When hiring do you only choose those who match the job description 100%? Here are five reasons why choosing to hire people from un-conventional and different backgrounds will enhance your workforce.
What do we mean by hiring from different backgrounds? This can mean:
- Education
- Employment
- Life experience
- Cultures
Considering candidates who differ from your idea of the ‘ideal candidate’ can lead to a more diverse and productive team.
1. Transferable Skills
Change your approach and instead look at potential. For example, imagine you are hiring a Sales Advisor.
Ask yourself:
Does the candidate truly need 2 years sales experience?
Is their previous work experience full of transferable skills?
Is the candidate personable and quick to learn?
Are they keen to become part of your business?
By assessing candidates on who they are as a person instead of simply ticking ‘experience’ or ‘education’ boxes, you may find a highly driven, skilled individual ready to become an integral part of your team!
2. Well-rounded Individuals
In turn, by hiring from different backgrounds your business can benefit from teams full of well-rounded individuals. By ‘well-rounded’ we mean people with different life experiences, levels of education and from different cultures. This leads to individuals who harbour many key soft skills such as critical thinking, communication and problem solving.
Ask yourself:
Will this candidate add or detract from our current work environment?
Will they fit into our team?
3. Innovation
Hiring from diverse backgrounds increases perspective. Problems you may not know exist can be found and solved with fresh views. These innovative solutions and new ideas breath life into your business. This also allows employees to feel heard and appreciated in their roles.
Ask yourself:
Will they bring a new perspective to our business?
4. Productivity
When employees feel appreciated and heard in their roles, they are more likely to be productive. A productive team is a hard-working team, a team that will smash targets every month and feel good doing it. This engagement of employees can see 20% higher productivity!
Ask yourself:
How will this candidate help my business?
5. Staff Retention
Every point we have mentioned so far, all links in with staff retention. Hiring from diverse and different backgrounds leads to staff who feel supported, heard, and understood as they can work collaboratively as part of diverse teams. This means staff are less likely to leave. This protects your business from productivity losses and expenses related to hiring new staff.
Keeping hold of high performing employees for longer periods of time leads to workers who are experts in their roles, increasing the quality of your business.
Ask yourself:
Will this candidate stay with us for a long time?
The next time you are looking to hire new staff why not consider candidates from un-conventional or diverse backgrounds to boost your team? Make sure to contact us here at Careersolve before your next recruitment drive and we can help you do just that! Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for further advice and support.
