What is a diversity recruiting strategy?

A diversity recruiting strategy is a structured approach to attracting, hiring, and retaining employees from a wide range of backgrounds, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, disability status, sexual orientation, veteran status, and more. It focuses on removing bias from the hiring process and ensuring that your talent pipeline reflects the diverse communities your business serves.

For small businesses, adopting a diversity recruiting strategy can improve team performance, drive innovation, and make your workplace more inclusive and equitable. With Homebase, you can simplify your hiring process, reach broader talent pools, and ensure a smoother onboarding experience for every new hire—no matter their background.

Why diversity in hiring matters

Diversity recruiting isn’t just a corporate buzzword—it’s a business advantage. For local businesses that rely on strong community relationships and excellent customer service, having a team that reflects a range of perspectives and lived experiences leads to:

• Better decision-making – Teams with diverse backgrounds approach problems with broader viewpoints
• Improved customer connections – A diverse team is more likely to relate to and understand your customers
• Greater innovation – Different perspectives lead to new ideas, better products, and creative problem-solving
• Stronger retention – Inclusive workplaces make employees feel safer and more valued
• Access to more talent – Widening your recruitment lens gives you access to a larger, more qualified pool

A diversity recruiting strategy helps you intentionally build a team that’s more representative, resilient, and aligned with your values.

Core components of a diversity recruiting strategy

Building a successful strategy involves more than good intentions. It requires a commitment to evaluating your current practices and removing barriers to entry.

1. Inclusive job descriptions

Write clear, jargon-free job descriptions that avoid gendered language, unnecessary qualifications, or industry-specific phrases that may deter underrepresented candidates.

Tip: Focus on what the employee will do and learn—not just what they must already know.

2. Broad job distribution

Post jobs on platforms that reach diverse communities, including:

• Job boards for veterans
• LGBTQ+ focused job sites
• Organizations supporting people with disabilities
• Local community groups and schools

Don’t rely solely on mainstream platforms or personal networks.

3. Structured interview processes

Use consistent questions and standardized evaluation criteria to reduce unconscious bias. Document each candidate’s responses and make decisions based on evidence, not instinct.

4. Bias awareness training

Educate hiring managers and team members involved in recruitment about implicit bias and how it can influence decisions. Even small biases can shape who gets hired—and who doesn’t.

5. Diverse hiring teams

Involve team members from different backgrounds in the interview process to bring multiple perspectives and reduce favoritism or cultural blind spots.

6. Track and measure progress

Collect data on who applies, who’s interviewed, and who’s hired. Use these insights to improve your outreach and adjust hiring practices that may unintentionally exclude candidates.

Challenges small businesses face (and how to overcome them)

Challenge: Limited resources or time 

→ Solution: Start small. Focus on writing more inclusive job postings and expanding where you recruit from. Even small changes make a difference.

Challenge: Lack of diversity in the current team

→ Solution: Acknowledge it openly and use it as motivation to improve. Employees and candidates appreciate transparency and a willingness to grow.

Challenge: Resistance to change

→ Solution: Frame diversity as a business advantage, not a quota. Emphasize how it improves team performance and customer satisfaction.

Challenge: Fear of “getting it wrong” 

→ Solution: Prioritize progress over perfection. Commit to learning and adapting your practices with humility and purpose.

Tips for inclusive hiring practices

• Highlight your inclusive values in job descriptions and on your careers page
• Offer flexible schedules to accommodate people with caregiving duties, disabilities, or schooling
• Use blind resume screening tools to minimize name, age, or gender bias
• Showcase diverse employee voices in your social media and recruitment materials
• Create feedback loops so candidates can share how inclusive (or not) the process felt

Diversity recruiting isn’t a one-time effort—it’s an ongoing commitment to making your workplace better for everyone.

How Homebase helps support diversity recruiting

Homebase gives small businesses the tools they need to simplify hiring and remove friction from the process—for both employers and applicants. With Homebase, you can:

• Post jobs to multiple boards, reaching broader candidate pools
• Write and customize job descriptions that reflect your values
• Standardize interview questions and track candidate progress
• Digitally onboard new hires with clear expectations
• Collect documentation and feedback efficiently, helping you stay compliant

Explore Homebase Hiring and Onboarding to build a more inclusive, equitable, and high-performing team—starting with the way you hire.