Should You Use a Social Media Account as Resume?

Should You Use a Social Media Account as Resume?

As job seekers, should you use your social media accounts to land that dream job?  

Let’s face it. Your dream job is hard to come by these days. The world of work is evolving, and so are the hiring priorities of many companies and hiring managers. You need to stay above the fray and not let your resume sink into a pile of paperwork from other job seekers.  

So how do you ensure your resume truly stands out?  

Social Media As Resume

Job seekers are using their social media accounts as a substitute for their resumes. In a world where everything is migrating to digital, job candidates feel that the traditional resume is no longer enough to showcase themselves to potential employers.  

Candidates let their social media profiles on LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook, or Instagram showcase their skills, qualifications, and credentials to a hiring manager.  

Looking at the data that’s out there, this does make a lot of sense.  

Fifty-seven percent of job seekers use social media to look for jobs. This percentage rises sharply to 73 percent within the 18 to 34 age range. Moreover, 84 percent of companies have started recruiting via social media, while 67 percent of employers use social media to get to know more about a prospective candidate.  

Furthermore, a whopping 74 percent of the 94 percent of hiring managers who use social media in their hiring process managed to hire a suitable candidate through a social media platform.  

Given the ubiquity of social media as a vital platform in the hiring process, job candidates still fail to maximise the potential of their social media profile in their job search.  

As a job seeker, what should your social media content entail? What social media account or platform is most suitable for your career? What appropriate social media links should you provide? How do you showcase your work experience to a potential employer? What kind of social media presence must you strive to maintain? What is social media profile attractive to a prospective employer?  

Furthermore, does the resume still play a vital role in today’s job market?  

Advantages Of Using A Social Media Account In Your Job Search

Utilising social media sites in your job search increases your visibility in the job market. Because your social media profile can be seen publicly, this allows you to network with professionals coming from various sectors – including CEOs and hiring managers. Other advantages of using a social media account in your job search are;  

Networking: Social media platforms can help you connect with people in your industry, including hiring managers and recruiters. This can help you learn about job openings before they are publicly advertised. 

Personal Branding: Social media can be a great tool for building a personal brand. You can use it to showcase your expertise in a particular field and demonstrate your thought leadership. 

Research: Social media can help you research potential employers and learn about the company culture, values, and mission. 

Recruiting: Some employers use social media to actively recruit candidates. They may post job openings on their company page, or look for potential hires on platforms like LinkedIn. 

It’s important to keep in mind that social media can also be a double-edged sword, so it’s crucial to be mindful of what you post and ensure that your profile is professional and appropriate.  

Aside from these, using social media to reach out to potential employers is increases your accessibility. You can apply for advertised jobs quickly and much more efficiently.  

Disadvantages Of Using Social Media In Your Job Search

Whether via LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook, or Instagram, utilising your social media channels in looking for a job has disadvantages.  

Privacy concerns: Social media platforms collect a lot of personal information, and not all of it is relevant to your job search. This can raise concerns about privacy and security. 

Discrimination: Some employers may use information found on social media to discriminate against candidates based on factors such as age, race, gender, or sexual orientation. 

Unprofessional content: Social media can be a double-edged sword. Posting unprofessional content or making negative comments about previous employers can harm your chances of getting a job. 

Outdated information: Social media profiles can quickly become outdated. It’s important to regularly update your profile to ensure that the information is accurate and relevant. 

Distraction: Social media can be a major distraction, especially during a job search. It’s important to use social media strategically and not let it consume too much of your time. 

Dependence on social media: Relying too heavily on social media can limit the job search to only those jobs that are posted on social media platforms and not on other job portals. 

It’s important to remember that not all employers will check your social media profiles, but if they do, it’s important to make sure that your profiles are professional, up-to-date, and appropriate for a job search. 

Getting That Dream Job Through Social Media

Are you looking into maximising your social media channels to land that dream job? Here are some marketing strategies that could help you reach that goal: 

Showcase your communication skills – Keep in mind that first impressions do last.  Very much like the traditional resume, your social media accounts must be clear and concise, yet must be very informative. It should showcase the best version of you!  

