Building Diverse Teams in the Industrial Aftermarket: Inclusive Recruitment Strategies for 2026

Building a more diverse industrial aftermarket team is not simply a compliance exercise.

It is an opportunity to reach a wider talent pool, introduce different perspectives into the business and improve how an organisation understands its customers, employees and markets.

The industrial aftermarket has traditionally recruited from relatively familiar networks. Experience within a particular product category, competitor or distribution channel is often valued highly, and understandably so.

However, repeatedly recruiting people with the same backgrounds, career histories and perspectives can unnecessarily restrict the available candidate pool.

That creates a commercial risk in a market where experienced sales, marketing, product, technical, operational and leadership professionals are already difficult to find.

Improving diversity does not mean lowering standards or selecting candidates because of a protected characteristic. It means removing unnecessary barriers, assessing people consistently and ensuring that suitably qualified candidates have a fair opportunity to demonstrate what they can offer.

Key Takeaways

• Building a more diverse team is a commercial and workforce-planning decision, not simply a compliance exercise.

• Unconscious bias can influence job descriptions, shortlisting, interviews and final selection decisions.

• Skills-based recruitment can widen the candidate pool without compromising quality.

• Structured interviews and consistent scoring improve fairness and decision-making.

• Flexible working can make industrial aftermarket roles accessible to a broader range of experienced candidates.

• Inclusion must continue after appointment because recruitment alone does not create belonging.

• Employers should measure outcomes throughout the recruitment process to understand where candidate pools narrow.

Why Diversity and Inclusion Matter in the Industrial Aftermarket

The industrial aftermarket includes manufacturers, distributors, service providers, engineering businesses, MRO suppliers and organisations operating across automotive, commercial vehicle and specialist industrial markets.

Many of these businesses face similar recruitment challenges.

They need people with strong commercial awareness, technical credibility, customer relationships and knowledge of specialist routes to market. Those requirements can make it tempting to recruit only from a narrow group of direct competitors.

Sometimes direct sector experience is essential.

In other situations, employers may be excluding strong candidates whose experience could transfer successfully from an adjacent market.

For example, a salesperson from filtration, hydraulics, agricultural machinery, construction equipment or technical distribution may possess many of the same capabilities required by an industrial aftermarket supplier:

• Managing distributors and end users.

• Developing technical customer relationships.

• Growing an underdeveloped territory.

• Working autonomously.

• Understanding margin and pricing.

• Translating product knowledge into commercial value.

A more inclusive recruitment process encourages employers to distinguish between experience that is genuinely essential and experience that is merely familiar.

That difference can substantially increase the number of credible candidates available.

What are the benefits of a more diverse industrial workforce?

People with different professional and personal experiences may approach customers, problems and opportunities in different ways.

Within a commercial team, this can help a business:

• Understand a broader range of customers.

• Challenge established assumptions.

• Identify overlooked market opportunities.

• Improve problem-solving.

• Strengthen decision-making.

• Build a more representative leadership pipeline.

Diversity alone does not guarantee better commercial performance. People must also be supported, included and given the authority to contribute.

However, a team made up of people who think and behave in exactly the same way may be less likely to challenge established practices or recognise opportunities outside familiar markets.

For an industrial aftermarket business looking to develop new sectors, routes to market or customer groups, greater diversity of thought can be particularly valuable.

Understanding the Barriers Within Industrial Aftermarket Recruitment

The barriers to a more diverse workforce rarely appear as one obvious policy.

More often, they develop through a series of small recruitment decisions.

These can include:

• Requiring direct sector experience when adjacent experience could work.

• Insisting on a degree when the role does not genuinely require one.

• Using language that may discourage some candidates.

• Recruiting repeatedly through the same personal networks.

• Assessing “culture fit” without defining what it means.

• Conducting unstructured interviews.

• Favouring candidates whose career paths resemble those of existing employees.

• Offering limited flexibility without a clear operational reason.

None of these decisions necessarily begins with an intention to exclude.

Taken together, however, they can result in the same types of candidates being considered repeatedly.

What Are the Legal Requirements for Diversity and Inclusion in UK Recruitment?

UK employers must comply with the Equality Act 2010.

The legislation protects people from discrimination connected with nine protected characteristics:

• Age.

• Disability.

• Gender reassignment.

• Marriage and civil partnership.

• Pregnancy and maternity.

• Race.

• Religion or belief.

• Sex.

• Sexual orientation.

These protections apply throughout recruitment, including job advertising, application handling, shortlisting, interviews, selection and appointment.

Employers should ensure that recruitment decisions are based on relevant, objective criteria and that interview questions do not stray into inappropriate areas connected with protected characteristics.

Positive action may be lawful in certain circumstances where an employer reasonably believes that people sharing a protected characteristic experience disadvantage or are underrepresented.

However, positive action is different from automatically preferring someone because of a protected characteristic. Employers considering specific positive-action measures should ensure that their approach is lawful, evidence-based and proportionate.

