27 nov You must be trending with your company….

As many people would say, that our business concept is spot on at the moment. Diversity is the topic of the year and everybody agrees online that this is the way forward.
So yes, you would say with a company focussing on diversity recruitment it’s a booming business. And yes we have to be fair, that we build up great partnerships with strong brands but we still stay amazed by the feedback we receive when talking to companies with a diversity challenge.

Managers posting online that they can’t find female talent for their team, that their branch is too difficult to find female talent and that they are wishing for a solution.
We at Femme Works always get excited reading this, knowing that we can provide them with this solution! That female talent is closer than you would think and we can help out!
When following up on these posts being happy to serve the solution to the problem, the answers are not quite what you expect… Find the most common chat below

Manager: Thanks for reaching out, you have a great concept. But unfortunately we have our preferred suppliers
Femme Works: Of course we can understand, this is standard in companies and we can appreciate this as you want to build up a relationship with your agencies in order to receive the best matches. Totally understand this. But…we understood that you can’t find female talent?
Manager: Yes that’s right, we only have males on the shortlist, apparently the profile we are looking for does not exist in a female version
Femme Works:  So if you’re looking for technicians you reach out to an agency with focus on technicians and if you’re looking for tax professionals you do the same, right? Why is this not the case when looking for female talent?
Manager: Sounds interesting and I think you’re right, but this is how it’s set up in our company. We work with the preferred suppliers.
Femme Works: So even if these suppliers don’t meet your needs you still stay with them and not revise your agency list?
Manager: Yes, I’m sorry for this – thanks

This sounds like an exception, but this is the story we hear on a weekly base. And that surprises us!
You do spend money on agencies and on the same time you post how great you’re doing about motivating and retaining your female talents but you forget your recruitment policy.
No available female professionals in your team means you never hired them! So start your diversity program by incorporating this in your recruitment policy. This is where it starts!

Or just don’t ‘complain’ publicly that you have problems finding female candidates 😉
Using the right sources gives you the right results, you don’t buy your bread at the butcher either do you? So spend your agency money in the right place.

Femme Works is an Executive Search organisation that focuses (only) on female professionals for senior management up to board of management roles. They build partnerships with companies in order to enhance their diversity already from the hiring process.