Have a professional profile picture – One of the best career advices you can ever receive is to ensure that you always look like the best version of yourself when looking for a job. It all starts with how your picture looks in your social media profile and your resume.  

Have an attractive headline – Similar to the traditional resume, identify a concise social media/resume objective. It is also highly recommended to be more creative in telling a potential employer what you are looking for and the job description you want.  

Describe your work experience – This is part and parcel of showcasing your communication skills. Even before the interview, make your social media profile speak volumes to a prospective employer or recruiter. Let them know clearly what you have done and what you can contribute to the company – even before any formal interview.  

Be active on your social media platforms – A recruiter can easily see if your social media profile is updated or stale. Hence, be active on your social media platform by joining groups, getting updated testimonials and recommendations from former colleagues, and researching how other professionals in your sector are marketing themselves online.  

Keep your resume updated and ready for submission – For many recruiters, your social media profile is but an initial step to jumpstart your actual application. If they are indeed interested, the recruiter will ask for your updated resume. Most of the time, your resume still reaches the hiring manager and the C-suite executives – when you reach the latter steps in the hiring process.  

LAND THAT DREAM JOB WITH FOX SEARCH GROUP  

Now that you have your resume prepared and your social media platforms updated, expand your wings and land that dream job with the help of the Fox Search Group. A reputable staffing firm with a long history of success while remaining anchored on diversity and inclusivity, collaborating with us gets you much closer to your dream job.  

Contact us today!

Navigating a Candidate-Centric Labor Market: Job Seekers Still Have the Upper Hand in 2023 

Navigating a Candidate-Centric Labor Market: Job Seekers Still Have the Upper Hand in 2023 

How can employers hire top talent in a highly candidate-centric job market?   

By many accounts and measures, 2022 is still an extraordinary period in the job market. Employers rushed to fill numerous vacancies by tapping a limited talent pool, especially in the tech sector. Despite recent developments showing that the red-hot job market is now cooling down, the fact remains that many employers still need help recruiting top talent.   

The Fed has repeatedly said that there are around twice as many vacancies as job candidates to fill them. This means that demand remains. Why? Because, let’s face it, as an employer, you will not resort to hiring when no one is even buying your products and services.   

However, since demand is skyrocketing, but the talent pool is limited, many employers resort to offering job candidates higher compensation packages to attract–and keep – top talent.   

Complicating this further is the “Great Resignation.” This refers to the massive resignation of workers who quit their posts, confident that they will find better-paying jobs and have higher work-life balance prospects. A study revealed that people who left their employment in October now earn twice as much compared to their colleagues who stayed put.   

As an employer or hiring manager facing a challenging and rapidly evolving job market, you must be very strategic in hiring top talent despite limited resources and rising prices.   

Here are some tips on how employers like you can still win top talent in a highly competitive job market.  

Tips on How Employees Can Win Top Talent in a Candidate-Centric Job Market

  

1. Streamline Your Hiring Cycle.  

The world of work today requires a great deal of agility. The same thing goes for your company’s hiring process.   

According to a survey conducted by Career Builder, 60 percent of job candidates decided to quit their applications because the process just took so long. This is something that employers and hiring managers need to remedy. The longer your application process takes, the higher the chance you will lose your job candidates.   

Instead of taking months to complete your hiring process, consider streamlining it to just a few weeks. Streamlining the hiring cycle is also a sign of great company culture. It sends a strong signal to job candidates that you are an employer that values your employees’ time and that you seek to uphold best practices in your company processes.   

Furthermore, job candidates tend to focus more on your company if your application process is streamlined and you give timely feedback.   

2. Make Flexibility Part of Your Company Culture.  

A study from Harvard Business Review revealed that 77 percent of job candidates prefer to accept offers from companies that offer some form of flexibility. Moreover, a similar survey conducted by Indeed showed that 89 percent of millennials prefer to work from home rather than report to the office daily on fixed-time schedules.   

Let’s face it. The days of the 9 to 5 work week are truly over. The employees of today are prioritizing work-life balance over a handsome paycheck. The days of cubicles and fixed workdays are coming to an end, and this will be very hard for employers and hiring managers to turn around no matter how stringent the policies you implement on the contrary.   

