Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon made clear the university's commitment to diversity: "Supervisors are key agents in the application principles. In all phases of the employment process, you must consider the goals of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity. Your understanding and implementation of the university's policy are critical to ensuring that we honor our commitment to diversity and non-discrimination."
There are four key factors in developing a departmental strategy for inclusivity:
- Alignment with University Strategic Goals. The first step in your plan is to ensure alignment with the university goals as outlined in the university's strategic plan and affirmative action plan. The university has a stated commitment to diversity.
- Fair and Equal Treatment. Ensure that you follow sound employment and salary compensation practices.
- Effective Networking Resources. Access and employ the most effective sourcing and recruiting tools available today.
- Measure Success. The key to continuous improvement and success is developing an internal review protocol to ensure that not only are university guidelines and procedures followed but that your sourcing plan is an effective document.
The action steps listed below help you to apply these principles to each step of the employment process:
|Stages in the Process
||Action Steps to Diversify the Pool
|Beginning of the Job Posting Process||
|Throughout the Recruitment Process||
|Prior to Making an Offer||
|End of the Recruitment Process
|Key Considerations During Each Stage of the Recruitment and Selection Process||
As you develop your plan of action, include regular communication with your HR manager, as well as a realistic timeline. For example, six or more weeks for the recruitment process is most likely necessary. This includes up-front time working with your HR manager to broaden the pool and advertise to a diverse audience, and to select applicants to be interviewed. If, after four weeks, you don't believe your interviewing pool is diverse, contact your HR manager for assistance.
- Ensure alignment with university goals.
- Determine key players and who is responsible for what action during the recruitment process.
- Identify those who can provide support and consultations to you throughout the process.
- Identify critical factors that will enable success (for example, supervisory training, measurement and accountability milestones).
- Build, cultivate and nurture a network of talent for future potential vacancies and opportunities within your organization.