Diversity – the missed Opportunity

Erik Broberg

In a country that when referring to our citizens, is truly best described as “The Rainbow Nation”, the question of Diversity is a question that has taken on many forms and (in)directly affects many employment protocols, procedures and decisions.

The purpose of this blog is not to debate the merits or pitfalls of PDI, AA, EE candidates and the processes that surround these policies. The purpose of this blog is to look at the benefits of diversity in Recruitment and Employment decision making.

One of the best recruitment techniques for increasing sales is to “broaden” the scope of the person spec the client has given. If the client wants a candidate with 3 years experience, a degree and Advanced Computer Skills then the pool of candidates from which to find a suitable candidate is “x”. But by having the client agree to considering candidates that have 2 years experience and not 3, a diploma and not a degree, and Intermediate Computers Skills as opposed to a Advances skills means that the pool of candidates is exponentially bigger from which to source a suitable candidate. This means the chances of filling the job have also just increased considerably.

The question then must be asked, why would anyone reduce the pool of candidates by demanding consideration to irrelevant and unchangeable physical features and/or attributes?

For 20 years I refused to have tomatoe on my ham and cheese sandwich because I thought it would make the sandwich too juicy, despite the logical arguments from those around me. After a while the only reason I didn’t try the tomatoe is because I was so used to eating my ham/cheese sandwich dry that I felt I was too far along to now reverse my previous decision. Naturally when I did finally try the obvious omission, I realized what I had been missing all those years.

Whilst this story is extremely simple, when operating in Recruitment and Staffing many people tend to stick to their comfort zones – even when they’re not that comfortable.

Different doesn’t have to be better or worse, it can just be different. Different ideas, different input, different points of view, different points of reference, different rationales, different cultural interpretations – all these differences allow us to better understand the people that we service. Allow us to better target the needs of our clients.

Diversity in business is not a political issue, it’s not a social issue, it’s not an emotional issue and it’s not a cultural issue. Diversity in business makes good business sense. By being open to all people, all opportunities and all ideas we are empowering ourselves to deliver a more insightful service offering, to more businesses.

After conquering my fear of tomatoes and seeing the results I think I’m about ready to try that pickle.

MD’s Launch Message

Erik Broberg

Welcome to our new website and our first Blog entry. Brannon Recruitment is South Africa’s first true Rec2Rec (Rec-to-Rec) or Recruitment to Recruitment Agency. The purpose of our Blog is to encourage debate, to provide useful insight into the happenings of the Recruitment Industry and to be a source of information that is both relevant and informative.

Please feel free to navigate our site and view our sections dedicated to Recruitment Consultants, to Recruitment Agencies and our section listing all our live Recruitment Jobs. Keeping our blog fresh and interesting is important to us and we welcome your input, discussion topic suggestions and feedback.

In coming weeks/months we will be addressing a range of thought-provoking and interesting topics and whatever role you play within the recruitment industry your input and insight will be valued and appreciated. The recruitment industry is all about bringing people together and at Brannon Recruitment we believe the Recruitment Industry will benefit from our service offering of introducing all parties, albeit business owners and managers or recruiters and recruitment resourcers, to the best opportunities that are available to them in this exciting industry of which we are all a part.

I look forward to engaging with you via this blog, and working with you in the near future.

Erik