Minority ethnic recruitment toolkit

Context

Data from the Annual Population Survey, collected by ONS, shows that the proportion of minority ethnic workers is lower in Scotland's public sector than in the wider economy. There is a risk that this will worsen across the labour market due to the impact on the economy of the coronavirus pandemic.

From a business point of view, research has found positive correlations between workforce ethnic diversity and productivity. Some of the benefits to the workplace include improved resourcing by accessing the best talent by recruiting from a broader talent pool, enhanced corporate image or reputation and improved organisational performance.

This toolkit was originally designed to consider how employers could improve their processes in recruitment to attract more people from minority ethnic communities to apply to their organisations and in turn help to address some of the systems and structures in place that act as barriers for those from minority ethnic backgrounds. These may be embedded in recruitment policies and processes that may lead to unintentional biases of recruiting managers which can result in disproportionately lower success rates. 

There is a requirement for public sector organisations to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). A link to the Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance is given in section 3. Taking a proactive approach to understanding and removing the barriers causing low attraction or low success rates can help improve recruiting a more diverse workforce and in turn help to meet this duty.

For fair work employers, it will also help you consider your practice in relation to race equality and help to build a more diverse workforce.