In offering flexibility, consider rethinking your company’s work schedules and how much flexibility you can provide to your employees. Putting flexibility at the forefront of your policies also saves resources on the side of your employees because it is less time-consuming and more sustainable in terms of your company resources.   

3. Give A Pleasant and Insightful Job Candidate Experience.   

Aside from creating a more streamlined application process, ensure that your job candidates get a pleasant and insightful application experience.   

Valuing the time of your job candidates communicates how much you love your company workforce and how respectful you are of their time. This already goes a long way in giving your company a competitive advantage regarding job candidates choosing you over other companies.   

In your hiring process, ensure each interview is vital to both the job candidate and you as a prospective employer. Make all questions deliberate and avoid asking repetitive questions to your job candidates.   

It is also vital to always be on point and on time in your interview schedules. Please do not make them wait for long periods. More importantly, end with a clear next step and offer timely and concise feedback.   

4. Evaluate Salaries and Embrace Transparency.  

One essential thing that employers need to know is that job candidates are looking forward to being compensated fairly for the work that they will render. Pay them what they are worth NOW or lose them to other companies soon.   

You must review your salary structure and see if you can increase wages across the board. Not all companies have the resources to implement a company-wide salary increase. However, reviewing your salary and compensation package is still necessary for better planning.   

Should you be one of those companies with limited resources and currently unable to offer a hefty salary increase, consider revisiting your benefits package. Riding on the overwhelming preference of job candidates for flexibility, you may provide flexible work arrangements or give your employees additional paid time off to cater to work-life balance. You may also want to revitalize your reward and incentive system.   

5. Implement More Inclusive Policies.   

Nowadays, many job candidates are also curious to know how a prospective company stands regarding diversity and inclusion policies. They need to know that their companies care for them as human beings and not just for what they can do for the company.   

In this regard, your company should have policies that address pertinent matters for your employees and job candidates. These include pregnancy and family life, religion, ethnicity, being the primary caretaker in the family, mental health, and general employee well-being issues.   

Moreover, consider implementing floating or swappable holidays for your employees to address religious, cultural, and personal beliefs from their end. Lastly, get feedback from them whenever you can. Employees feel valued when they know someone listens to their opinions and actively works on them.  

Attracting top talent in your company in these complex times may be challenging but possible. As an employer, you have so many opportunities in your hands to attract top talent and to also retain your company’s workforce. Try these tips and see how you fare as a preferred employer in this candidate-centric job market.   

Do you need more help attracting top talent? Strongly consider working with a reputable staffing agency like the Fox Search Group. A recruitment agency with a track record of providing companies with top talent while staying committed to diversity and inclusion. Reach out to us today, and let us show you how your company can stay on top of the game in this very candidate-centric job market.

HR Tech 2022 and Beyond: Is Automation the Key to Inclusive Hiring?

HR Tech 2022 and Beyond: Is Automation the Key to Inclusive Hiring?

Is your HR tech stack working for you?   

All too many staffing firms in the post-pandemic job market embrace automation in talent acquisition. Human Resources (HR) and recruitment automation trends also tend to plow through the general move of hiring managers and staffing firms to practice more inclusivity and diversity in the workplace.   

This is what the intermarriage between HR and AI aims to solve. Finally, finding out how to reduce bias in the hiring process would be the goal that the latest HR tech and automation intend to achieve.   

But can it pave the way toward inclusive hiring?   

Let’s run down the pros and cons of hiring automation and get a better glimpse of how the future of HR looks insofar as inclusivity and diversity are concerned.

Performance Management Trends 2022: Advantages of Automated Hiring

1. More Efficient Sourcing and Selection of Candidates  

Recruitment automation enables you and your team to efficiently modify your job posts and ads from templates more seamlessly. This allows you to focus more swiftly on the actual vacancies, corresponding qualifications, and relevant experience.   

Your HR software landscape should feature automated tools to screen applicants, expediting the selection process.   

