Embracing a Diverse Self? Implementing targeted recruitment through image change (WITHDRAWN)

Abstract

The growing interest in targeted recruitment of minority demographic groups such as women has sparked a surge of studies recommending organizations to adapt or change their image to being one of an inclusive employer that is actively seeking applicants with diverse backgrounds. Little attention, however, has been given as to how organizations can implement such changes to their image. Through our collaborative action research project with one such employer, we find that changing an organization’s image as expressed through their job advertisements is complex and that messages in the job ads are linked to the identities of the organization. Efforts to change the organization’s job ads generated sensemaking by the project members about “who we are as an organization” and triggered their reflection on whether organizational identities that emerged as core to the recruitment process were aligned with the desired changes to the organizational image. Based on our findings, we elaborate on the conditions necessary for altering organizational images, highlight the efforts involved from HR practitioners in such change processes, and discuss the limitations of image changing strategies within the context of diversity initiatives.