One of the keys to longevity and sustainability in business is outsourcing the tasks that are a major time suck or that you just aren't good at. That can be website design, copywriting, social media engagement, and even hiring.
When we're outsourcing it's incredibly important to have that contractor or employee be a representative of our brand. It's important for them to be an extension of our voice and vibe so that it feels cohesive even if it wasn't written directly by you.
But one thing that often gets left out of the conversation is how our values come into play. And if anti-racism is one of those values, then you need to understand how those values relate to the task you're seeking to outsource. If not, there will be a constant gap preventing you from reaching the goals you've set which fall in line with your anti-racism work.
Let's use hiring as an example. Inclusive hiring goes beyond just looking at diverse candidate pools. It starts from the job description to the application process, to the screening process, and finally the interview. These are all seemingly traditional processes that can be made more equitable and can both strengthen and diversify the types of candidates that make it to the interview stage. But when you hire a hiring agency that will take that all away from you, they'll definitely bring you a handful of strong candidates (because that's their expertise). What they most likely won't do is go through the process in a way that has anti-racism, equity, and inclusivity at its forefront because that's not how we were traditionally taught.
So even though you've put "we encourage women, BIPOC, and members of the LGBTQ+ community to apply", your hiring process may be saying otherwise.
Let's do one more quick example. Marketing. That's usually one of the first things we outsource as business owners. Sometimes that's copywriting and other times it's a Facebook Ads expert.
If you don't work with an anti-racism consultant on inclusive marketing first, you're throwing money away. That means working on understanding the different versions of your buyer. Not just the one that's exactly like you. Armed with that new information you can truly maximize the way your copywriter speaks to your audience.
Anti-racism work is something that starts at the foundation of your business and makes it through to every area of how your business functions. The most efficient way to get this done is by doing it before you start outsourcing. The second most efficient way is by starting today.
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