2. Maximizes Your Internal Hiring Pool  

Automating your hiring process also allows you to maximize your internal hiring pool. This will enable you to be more proactive in your hiring process because you can create a pipeline of past candidates who are qualified, already screened, and can take on the job in just a short time.   

This diminished your reliance on job boards and ads – and waiting on job candidates to reply to your ad.   

3. Fast-Tracking the Application Process  

It is undeniable that hiring managers and job candidates alike find the application process tedious and even unwieldy. The process can be long as the waiting times tend to go on and on. By automating your recruitment, you get a more thorough view of each candidate and where they are in the application process.   

Your recruitment software may also automatically place qualified candidates for an interview via a pre-built scheduling module. Once they pass the job interview, the software should be able to send the candidate a job offer.  

This is indeed time-saving!   

4. More Seamless Onboarding  

You can also create a better first-day impression on your new hire by seamlessly onboarding them. Onboarding an employee usually involves: 

      • Giving them company access credentials,  
      • Sending the new hires pertinent introductory emails,  
      • The general induction and training process. All of these can be automated.   

 

5. Promotes Diversity and Inclusion in the Hiring Process  

HR tech such as Applicant Tracking Solutions (ATS) can remove information that can cause bias, consciously or unconsciously. These include data on age, ethnicity, and gender. This means that your tech stack can focus solely on employment history and skills – giving every job candidate a fair shot at landing the role. 

Read more: As Automation Rises, so Does the Need for Human Talent

AI for Recruiting: Dangers and Possible Perils  

Artificial intelligence in recruitment aims to reduce bias by enlisting machine-based decisions. However, using AI for recruiting may harm your organization’s DEI (Diversity Equality Inclusivity) efforts. Here’s how: 

1. Historical Data Does Not Support DEI Initiatives.   

When you use artificial intelligence for hiring, you will use its historical data to build your hiring system. This historical data – predominantly within the male and white demographic – already possess an inherent bias.   

In the absence of historical data sets to train AI algorithms, hiring tools utilizing AI become very likely to carry the same biases your organization has wanted to eradicate for decades.   

2. AI Hiring Algorithms May End Up Perpetuating Biases, Instead of Removing Them.   

HR tech tools that analyze people’s facial expressions, tone, expressions, and other aspects of their personality are rooted in “how normal or desirable they are culturally.” This is a loaded statement!   

By measuring how “culturally desirable” a job candidate is, you can end up excluding candidates with disabilities or any job seeker whose profile does not fit with what the algorithm has determined as a typical candidate. This puts many job candidates, such as disabled job seekers, in an awkward position.  

3. AI in Recruiting May Conflict with Data Privacy Issues.   

There are also valid concerns about the amount of data that can collect on a particular job seeker while analyzing their video interviews, CVs, online assessments, and social media profiles. For one, candidates may not even know that they are being examined and may need help understanding how AI tools are studying them. 

Still, a lack of regulation on automated hiring processes continues – both from the private sector and the government. 

Read more: 2023 Compliance Checklist: Biometrics, Paid Time Off and Other Regulatory Updates  

4. Automated HR Hiring Systems May Exclude Those Who Are Not Yet Tech Savvy.   

While this may be too far from left field for tech people and white-collar workers, automating your hiring process can be very uncomfortable, if not entirely unrelatable, for those who have not yet migrated to digital technology. However, addressing socioeconomic considerations when using AI for recruitment is a must.   

Aside from this, some professionals have become accustomed to just one tech provider and feel lost if they switch during the application process. For instance, an Apple user may feel lost during the interview if they use Microsoft technologies instead and vice versa.  

Similarly, some HR tech tools work optimally on one provider only. Losing a competent command of the technology one has to use in the application process can spell disaster for any job seeker.   

Read more: Employers Who See Potential Over Experience Win

5. AI in Recruiting Cannot Provide a Holistic Assessment of a Candidate.  

Can HR software tools like facial recognition assess the emotional state of the job candidate during an interview? Can it accurately measure a job candidate’s disposition, confidence, and general well-being when the labor market comprises diverse individuals from different social backgrounds?   

Undeniably, this can make your HR tech stack prone to false positives or false negatives, so to speak.   