This article provides general recruitment guidance rather than legal advice. Employers should obtain appropriate professional advice where a recruitment decision raises a specific legal question.

How to Implement Inclusive Hiring Practices in Industrial Aftermarket Recruitment

Inclusive recruitment should not be treated as one isolated initiative.

It requires employers to examine each stage of the process, from defining the role to onboarding the successful candidate.

Step 1: Define What the Role Genuinely Requires

Begin by separating essential requirements from preferences.

Ask:

• Must this person have worked in our exact product category?

• Could relevant experience come from an adjacent technical market?

• Is a degree essential, or would equivalent commercial experience be sufficient?

• Does the role require a fixed number of years’ experience?

• Which competencies determine success?

• What could realistically be taught after appointment?

For a Key Account Manager, the essential requirements may be the ability to develop strategic customers, negotiate effectively, manage margin and identify growth opportunities.

Knowledge of a specific product range may be desirable, but it may not always be essential if the person can learn quickly and already understands technical distribution.

This distinction helps employers widen their search without weakening the brief.

Step 2: Write a More Inclusive Job Description

A job description should explain the opportunity clearly rather than describe an imagined perfect candidate.

Use direct, neutral and accessible language.

Focus on:

• What the person will be responsible for.

• What they will be expected to achieve.

• Which skills are essential.

• Which requirements are desirable.

• What support and development will be available.

• How and where the role will be performed.

Avoid unnecessary phrases that may narrow the audience.

For example, terms such as “young and energetic”, “digital native” or “recent graduate” may discourage suitable applicants and can create legal risk.

Similarly, phrases such as “ten years’ experience required” should only be used where that length of experience is genuinely necessary. In many roles, demonstrable capability is more relevant than time served.

The advertisement should also be honest about:

• Salary or salary range.

• Bonus arrangements.

• Travel.

• Working location.

• Flexibility.

• Hours.

• Benefits.

• Development prospects.

Transparency helps candidates make informed decisions and improves the quality of applications.

Step 3: Advertise Beyond the Usual Channels

Advertising in the same places tends to produce candidates from the same pools.

A broader sourcing strategy may include:

• Direct search.

• Professional networks.

• Industry associations.

• Referral activity.

• Return-to-work programmes.

• Technical and commercial communities.

• Relevant social media groups.

• Specialist recruitment partners.

• Candidates from adjacent sectors.

A strong recruitment partner should not simply post an advertisement and wait.

They should proactively identify individuals whose experience, skills and potential align with the brief, including people who may not regard themselves as an obvious candidate.

This is particularly important in the industrial aftermarket, where many experienced professionals are not actively applying for jobs.

Step 4: Use Consistent Initial Screening

Initial applications should be assessed against agreed criteria.

Where practical, employers may consider anonymising information such as names and other personal details during the first review stage.

However, anonymisation is not a complete solution on its own.

Bias can still enter the process through assumptions about:

• Employers.

• Qualifications.

• Career breaks.

• Job titles.

• Industry backgrounds.

• Length of service.

The most important step is to create a clear screening matrix before reviewing applications.

For example, candidates could be assessed against:

• Relevant commercial achievements.

• Customer-management experience.

• New business development.

• Technical learning ability.

• Leadership capability.

• Route-to-market knowledge.

• Evidence of working autonomously.

Each candidate should be assessed against the same relevant requirements.

Step 5: Structure the Interview Process

Unstructured interviews can easily become conversations about shared interests, familiar employers or personal chemistry.

That may feel natural, but it does not always produce the best hiring decision.

A structured interview should include:

• The same core questions for every candidate.

• Questions linked directly to the role.

• Evidence-based competency questions.

• A consistent scoring framework.

• Independent interviewer notes.

• Time to compare evidence after every interview.

Rather than asking whether someone feels like a “good fit”, define the behaviours the business actually needs.

These may include:

• Commercial judgement.

• Customer focus.

• Resilience.

• Collaboration.

• Accountability.

• Curiosity.

• Adaptability.

• Leadership.

Culture fit should not mean finding someone similar to the existing team.

A better question is whether the candidate can work successfully within the organisation’s values while also contributing something different.

Step 6: Review the Interview Panel

Where possible, include people with different responsibilities or perspectives in the assessment process.

This might mean involving:

• The hiring manager.

• A colleague from another function.

• A future peer.

• A senior leader.

• An HR representative.

The purpose is not to make the panel diverse for appearance’s sake.

It is to reduce the risk of one person’s preferences dominating the decision and to ensure candidates are assessed from more than one perspective.

All panel members should understand:

• The assessment criteria.

• The questions they will ask.

• How scoring will work.

• Which evidence is relevant.

• Which subjects should not influence the decision.

Step 7: Offer Appropriate Flexibility

Flexible working can significantly widen the candidate pool.

This is especially relevant for commercial roles that are already field-based or home-based.

An Area Sales Manager may spend most of the week visiting customers. Requiring that person to attend an office several days each week may add little operational value while excluding candidates with caring responsibilities or long commutes.

