The new service will help businesses find more skilled and experienced people, including a greater proportion of those from diverse backgrounds, boosting business performance and the local economy.
A new service designed to help businesses attract more talent from a diverse range of backgrounds was launched today by award-winning social enterprise, The Growth Company, responding to severe lack of representation across all levels of the workforce and the gender pay gap.
The ONS’ 2022 Gender Pay Gap dataset indicates a difference of 11.3 per cent in the mean gender pay gap between men and women. The 2021 Annual Population Survey found that 78% of White people were in employment, compared with 66% of people from all other ethnic groups combined
Aspire in Partnership will promote vacancies to wider and more diverse pools of talent, utilising GC Employment’s existing client base to give businesses a greater chance of finding the ideal candidate. The service will adjust assessment and recruitment processes and attitudes to hiring to give businesses more options when it comes to finding the right person.
This will extend to people with disabilities and health conditions, people who have been out of work for a while and people from underrepresented groups. In 2021, the Labour Force and Annual Population surveys which are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that the percentage of people with disabilities in employment was 28.4 percentage points lower than people without.
Workers with disabilities tend to move out of work at nearly twice the rate of non-disabled workers. Workless disabled people move into work at nearly one-third of the rate of workless non-disabled people.
In addition to its competitive recruitment service, the scheme will engage with a wide talent pool to help businesses to access the right candidates.
A total of 40% of individuals in its candidate pool are from ethnic minority backgrounds, over a fifth are aged 50+ and are knowledgeable, skilled and experienced.
Adrian Bird, head of employer engagement at The Growth Company, says: “Common recruitment challenges today centre around a very tight labour market. Many vacancies are going unfilled as they are not attracting candidates. Aspire in Partnership works with an employer to help them understand how to attract a wide pool of diverse candidates who are eager and ready to work.
“We help businesses in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and South Yorkshire to address their recruitment challenges by engaging with a wide range of community groups in addition to our large pool of job seekers. We take the time to ensure the employer understands how to promote vacancies, the language to use in doing so and the assessment processes that lead to positive results.”
The Growth Company has worked with the University of Manchester to break down the barriers that prevent candidates from a variety of different backgrounds from finding work. This partnership has proved that putting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the heart of recruitment really works, as we have supported more than 4,000 local residents into roles at the university over the last 10 years.
Dr Julian Skyrme, Director of Social Responsibility at The University of Manchester, says: “We believe that by combatting these barriers to entry for candidates of all backgrounds, we can help improve the quality of applications and preparedness for work from local candidates, which supports individuals, families and businesses to thrive.
“While progress is being made in supporting more inclusive recruitment across our region there’s still plenty more to be done – and services such as Aspire in Partnership are making a real difference for employers across all sectors of our economy.”
Candidates will be reviewed before they are submitted, helping businesses to be confident that candidates selected for interview are prepared and ready for work. The Growth Company can also pre-train candidates in key skills ahead of their start date, allowing them to hit the ground running and saving time in induction.
The new service will help to deliver a more productive workforce and opportunities for all.
Companies working with Aspire in Partnership will be supported to diversify their workforce, and to demonstrate a genuine commitment to social value
Bird adds: “Studies show diverse organisations to be more innovative and better able to communicate with diverse audiences. Products and services developed from a range of viewpoints have broad appeal, which leads to increased sales for the business.
Most recruitment services are passive in their approach to inclusivity and miss out on wider pools of talent as a result. By a taking proactive, intentional approach, Aspire in Partnership is able to attract more appropriate candidates which gives employers better choice to get the right person for the job.”
Businesses working with Aspire in Partnership have the chance to improve their reputation as a good employer by mirroring the make-up of their local community and deliver social value by showing a commitment to creating a workforce where everyone can be their authentic selves.
To find out how Aspire in Partnership can help your business to address recruitment challenges and diversify its workforce, email AiPEnquiries@gcemployment.uk or call 0161 245 4946.
For more information about the Growth Company, you can visit https://www.growthco.uk/