Success Through Technology: Being Strategic is Key! 

Hiring managers and staffing firms must be more strategic in utilizing AI for recruiting if they are serious about diversity and inclusive hiring.   

One, consider focusing on skills-based hiring. Use HR tech tools to assess competence in a particular skill set.   

Moreover, hiring managers and staffing firms are encouraged to keep a salient human component in the hiring process. The strategy of depending solely on AI to determine suitable candidates is not yet a foolproof strategy for the time being.   

Finally, there is wisdom in partnering with a staffing firm that has a tried and tested process that supports diversity and inclusive hiring for your company.   

Collaborate with the Fox Search Group to make diversity and inclusive hiring a cornerstone of your company. With a reputable HR tech stack that is seamless and efficient, you also have a pool of expert recruiters from the Fox Search Group to complement their world-class hiring tech stack. Lock in top talent for your company while also forwarding your DEI initiatives.   

Reach out to us today!   

Recruitment Insights We’ve Learned in 2022 for a Stronger 2023

Recruitment Insights We’ve Learned in 2022 for a Stronger 2023

As the year soon draws to a close, what recruitment insights can you learn from 2022 that you can use to prepare for 2023?   

2022 was when the world truly started emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic and coming to terms with its aftermath as far as the job market is concerned. To say the pandemic broke the labor market and how companies used to work before this public health crisis would be an understatement.   

For one, the pandemic changed many employees’ priorities and employment considerations. So their demands are so much different now compared to less than two years ago. This prompted the so-called “Great Resignation,” where workers quit their jobs in droves to look for another job that could better cater to their needs and expectations.   

Second, staffing firms have also experienced changes in job candidate expectations. Many job seekers choose more fulfilling jobs that offer greater flexibility, and analysts call this “The Great Reshuffle.” Staffing firms needed to be more aggressive when attracting top talent and catering to their expectations.   

Recruitment Insights and Hiring Trends in 2022

Let’s face it. As far as staffing trends for 2022 are concerned, hiring has become more challenging today compared to a few years ago.   

Many staffing firms now actively engage job candidates and no longer do passive hiring – even in entry-level positions! This is because of the labor skills gap. Job seekers’ skills and training often do not match the experience required for certain jobs in the post-pandemic economy. The space between the skills that job candidates have and the skills that employers are looking for is called the “skills gap.”   

Reforming the education system to offer programs that answer industry needs is vital to reducing the skills gap. Additionally, to address the skills gap, more and more companies and staffing firms are looking past degrees and formal training to give more premium to skills.   

This was also noted even before the pandemic, between 2017-2019. Data shows that companies have reduced degree requirements for 46 percent of middle-level positions and 31 percent of high-skill jobs. This is especially true in the tech sector. Now, look at the staffing industry trends for 2022 and the many lessons that hiring managers can learn.  

Read more: 2022 a Booming Year: No Shortage of Opportunities in the Tech Industry

Staffing Industry Trends for 2022: Lessons Moving Forward

As hiring managers, what can you learn about the recruitment insights and statistics of 2022 that will allow you to operate better as a staffing firm for 2023 and beyond?   

Given all these changes and disruptions, what handles can you use to aptly respond to the headwinds of recruitment in this ever-changing and volatile labor market?   

1. Flexibility is Key.  

First, let’s get something straight. Americans embrace flexible work, and your staffing firm cannot do anything about it. Going against this trend is like going against gravity. So why fight it?   

Flexible working arrangements are already part of the new working norm. According to a recent survey, 87 percent of workers would opt for flexible working arrangements if given a chance. Even more interesting is that the percentage of employees opting for flexible work arrangements cuts across all job sectors and all positions in the organizational chart – from the C-suite to entry-level roles.   

Many U.S. employees and job candidates now consider flexibility and work/life balance as top priorities in considering job offers. A 2020 survey revealed that 81 percent of employees said they would be more loyal to employers who offer flexible work arrangements such as remote work, shifting schedules, and hybrid setups.  

Data shows that employees involved in computer and mathematical jobs have overwhelmingly embraced remote work, with 77 percent willing to work entirely remotely.   

