Do this for Pride Month: turn your “EEO statement” into an inclusion promise

Jun 22, 2017

Senior Director of Brand Experience

By now you should know that job listings with strong EEO statements hire better, and they hire faster. Here’s a basic version that you see a lot:

[Company name] is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

If you’re not using an EEO statement now, and you add this kind of language to your job ads, it will statistically improve your recruiting. Because science. (And according to trending data, this is even more true if you are hiring in the tech sector, or in Textio’s hometown of Seattle, where the terms gender identity and sexual orientation are more likely to lift your hiring metrics now than they were a year ago.)

But you can do much better than this basic boilerplate language. What you may not know is that even though sexual orientation and gender identity are included in the above language, they differ from most of the other identities — because sexual orientation and gender identity are still not federally protected. Yes, there are many states where you can still be legally fired, passed over for promotion, or simply never hired, for the sole reason that you’re not 100% straight.

So, if you’d like to let your potential applicants know that your company doesn’t do that (oh, and by the way, you’re also likely to see even better hiring metrics), let’s add some real teeth to your inclusion statement. Go beyond the legalese. Say it like you mean it, not like you’re just trying to appease your attorney.

To make this easy for you, here are three of my favorite inclusion promises, each with a very different style. None of these is copyrighted, so just steal them; imitation is flattery. And make yourself proud by doing this before Pride Month is over.

Uplifting: Google

At Google, we don’t just accept difference — we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community. Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

Assertive: Workable

Your gender, your gods, your sex life, your skin color or your bigshot uncle don’t make a difference here. Workable is a progressive and open-minded meritocracy. If you’re smart and good at what you do, come as you are.

Committed: Textio (Yes, we’re hiring!)

Textio embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.