How to Create More Inclusive Recruitment Processes — Download the White Paper

LONDON, United Kingdom — This year, senior fashion executives across the industry have responded to growing calls to reform fashion’s role in, and perpetuation of, systemic racism. Among many crucial steps to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace for people of different races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, mental and physical disabilities, socio-economic backgrounds, parental status and age, companies must make a sustained dedication to diversifying their workforce and creating a workplace that allows each and every individual to thrive.

In our fourth white paper, How to Create More Inclusive Recruitment Processes, BoF spoke to 8 global HR experts and academics to learn how fashion companies can help create a more diverse and inclusive workforce by overhauling their hiring practices across all levels of seniority.

"You can't solve what you don't understand. You can't challenge what you don't know to even question," says Kisha Modica, head of equality and belonging at Gap Inc.

Having a more inclusive workforce is also, quite simply, better for business. McKinsey found a 48 percent performance differential between the most and least gender-diverse companies, while businesses in the top quartile for ethnic and cultural diversity outperformed those in the fourth quartile by 36 percent in terms of profitability in 2019.

[ Click here to download How to Create More Inclusive Recruitment ProcessesOpens in new window ]

BoF Careers is in a unique position to provide fashion employers with constructive guidance and industry-specific advice with unique access to global experts and industry leaders. In this white paper, we share insights from the following contributing academics and HR experts:

Suki Sandhu, founder & CEO of Audeliss and Involve. Both organisations are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in business via senior hiring and talent programmes. Sandhu sits on the board of OutRight in New York and is a Trustee for the Guild of HR Professionals. He was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year's Honour's list for Services to Diversity in Business.

Michelle P. King, director of inclusion at Netflix and author of award-winning The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers that Hold Women Back at Work. Her work has been published in The Economist, Harvard Business Review, CNBC, as well as the Financial Times. She was the head of UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change.

Alexandra Tiant, senior consultant at diversity and inclusion strategy firm Paradigm on their training and people development team. Prior to Paradigm, Tiant spent nine years at Deloitte as a consultant and diversity and inclusion manager.

Suezette Yasmin Robotham, a diversity, equity and inclusion leader in the tech industry, with experience working at both Facebook and Google. In 2020, she founded a platform to amplify the voices of Black women in tech: #BlackTechBeauty.

Dr Ben Barry, chair and associate professor of equity, diversity and inclusion at Ryerson University. Barry's research centres the intersectional experiences of disabled, fat, trans, queer and gender non-conforming people. He was awarded the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Person's Case for advancing gender equality in Canada.

Jane Hatton, founder and CEO of Evenbreak, a recruiter for disabled people and job seekers with disability friendly and inclusive companies. Hatton has also written two books on disability inclusion: A Dozen Brilliant Reasons to Employ Disabled People and A Dozen Great Ways to Recruit Disabled People.

Renée Tirado, founder and CEO of VegaRobles Consulting, and former global head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Gucci. Tirado was also previously chief diversity and inclusion officer at Major League Baseball.

Kisha Modica, head of equality and belonging at Gap Inc. With more than 15 years of experience at Fortune 500 organisations, Modica is committed to helping companies be a force for good by breaking down barriers to help drive systemic change and enable a culture of belonging for employees, customers and communities.

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