Because of this undeniable reality, companies and staffing firms must be able to accommodate the demand for flexibility from employees and job candidates if they would like to hire and retain top talent.  

  

2. Making Thoughtful Hiring Decisions  

Because of the new working norms and preferences of job candidates, hiring managers and staffing firms must also revisit the application process from recruitment insights in selecting the top candidate for each position to see if anything needs to be changed or revised.   

For example;   

      • Do you need to revise the necessary skills to fill a specific position?   
      • Is there a need to adjust the required qualifications for a particular job vacancy?   
      • Do you need more questions that check for soft skills or tech skills?   
      • Do you need to be more diverse and inclusive in your hiring process and candidate selection?   

Many hiring managers and staffing firms have now come to realize that the measures they utilized in the hiring process before the pandemic are no longer very much in sync with today’s job candidates. If there are changes in the preferences and priorities of job candidates, then there should also be reforms made to how staffing firms identify and select top talent.   

Read More: Employers Who See Potential Over Experience WinAll That Glitters Is Not Gold: A Closer Look at Today’s Job Titles

  

3. Keeping Up with Technology  

80 percent of staffing professionals believe that technology plays a crucial role in the success of their recruitment processes. This is why a great majority of staffing firms have also embraced digitalization.   

As staffing managers investing in technology, you must ensure that you are maximizing your technological stack to achieve your hiring goals.   

To understand the scope of this issue, ask yourself the following questions:   

      • Does your technological stack enable you to do targeted advertising?   
      • Are your job posts able to accommodate mobile-savvy candidates who use their mobile phones more than an actual computer to apply for jobs?   
      • Does your technological stack allow you to communicate with top candidates seamlessly and wherever they may be?   
      • Does it allow you to automate menial tasks and improve your hiring efficiency?   

  

4. Focusing on Employee Well-Being  

It may not be easy to see, but employees highly appreciate that mental health and well-being are given equal focus in the workplace. Recruitment insights from a recent survey revealed that 71 percent of employees now feel that their employer is giving more importance to their mental health and well-being. Their employees greatly appreciate this.   

Staffing firms should also make this a cornerstone of their processes – including your selection of client companies and their policies on mental health and well-being, diversity and inclusivity, and how they deal with microaggressions in the workplace. This is vital because many job candidates are becoming increasingly curious about how employers take care of their employees.   

Furthermore, studies also show that a culturally diverse workforce is instrumental in fueling innovation, boosting creativity, and even increasing profitability.   

Read more: Pandemic Takeaways: What People Want Out of Work

 

If you are ready to close this year with a bang and begin the new year fully informed and prepared when hiring top talent. Consider partnering with the Fox Search Group. A staffing firm that champions flexibility and diversity, we can help you find top talent who will thrive and be assets to your company, whether onsite or remotely. Put yesterday’s recruitment insights  to work. Reach out to us today!  

How to Identify and Respond to Microaggressions in the Workplace

How to Identify and Respond to Microaggressions in the Workplace

Microaggressions in the workplace are sadly a common occurrence in many companies. It comes in the form of a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against individuals from a marginalized group, such as ethnic minority, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, people coming from low socioeconomic status, among others. 

Microaggressions usually happen unwittingly and unintentionally. People in the workplace who commit microaggressions are often unaware that they have committed one. However, the remark is offensive to the individual receiving it – regardless if it was said jokingly or the intent was not really to offend anybody. 

Types and Examples of Microaggressions in the Workplace 

Microaggressions in the workplace is more widespread than you think.  

Available data shows that more than 26 percent of Americans have experienced microaggression at work, while 22 percent were unsure if they have experienced microaggression in the workplace. On the other hand, 36 percent of those surveyed said they had witnessed microaggression in the workplace, mostly coming from individuals with unconscious bias. The same study also revealed that only 40 percent of the respondents were certain that they did not witness microaggression in the workplace. 

How do you know if a microaggression has indeed been committed? What are the types of microaggressions most commonly committed in the workplace? 

