued, welcome, and seen. This is important to the success of your healthcare organization as a whole and goes a very long way toward retaining your staff. When staff feel respected they are more likely to stay.
There are some very concrete steps you can take within your healthcare organization to ensure diversity and inclusion are automatic components of your hiring practice. Here we review a few practices your organization can implement to enhance the concepts of diversity and inclusion in hiring and day-to-day operations.
Incorporate Diverse Hiring Practices
Seek candidates from all backgrounds and promote inclusion through your hiring practices by crafting inclusive job descriptions. When you cast a wider hiring “net” you bring in candidates from diverse areas and promote equal footing for all. Your inclusive practice reflects positively on your healthcare organization by demonstrating your commitment to equality and fairness in the workplace. This also reflects positively on patient care. It’s a win-win for all.
Review Your Job Descriptions
Take a look at your current job descriptions. Are you using gender-neutral language? Are you focused on knowledge and skills and staying away from any discriminatory descriptions? Is there anything within the job description that may deter diverse candidates?
Once you’ve confirmed your job descriptions are free from any discriminatory verbiage, broaden your advertising base to include underserved and underrepresented communities such as HBCUs nursing schools, and specific diverse organizations.
Partner with Diverse Sources
When you partner with sources that themselves represent diversity and inclusion and participate in events aimed at diverse candidates, you have a fantastic set of resources from which to recruit staff and exhibit your diverse and inclusive hiring practices. This includes HBCUs, professional and academic organizations, and community job fairs.
Establish Supportive Policies
When you establish policies that support all staff you foster an environment that’s automatically inclusive. Creating and enforcing these policies must be done with care. Refer to documented policies covering DEI in the healthcare industry. Your policies establish the mission of your organization and ensure fairness for all of your employees, regardless of background.
Be sure you include the following:
- Inclusive Benefits: Remember, not everyone shares the same culture. Craft policies that recognize cultural holidays. Honor unique family structures as well.
- Anti-Discriminatory and Anti-Harassment Policies: A workplace focused on respect and inclusion has no room for discrimination or harassment. Stand firm in this policy.
- Equal Employment Opportunity: This policy affirms that no employment decisions are made under discriminatory measures, including gender, race, religion, and other characteristics protected by your policies.
Embrace Diversity in Leadership
In your healthcare organization, you have the unique ability to ensure everyone feels included, respected, and valued. Diversity in leadership not only reflects your commitment to inclusivity but also brings a unique perspective to the table. Decisions are made with all in mind, and feedback and input are more freely given.
Diversity in leadership not only demonstrates your determination that your organization upholds ethical principles without bias but also shows you are equipped to care for patients who are themselves culturally diverse.
Promote Career Development for All
Further, demonstrate your commitment to an all-inclusive workplace when you ensure no one is omitted from your organization’s professional development. Make sure the opportunities are open to all to advance within your organization as well as gain additional skills and certifications.
Enhance Your Diversity and Inclusion Practices Beginning with Us
Partner with BOS Medical Staffing for the best ways to enhance diversity and inclusion in your healthcare hiring practices. We have a broad base of highly skilled healthcare professionals. Reach out to BOS Medical Staffing today.
