How diverse is your workforce? Have you reached your diversity and inclusion goals yet? Or has it proved to be quite challenging? Perhaps you’re struggling with hiring candidates of all ages. Then you’re definitely not the only one. Ageism is the most common form of employment discrimination. We’re not saying that recruiters discriminate on purpose. Age bias often happens unintentionally. And it’s mostly older people who struggle when they are trying to find a new job. It’s a real shame because older people actually have a lot to offer. They are often strong candidates with a lot of experience and skills.
Age bias limits the candidate pool
When there is age bias in your job descriptions, people of certain ages will refrain from applying. This dramatically limits your candidate pool. And you’ll miss out on a lot of strong candidates. Especially when the age bias discourages older people from applying. This is the fastest-growing group of jobseekers. And they have tons of experience to bring to your company. There are bound to be strong candidates in this group. Did you know that older employees are actually more open to change than Millennials are? And that they are very innovative as well? You don’t want to miss out on that, right?
Age bias prevents teams from becoming diverse
Diverse teams are more innovative and creative. Because people differ in terms of age, gender and race, they come up with different ideas. And they bring different perspectives to the table. Just think of the experience older people bring to the table. And the knowledge of recent technologies young people has to offer. When combined, your company can really benefit from these strengths. Without age diversity, everyone is thinking in exactly the same way. That is far from ideal when approaching issues, solving problems and creating products.
How Textmetrics can prevent age bias in recruitment
The solution to age bias lies in the recruitment process. It begins with writing job descriptions that are free of age discrimination. Your job ads should encourage people of all ages to apply. The Textmetrics platform helps you do that. Our platform gives you suggestions while you’re writing. It signals words you shouldn’t use because they discourage older or young candidates from applying. And it offers you suggestions for alternatives to prevent any form of discrimination. Your job descriptions will be free of age bias and can help you reach your D&I goals.
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