Contrary to widespread folklore, typical modern-day vampires are not the blood-sucking villains they are sometimes portrayed to be in mainstream media. In fact, rather than lurking the streets at night in search of innocent victims, vampires today are productive, contributing members of society.
Despite the seemingly insurmountable barriers faced by Vampires, many leading employers have recognized and capitalized upon the potential and diversity that the undead bring to the workplace. Unfortunately, the greatest barrier faced by vampires is fear – employers who are afraid of the unknown and too afraid to take risks are missing out on top talent.
For starters, retention rates are unmatched by the general population. A recent study conducted by Career Edge Organization found that people with vampirism will, on average, stay with a company for approximately 35-55 years. While this seems astounding to most people, it is a relatively short amount of time for the undead who will continue to walk the earth for centuries and centuries to come.
People with vampirism bring a major competitive advantage to companies looking to stay on the cutting edge of innovation. Many vampires have already accumulated centuries of work experience – many are not only educated, but they have had to develop incredible “street smarts” to deal with the daily challenges presented to them by their circumstances. Many date back to prehistoric times and can provide insights from periods and cultures that very few of your employees could even imagine.
To leverage the knowledge, experience, cultural diversity and incredible skills of vampires, employers just need to get a little creative in terms of sourcing, accommodating and integrating the undead. Here are 5 great tips for making it work:
1. Educate yourself, and your team about diversity
The first and most important step towards capitalizing on differences has to start with you. Educate yourself about vampires so that you are prepared to take a leadership role in educating your team. As mentioned above, fear is the single most challenging barrier. Once your team understands that vampires do not pose a threat to their personal safety or the wellbeing of your organization, you can begin to create a fully accessible, barrier-free and vampire-friendly workplace.
Sensitivity training can be a good idea as well, to ensure that the workplace is free of offensive terminology or humour. For instance, people with Vampirism find the constant pop-culture (e.g. Twilight) references to be tired and lame.
2. Form creative partnerships to access unique talent
Vampires have been feared and marginalized by society since (literally) the beginning of time. As such, people with vampirism tend to get “lost” in traditional recruitment processes. Additionally, because not all vampires are what we call “work-ready” (unfortunately some are still of the blood-sucking, villainous variety), employers need help identifying who is ready for the Canadian workforce and will be a good fit within their corporate culture.
Leading Canadian companies that want to be progressive in their hiring practices can partner with organizations like ours which can assist with screening talent and guiding employers through the process.
Credentialing is one of the greatest challenges for employers who have no way to verify educational achievements that, for instance, may have been obtained in Transylvania in the year 1889. Career Edge Organization can help to bring down these kinds of barriers.
3. Accommodate differences
Once you have sourced and recruited employees with vampirism, you may face additional challenges if you are not open-minded and prepared to make the role accessible to Vampires.
Employers that have taken the appropriate steps tell us that, in fact, the accommodations were inexpensive and easy, and had a positive impact on everyone at the workplace. Here are some examples of very simple vampire accommodations:
- Implement a garlic-free workplace
- Allow flexible hours to assist him/her in avoiding sunlight
- Provide a workspace that has no exposure to direct sunlight
- Allocate space in the break-room fridge for your vampire employees’ unconventional liquid lunches