How to flex | People | Talent
How to advertise inclusively. Building the perfect job ad.
👥 Who:
Hiring managers or talent acquisition partners
Why:
Opening new jobs to market with flexible work options will open the pool of talent.
Step 1: Design the role
What are the key priorities and deliverables for this role?
What are the essential components of the role to meet those objectives? Keep it brief. Fewer than 5 points.
What are the key skills needed to meet those objectives? Keep it brief. Fewer than 5 things.
What is the level of this role? If a more senior person applied, would they achieve the outcomes more quickly? (If so, they could get paid the same for fewer days and you could find a star.)
For guidance on how to build a role, read our Role design section.
Step 2: Decide what types of flexibility you can offer
Hint: the more types, the more high calibre people will apply
When could this work be done? Is part-time an option? How many hours/week is enough to deliver on highest value outcomes.
What aspects can be done in the office or remotely? Could all of them feasibly be done remotely? (Tap into talent in all locations!)
Could the role be split?
Realistically, what reduction in hours could be considered to still achieve the core deliverables (how much flex is there)?
For all the flex options, check out What is flexibility — or download our flexible work menu.
Note: To attract top talent based on your flexibility offering, it needs to be holistic and systematically embedded across the organisation.
Step 3: Discuss the purpose and impact of the role
What will people be “working for” if they do this role? What impact can they have?
What is your Employee Value Proposition? Is it inclusive and flexible?
Are there examples of people working flexible hours?
The top 4 things Beam’s jobseekers look for:
Purpose/values alignment
Flexibility
Ability to make an impact
Something worthy of their experience
Men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications. Women apply only if they meet 100% of them (HBR).
We recommend a max of 5 essential responsibilities for the job ad. There could be more in the longer job description.
Step 4: Writing the Job ad
Be clear on your organisation’s purpose and what you stand for
List only the core components of the role
Focus on outcomes and skills rather than a laundry list of daily responsibilities
Include as many flexible working options as possible to attract the most candidates (When, Where, How)
Don’t discount the salary because the role is flexible or part-time. Focus on quality of work delivered. (Determine the full-time salary and pro rata based on days/hours worked.)
Don’t assume you know the “type of person” you’re looking for. Bias will enter the job ad.
Eliminate any barriers or discriminatory requirements that may prevent people from applying for roles (eg. avoid asking for “recent” experience or requesting someone needs to have a driver's licence. This can put some disabled people at a disadvantage. )
Need help writing the job description? Use Beam’s DIY job ad builder.
Avoiding bias in hiring
Set a rule for 50/50 male/female candidates to interview. Don't automatically accept “there just aren't any women in this area.” Vary up your approach to advertising roles. We need to open up more talent pools to draw more women in so we can choose the best talent for the role.
Take a look at your shortlist. Does it look diverse? If not, why not?
Make a template for your interviews. What are the important skills that will lead to success in this role? Focus on what the contribution could be, not just the experience they’ve had.
Each interviewer should make their own assessment of “hire, don’t hire, not sure” and note this down, with the reason for their view BEFORE discussing with other people.
Each interviewer should form their own opinion of preferred candidates and rank them BEFORE discussing.
If you’re doing one interview virtually, do them all virtually. Get in a good, open mindset before each interview.
Be mindful of questions that may be invasive or potentially discriminatory.
Don’t assume that a full-time person will deliver better on the outcomes than a part-time person.
Put flexibility on the table
Find out from the candidate what work flexibility they are seeking. Trust us, candidates will be so happy to be able to discuss this openly, they’ll already have a great opinion of your organisation.
There is no point promising something that can not be delivered on. Make sure hiring managers are on board. Be realistic in how you can shape the role to accommodate this flexibility.
Talk openly about your organisation and the flexibility available. Candidates want to see examples of this.
If you hire someone part-time for a job that was previously full-time, make sure you redesign the role and use the remaining budget to get more resources or promote another member of the team, so you cover the workload.
Level up Post a job to hidden talent or review talent processes.
