Ten ways to implement inclusive recruitment in pharmacy

Why inclusive recruitment matters

Pharmacy teams across all sectors face significant pressure to innovate, deliver safe care and retain skilled professionals. Attracting the right talent is not just about qualifications, it is about building dynamic, diverse teams that reflect and serve the communities that pharmacy teams care for^​1​. 

However, inequalities in NHS recruitment and career progression persist^​2​. Discrimination continues to disadvantage individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, with harmful impacts on both individuals and wider healthcare outcomes^​2​.

The NHS ‘Pharmacy workforce race equality standard’ report, published in September 2023, revealed significant underrepresentation of black, Asian and minority ethnic pharmacists in band 8a and above roles, with even greater disparities seen for women from these backgrounds^​3​. Intersectionality, which is the overlapping effects of different identities, further shapes individuals’ experiences in the workforce.

Workforce diversity leads to better decision-making, improved team performance and enhanced patient care^​2​. Inclusive recruitment enables pharmacy teams to unlock the full range of available talent, remove structural barriers and create equitable access to opportunity^​1​. In addition, inclusive recruitment is not about lowering standards; it is about ensuring that the best candidates are seen, supported and selected.

NHS England’s ‘No more tick boxes: a review on the evidence on how to make recruitment and career progression fairer’ report, published in 2014, called for bold, systemic change and a move beyond tokenism^​2​. Although inclusion must extend across development and leadership pathways, recruitment is a critical first step to achieving lasting equity.

Ten principles of inclusive recruitment

1. Comply with legal requirements 

Recruiting managers must understand and comply with the Equality Act 2010^​4​, which protects against discrimination and outlines the Public Sector Equality Duty. This compliance includes a proactive obligation to advance equality of opportunity through fair and inclusive recruitment processes.

2. Acknowledge and address bias

Recruitment decisions are inherently subjective, and unconscious bias can shape outcomes in subtle yet powerful ways^​5​. More than 176 types of bias have been identified; however, some of the most common biases in recruitment include^​6​:

• Geographical bias: Perceptions are formed based on geographical information;
• Gender bias: Higher expectations may be present that are based simply on a person’s gender;
• Affinity bias: Preferring those with shared interests or life experiences;
• Accent bias: Accents can trigger prejudice and stereotypes about a person’s cultural and social background.

3. Design inclusive roles and adverts

• Ensure role requirements are clear, specific and behaviour-based^​7​.​ Women and candidates from ethnic minority groups are more likely to apply for roles where the requirements are expressed as behaviours rather than character traits^​8–10​. For example, instead of requiring ‘extensive knowledge of all aspects of pharmacy’, specify that candidates should ‘demonstrate ability to apply pharmaceutical knowledge in clinical settings and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams’. While it has not been tested, this approach should increase applications from other marginalised groups, such as neurodivergent candidates, who may be more affected by lack of clarity around job requirements than others^​11​;
• Use inclusive language in job adverts to appeal to a broad audience via tools such as Hemingway Editor and Gender Decoder to maintain neutral language^​7​.​ Evidence has shown that masculine-coded words can dissuade women and introverts from applying; however, feminine-coded words have been found to not dissuade male applicants or extroverts^​12​ (see Table);
• Where possible, minimise essential criteria to five to eight considerations to avoid unnecessarily narrowing your talent pool^​7​. When essential criteria are truly essential and cannot be removed, select the most important ones and highlight them in the main body of the job description;
• Clearly communicate the organisation’s inclusion values, flexible working policies and benefits^​7​;
• Ask all applicants if they need to access any workplace adjustments at each stage, such as the job advert, application, interview and any other selection methods^​7​;
• Ensure advertisements are live for at least two weeks and include interview dates with reasonable notice^​7​. This allows applicants with carer and parental responsibilities to plan arrangements.

Table: Examples of gender-coded words in job advertisements⁸

4. Widen the applicant pool

• Advertise on multiple platforms (e.g. Evenbreak, BME Jobs, LinkedIn) to increase visibility and reach a wider audience^​7​;
• Share opportunities with staff networks and professional groups, such as the UK Black Pharmacists Association, Female Pharmacy Leaders Network and Pharmacy Technicians of Colour^​7​.

