Do you really consider all angles of sustainability when hiring? Ensuring diversity, and ESG criteria are embedded during the recruitment phase, onboarding and retention? 

Sustainable hiring refers to the process of acquiring talent while considering the impact on the environment and embedding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives into the company culture.

It involves integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles into recruitment strategies. This ensures that hiring practices are not only environmentally responsible but also fair and inclusive.

Sustainable hiring emphasises a diverse and inclusive workforce

One step of sustainable hiring, discussed below is understanding different ways to analyse a candidate's skill set thus opening up the pool of candidates from all backgrounds:

• ·    Skills-Based Hiring: This approach focuses on the actual skills that candidates possess, rather than their previous job titles or employers. It’s about identifying the transferable skills that are relevant to the job.

o   Benefits of Skills-Based Hiring: It expands the pool of potential candidates, opens opportunities for individuals with transferable skills, and often makes hiring more effective. It also promotes diversity in the talent pool.

• ·    Perceived Skills: This refers to the potential abilities that employers believe a candidate may have, based on their past experiences or qualifications. It’s a more speculative approach that considers what a candidate could learn or adapt to.

o   Challenges with Experience-Based Hiring: Relying solely on a candidate’s work history can lead to missed opportunities and less effective hiring decisions. Employers may overlook candidates who have the necessary skills but not the specific experience.

Future of Hiring: The shift towards a skills-based approach should be seen as the future of inclusive hiring and development. Companies should be encouraged to transition their employees' skill sets by upskilling and reskilling their existing workforce and take this approach when hiring new employees. This leads to ensuring the culture of the business is fully inclusive and the onboarding and retention strategies are aligned with the sustainable hiring practice!