Diversity Manager
Western Specialty Contractors, a specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration and waterproofing, recently expanded its diversity and inclusion efforts with initiatives focused on attracting more candidates with culturally diverse backgrounds. To lead the expanded efforts, Western promoted Aaron Moore to the new position of manager, talent acquisition and diversity.
“Western has always had an affirmative action plan and promoted diversity across the business, and we’re expanding upon these efforts. Western Specialty Contractors believes that greater diversity of inputs from a more diverse workforce will assist in developing and providing more relevant and appropriate services to the customers and communities that make up Western’s customer base,” said Moore. “The goal is not to have a diverse organization for diversity’s sake, but to really create true inclusion by providing a seat at the table or opportunity at the leadership level for women and minorities. We’re focused on this at all levels of the organization, from field labor through senior management.”
Many of the roles within Western have changed in recent years with a greater emphasis placed on diversity. Founded in 1915, Western has 30 branch locations across the United States, with its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, and employing more than 1,300 people. Western is working to make its workforce as diverse as the communities that it serves.
“To be effective in these roles, it is important that this organization has a workforce that is representative of the community,” said Moore. “Relevant sections of the workforce must be able to communicate effectively with communities and people of culturally diverse backgrounds and be accepted by members of these communities as appropriate and plausible service providers.”
Western is taking measures to attract a more diverse range of applicants, such as including language in advertisements that encourage people of culturally diverse backgrounds to apply, placing advertisements in appropriate publications and non-traditional media to reach a broader range of applicants, and conducting a diverse candidate search when it becomes apparent that a position will be created.
Those applicants who meet all of the work-related requirements for the position will be placed in a pool of competitive applicants from which the final selections will be made, taking into account the business needs identified and the mix of appointees that will best meet the work-related requirements of the positions. In this way, the diverse backgrounds and experiences of each competitive applicant will be considered.
“This phase of the selection process will ensure that those applicants ranked as competitive and highly preferred will better reflect the cultural diversity of the organization’s community that they will serve. It will also ensure that equal opportunities are offered to applicants from those groups previously under-represented in our organization’s workforce,” Moore said.