  • Racial or ethnic microaggressions refer to subtle racial slights that can be offensive and hurtful. Many individuals who experienced this type of microaggression often find it extremely difficult to reply to this particular microaggression. Even though they feel hurt and insulted, the most common reaction to a racial or ethnic slur is to say nothing or make it seem like it did not happen at all. The most typical examples of racial microaggressions reveal unconscious biases of individuals who commit these microaggressions. For instance, connecting how a person looks or his level of intelligence to his ethnicity and telling the person about it is a typical example of racial microaggression. 

  • Microaggressions on citizenship are also common instances that happen in the workplace. Often, people in the workplace judge a co-worker’s origins based on his accent or the individual’s competency in English. Comments such as “You’re English is a bit odd. Where are you really from?” are prime examples.   

  • Socioeconomic microaggressions happen when people pass comments on how individuals coming from a specific socioeconomic background should look or behave. Words like “You don’t seem to come from a poor family. Why did you go to that school?” or “You don’t seem to come from that kind of neighborhood” are examples of this type of microaggression. 

  • Gender microaggressions are also quite common in the workplace. They reveal gender biases and false perceptions aimed at a particular orientation. Have you ever uttered “Don’t be such a sissy” or “That is so gay!” to your colleagues at work? These comments are classic examples of this type of microaggression.   

There are more varied examples of microaggressions in the workplace, such as microaggression on mental health, parental status, and religious affiliation. However, these types all have one thing in common – they are detrimental to your company. 

Microaggressions work against your company or any organization’s goal for equity and inclusion. It goes against the purpose of giving employees a safe and inclusive work environment and a sense of belongingness. Hence, it is paramount to proactively address microaggressions in the workplace and other forms of subtle discrimination in the workplace.   

How To Prevent Microaggressions in the Workplace 

There is no foolproof approach to effectively dealing with microaggressions in the workplace. Truth to say, the more your company talks about it, the higher the chance it becomes visible and palpable for employees.   

Unlearning our biases could also be a tall order for many of us. Accepting criticisms and identifying and reflecting on these teachable moments often takes time and a lot of sensitivity for someone who has committed a microaggression. But making great strides towards lessening, if not eliminating, microaggression in the workplace is not at all an impossible thing to do.   

Here are some guidelines and handling that you may find useful. 

1. Learn how to apologize sincerely.  

When you or someone you know has committed a microaggression, the worst thing to do is to act defensively. Do not treat it as a joke or as something unintended – even though it was. Instead, acknowledge the fact that you have hurt a co-worker. It may be a tall order for many, but looking at the big picture, this is the right and magnanimous thing to do. 

2. Use the incident to improve yourself.  

Instead of being defensive or too guilt-ridden for a long time, use the incident as a learning experience for you to know more about yourself. It is a reflective and teachable moment where you can discover your deep-seated personal biases and your perceptions about others. Be very open about these biases to yourself so you can learn from them. 

3. Get to know your colleagues on a more personal level.  

Remember that your organization consists of people with a common goal. However, you all come from different backgrounds. Embrace diversity and learn more about them. Get to spend time with your colleagues and get to know them more as people. It will help eliminate your unconscious biases because you are already developing a personal bond with your colleagues.   

4. Educate yourself.  

As you continually expose yourself to various perspectives and diverse backgrounds, complement your learning with books, films, tv shows, podcasts, and other forms of media that will help you raise more awareness about the diversity around you. This, too, will help demolish your personal biases.   

5. Push for policy changes within your organization.  

You can help minimize microaggressions in the workplace by introducing company-wide changes that cater to inclusivity and celebrate diversity. Push for more resources to help your company foster diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. These may come in the form of gender-neutral bathrooms, prayer and reflection rooms, or seminars about diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.

PARTNER WITH A RECRUITING FIRM THAT EMBRACES DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY, LIKE FOX SEARCH GROUP.  

Established by a woman, Fox Search Group’s pool of expert recruiters can genuinely partner with you to help you land a job in a company that celebrates diversity and inclusivity. For employers, the Fox Search Group can also help you hire top tech professionals who are diverse, highly qualified, and truly the best of the best. By having a diverse pool of employees, you will be right on track toward minimizing microaggressions in the workplace.