5. Shortlist fairly

• Form panels of at least three people, aiming for diversity of background and perspective^​7​;
• Pre-meet to agree scoring criteria and panel roles^​7​;
• Score consistently using a shared framework^​7​;
• Accommodate accessibility needs and schemes, such as the disability confident employer scheme, and understand how to support applicants with disabilities^​7​.​

6. Ensure diverse perspectives on interview panels 

• Diverse interview panels can improve recruitment outcomes by reducing unconscious bias and enhancing decision-making in the recruitment process; it can be beneficial to invite staff members from underrepresented groups to join the interview panel^​6​. Candidates may be reassured to see minorities or someone with a similar background to them represented on the panel^​6​;
• Creating diverse panels can be challenging, particularly in smaller organisations or less diverse teams^​6​. Where staff on the panel are more junior than the other panel members, they may lack the required confidence and influence to challenge hiring decisions^​6​. Combat this by ensuring your assessment process provides equity of input, with clear and factual scoring criteria, which will reduce the ability for bias or unbalanced panel influence to creep in^​6​; 
• When minority groups are underrepresented in an organisation, their requirement to take part in interview panels could create a disproportionate burden on these individuals. Practical solutions to this problem include^​6​:
  • Building a cross-organisational pool of trained assessors;
  • Inviting colleagues from other areas, such as community pharmacy, local primary care networks or integrated care system partners;
  • Rotating panel membership to avoid overburdening individual members of staff;
  • Ensuring all panel members are trained in inclusive recruitment.

7. Conduct inclusive interviews

• Ensure assessors are adequately trained and prepared. They should understand and be able to follow uniform procedures and scoring criteria, as well as be aware of their own biases. Assessors should consider any training requirements (e.g. unconscious bias)^​7​;
• Ensure decision-making remains aligned to the agreed scoring criteria and positive indicators, so as to objectively appraise the candidate’s abilities^​7​;
• Take detailed notes during interviews to create an audit trail. This aids objective decision-making and allows assessors to provide constructive feedback to candidates at the end of the process^​7​;
• Take the time following the interview to independently reflect on your own notes and assign scores — do not rush it and do not do it during the interview^​7​;
• Examine the facts and use what was said in the interview as the basis of your assessment, rather than prior knowledge. Avoid the temptation to read ‘between the lines’ or basing judgements on your ‘gut feeling’ to remain objective^​7​;
• Interrogate your own thinking and question if any bias or assumption has crept in when assigning your scores^​7​.

8. Apply robust moderation

• Allow time for moderation, which ensures scoring criteria are applied fairly and consistently by all assessors ⁷;
• Moderation ensures scoring criteria are applied fairly and consistently by all assessors⁷;
• Each assessor should score independently. Avoid collective scoring, which can be dominated by louder voices or senior figures which may discourage input from more junior panellists⁷;
• During moderation, each panellist should share their scores and explain the reasoning behind them, with clear evidence⁷;
• Each panellist should be encouraged to openly question each other’s biases to support more accurate scoring⁷;
• Aim for consensus through discussion, not by averaging scores. This encourages balanced decisions and ensures all perspectives are considered. ⁷

9. Give quality feedback

• Feedback should be timely, constructive and clear^​7​. It promotes transparency, supports candidate development and enhances your organisation’s reputation. Avoid vague responses such as ‘You were a close second’. Instead, outline the candidate’s strengths and provide clear, actionable suggestions on how their responses could have been improved. This helps candidates reflect and grow, even if unsuccessful^​7​;
• Invite candidates to offer feedback on their experience of the recruitment process. This supports continuous improvement and shows a commitment to fairness and respect^​7​;
• Offering and receiving feedback demonstrates that your recruitment process values learning and development, for both candidates and the hiring team^​7​.

10. Onboard inclusively 

• Recruitment is just the beginning. Focusing solely on getting people through the door can create a sticking plaster for deeper issues, such as how employees experience the workplace or whether they feel supported to succeed^​13​;
• A truly inclusive approach considers how new starters are welcomed, integrated and developed. Without this, organisations risk poor retention and missed opportunities to nurture talent^​13​. Inclusive onboarding should include^​13​:
  • A structured induction with clear expectations and practical support, which is ideally over six months, not just one day;
  • Buddy systems or mentorship to provide informal support and belonging;
  • Regular one-to-ones with line managers to offer feedback, address concerns and reinforce strengths;
  • Reflecting back what stood out during the interview to help build confidence and connection.
• Alongside recruitment, induction, talent development and appraisals are essential functions that shape workplace culture and belonging. When onboarding is done well, it lays the foundation for individuals to thrive and stay^​13​.

Conclusion

Inclusive recruitment is not a one-time fix; it requires continuous commitment, reflection and action from pharmacy leaders at every level. Similarly, representation is not a tick-box exercise; it is a cornerstone for innovation, credibility and trust within the communities that pharmacy teams serve².

To build a workforce that is truly reflective of the diverse needs of the population, the ten principles and associated actions provide possibilities for deliberate, ongoing steps to ensure fairness and equity in every recruitment decision. 

The future of pharmacy must be diverse, equitable and inclusive, and recruitment is where that future begins.