HRTMS Powerful Job Description Software
  • Home
  • Solutions
    • Job Management
    • People Management
  • About
    • Partners
    • Careers
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Webinars
    • Materials
    • Newsletters
  • Client Support
    • JDXpert Support
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Solutions
    • Job Management
    • People Management
  • About
    • Partners
    • Careers
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Webinars
    • Materials
    • Newsletters
  • Client Support
    • JDXpert Support
  • Contact

Blog

Are Your Job Descriptions Keeping You From A Gender-Diverse Workforce?

8/5/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Even before entering pre-K, we are taught how our words impact those around us. They can make us feel accepted, upset or even guarded. As adults, our vocabulary may be more advanced than a 3-year-old's, but the sentiment remains the same: words matter. 

​A new report by LinkedIn highlights how the language we use in the workplace incites differing responses based on gender. Over the past few years we have rightfully begun converting our job titles from gender specific titles like Stewardess and Policeman to more gender-neutral options like Flight Attendant and Police Officer. But want about the language used to describe those jobs? Are they biased towards one gender over another? According to the LinkedIn report, using words like “aggressive” or “demanding” in your job description or job posting would discourage women (44%) from applying (33% men). And although both men and women cite soft skills like communication, teamwork, creativity and time-management as a shared value of their gender, women tend to highlight their soft skills and men, their hard skills. So how do these findings impact the way we write and edit our job descriptions and job postings?

First, let’s clarify one thing. Job postings are the outward reflection of the job… like an advertisement (marketing); while job descriptions address all aspects of the job, from the essential functions and education requirements to competencies and job track. They are NOT the same thing. While job postings are more likely to include marketing language meant to attract candidates to the job and the company, job descriptions are meant to describe the job and are generally more descriptive. But because job postings derive from job descriptions, job descriptions must also utilize unbiased language.

The best way to assure that your job descriptions reflect your company culture is to include others in the writing and review process. JDXpert by HRTMS allows HR to collaborate not only with those who understand the job, but partners who may be more skilled at flagging partial language. Aside from the words used in the job description, the structure that it follows is also important. As cited earlier, women tend to showcase soft skills more so than their hard skills. Although job descriptions must include the essential functions of the jobs, it is best practice to also include critical competencies. Since competencies are more related to soft skills, the inclusion of competencies will make the job more attractive to women. There are also a number of augmented writing solutions on the market that may also be helpful in assuring the use of more gender-neutral language.
​
The lesson here is that if we want to attract a more gender-diverse workforce, we need to remember that all-important lesson we learned as children--that words matter. And that we must go beyond just debiasing our job titles and review the language used in and structure of our job descriptions.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016

    Categories

    All
    360 Degree Reviews
    ADA
    ADEA
    Buy In
    Buy-in
    Collaboration
    Compensation
    Competency
    Compliance
    Corporate Culture
    Features
    FLSA
    HRTMS News
    Job Description Management
    Partners
    PDQ
    Performance Management
    Recruitment
    Results Oriented Job Descriptions
    Retaining Top Talent
    Security
    Succession Planning
    Total Rewards
    Wellness Program

    RSS Feed

Popular links

Solutions - JDXpert
Webinars
​Blog
​About

Contact
​
Disclaimers and Policies

Contact us

HRTMS Inc.
5171 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 105
​Raleigh, NC 27612

Sales
sales@hrtms.com | 919.351.JOBS (5627)

Client Support

If you are an HRTMS client and need help, please visit our Client Support page for more information.

Socialize

Subscribe

Join our mailing list today!
JOIN NOW