Expert Opinion: Hiring the ‘Right Person’ and the benefits of Inclusive Recruitment

Caroline Patten from Stockport recruitment consultancy, Grassroots, explains how an inclusive recruitment process can help SMEs find the right person for the job.

When I meet with a new client to take down a recruitment brief, they usually all say the same thing: “We just want to find the right person for the job.” Obvious, right? But as I dig a bit deeper, I try to get them to think about, “How do you define the ‘right person’?” and that’s a lot harder to articulate.

When we start to unpick what “right” really means, it’s often based on an instinctive sense of who will “fit in” with the team – particularly within SMEs, where there can be less time to acclimatise and a more urgent need for new starters to hit the ground running. And that’s perfectly natural – we’re all human, and we tend to gravitate towards what feels familiar.

That said, familiarity isn’t always the best foundation for building a strong, balanced team. This is where inclusive recruitment comes into play.

But what does that actually mean?

Inclusive recruitment is about designing your hiring processes in a way that ensures everyone — regardless of background, identity, or circumstance — has a fair opportunity to apply, be considered, and succeed. It goes beyond legal compliance or ticking boxes. It’s about removing barriers, challenging bias, and actively seeking out diversity. It’s truly about hiring the “right person” for the job.

One client I met with recently described it as shifting the mindset from hiring for “culture fit” to hiring for “culture add”, which I thought was a fantastic description and really highlighted the benefit of bringing in people who can enrich your team, challenge assumptions, and drive innovation.

Why it matters just as much (if not more) for Small Businesses

If you’re a HR manager or director in an SME, you might be thinking this isn’t advice for you. You don’t have the budget, resources or even the need for change, and you’re already hiring for ‘culture and values’.

But here’s one thing that will hit home: when you’ve only got a team of ten or twenty, one bad hire can have a massive impact. And equally, one inclusive hire can bring in a fresh perspective, access to untapped markets, and a wider talent pool.

What’s more, when you’re recruiting in a tight talent market, competing with bigger firms for the best recruits and combating counter offers with the promise of a better opportunity, a more inclusive approach will undoubtedly make a difference. You’ll attract more applicants, increase interview attendance (and performance), make more effective hiring decisions and onboard a better quality of hire.

Inclusive recruitment isn’t about positive discrimination or lowering the bar. It’s about widening the lens through which you assess potential. And for small businesses, this can be a game-changer.

The benefits of inclusive hiring in Small Teams

From my work supporting Stockport and Manchester-based SMEs, here are a few real-world advantages I’ve seen them experience first-hand:

• Quicker to shortlist: You’re not just fishing in the same pond as everyone else.
• More job acceptances: An inclusive hiring process sends a powerful message about your values.
• Better quality hires: Diverse teams bring varied viewpoints, which leads to more creative solutions.
• Longer job tenures: People who feel seen and valued are more likely to stick around.

Small steps to make your Recruitment more inclusive

You don’t need a massive budget or a dedicated HR team to start. Here are a few practical ways to improve inclusivity in your recruitment process:

1. Review your job descriptions: Watch out for gendered or exclusive language. There’s plenty of free online tools that can help with this (just ask me).
2. Broaden your advertising channels: Don’t just post on LinkedIn or Indeed. Think about community networks, charities, or job boards for underrepresented groups.
3. Standardise your interview process: Use structured questions and scoring criteria to reduce bias (and issue these to candidates in advance).
4. Involve more than one person in hiring decisions: Diverse panels lead to more balanced outcomes.
5. Gather feedback and track your data: You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

(These may seem a little superficial to begin with, but we all have to start somewhere and if you want more, I have A LOT more!)

But let’s be clear: It starts with an Inclusive Culture

This bit is crucial. You can have the most inclusive recruitment process in the world, but if someone joins your business and doesn’t feel welcome, supported, or able to be themselves, they won’t stay. Inclusive recruitment is just one part of a bigger picture. It’s about embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) into your leadership style, your day-to-day practices, and your business strategy.

I often advise clients to look at their employee journey as a whole – from onboarding to progression, from team meetings to performance reviews. Inclusion isn’t a checklist, it’s a culture.