We want to ensure our recruitment procedure is fair, transparent and comparable for all advertised positions.  We also want to actively encourage diversity in our workforce and to do this we need to increase the diversity of people who apply for positions with us.   

A few facts: 

• Only 57% of Manchester’s population identifies as white. The non-white population has increased from 33.4% to 43.2%, including an increase in all Asian ethnic categories from 17.1% to 20.9%, and an increase in all Black ethnic categories from 8.6% to 11.9%. 
• 19% of working-age adults in England are disabled 

Therefore, we know that disabled and people from the global majority are under-represented on our staff team.  

For that reason, we want to communicate that we welcome diversity in the words we use on recruitment documents. We offer an interview to the global majority and disabled applicants if they meet the Essential Criteria on a Job Spec and state in job adverts that we will do this. This is a way of encouraging diverse people to apply and offering them an enhanced opportunity to demonstrate their suitability for the position. 

The final appointment is still made on merit. 

In order to make sure we make our decisions fairly, we will follow this process during recruitment: 

• A two-part application form, with all personal details, including EDI monitoring, on part 1, which is separated from part 2 on receipt. 
• Recruitment panel only select from the part 2 application, ensuring that all candidates are selected purely on merit. 
• Any applicant who meets the criteria, who is then revealed to be from the global majority or disabled, is automatically offered an interview. 

• The following statement appears on all adverts:  

Z-arts welcome applications from all sectors of our society, reflecting the diverse world in which we all live. We would particularly welcome applications from global majority and disabled people. We are taking the positive action of offering an interview to all global majority and disabled applicants who meet the Essential Criteria on the job description for the post. Any final appointment to the post will be made on merit. 

Z-arts has been running unconscious bias recruitment since 2018.  As a learning organisation, open to change, we are always looking at how we can improve our processes.  As such, this procedure is under review so that we can make our recruitment processes even more accessible and inclusive, and welcome any suggestions for improvement.