Employers should consider:

• Whether the role can be hybrid.

• Whether start and finish times can vary.

• How frequently office attendance is genuinely required.

• Whether travel can be planned more effectively.

• Whether the role could be performed by someone working reduced or adjusted hours.

Not every role can offer the same flexibility.

The important point is to base restrictions on genuine operational requirements rather than tradition.

How Can Employers Reduce Unconscious Bias?

Bias is difficult to eliminate completely because it often operates without deliberate intent.

The objective should therefore be to design a process that limits the influence of personal assumptions.

Practical steps include:

• Agreeing criteria before applications are reviewed.

• Using standardised interview questions.

• Asking for specific evidence.

• Scoring candidates independently.

• Avoiding vague concepts such as “gut feeling”.

• Reviewing unusual career paths fairly.

• Challenging assumptions about career breaks.

• Separating essential requirements from preferences.

• Recording the reasons behind decisions.

Hiring managers should also be encouraged to question familiar reactions.

For example:

• Am I favouring this candidate because their background resembles mine?

• Am I interpreting confidence as competence?

• Am I penalising someone for communicating differently?

• Am I placing too much importance on a familiar employer?

• Would I evaluate the same answer differently if another candidate gave it?

The purpose is not to remove judgement from recruitment.

It is to make that judgement more consistent and evidence-based.

How Do Inclusive Job Descriptions Improve Hiring Outcomes?

Some suitable candidates apply when they meet only part of a job specification.

Others may decide not to apply unless they meet nearly every requirement.

A long and overly prescriptive list can therefore discourage credible applicants.

Inclusive job descriptions improve outcomes by focusing attention on what matters most:

• The purpose of the role.

• The outcomes expected.

• The skills needed.

• The support available.

• The working arrangements.

• The potential for development.

They also make it easier for candidates from adjacent industries to understand how their experience could transfer.

For industrial aftermarket employers facing persistent talent shortages, that can make the difference between searching a narrow competitor pool and accessing a much broader range of commercial capability.

Attracting Candidates From Adjacent Industries

Sector experience is valuable, but it should not become an automatic barrier.

Businesses should consider which adjacent markets develop comparable skills.

Depending on the vacancy, these might include:

• Automotive aftermarket.

• Commercial vehicle parts.

• Agriculture.

• Construction equipment.

• Hydraulics.

• Filtration.

• Industrial consumables.

• Engineering distribution.

• Manufacturing.

• Plant and machinery.

• Tools and workshop equipment.

• Process industries.

The key is to assess what transfers.

A salesperson may not know your products on day one, but they may already understand:

• Distributor relationships.

• Technical selling.

• Territory development.

• Long sales cycles.

• Margin management.

• End-user demonstrations.

• Account planning.

• Autonomous field sales.

Product knowledge can often be taught more easily than commercial judgement, curiosity or relationship-building ability.

Beyond Recruitment: Creating an Inclusive Culture

Recruiting someone from a different background achieves very little if the person does not feel able to contribute once they join.

Inclusion means creating an environment where people:

• Understand what is expected.

• Have access to support.

• Can express different views.

• Receive fair development opportunities.

• See transparent promotion criteria.

• Feel respected by colleagues and managers.

• Can raise concerns safely.

This requires more than an annual training course.

It depends heavily on everyday leadership.

Managers should understand how to:

• Communicate expectations clearly.

• Adapt their management style.

• Provide regular feedback.

• Recognise contribution.

• Address inappropriate behaviour.

• Encourage constructive challenge.

• Discuss development openly.

The first 90 days are especially important.

Structured check-ins after 30, 60 and 90 days can help determine whether the employee feels supported, included and able to perform.

Useful questions include:

• Is the role what you expected?

• Do you have access to the information and support you need?

• Have you been able to build the right internal relationships?

• Is there anything making it harder for you to contribute?

• What could we do differently?

The answers may highlight issues before they become reasons to leave.

Retaining a More Diverse Team

Retention should be considered at the same time as recruitment.

Employers should review whether everyone has fair access to:

• Training.

• High-profile projects.

• Customer exposure.

• Mentoring.

• Promotion.

• Leadership development.

• Flexible working.

• Recognition.

Informal opportunities can be particularly important.

If promotions and development are influenced mainly by personal relationships with senior leaders, employees outside established networks may be disadvantaged even when formal policies appear fair.

Transparent criteria create greater confidence and make progression easier to understand.

Measuring Diversity and Inclusion Outcomes

Businesses do not need a complicated reporting system to begin measuring progress.

Start by identifying where the recruitment process narrows the available pool.

Useful measures may include:

• The profile of applicants.

• The profile of shortlisted candidates.

• Interview-to-offer conversion rates.

• Offer acceptance rates.

• First-year retention.

• Internal promotion rates.

• Employee engagement feedback.

Any monitoring of personal data should be handled appropriately, lawfully and confidentially.

The purpose is to identify patterns rather than make assumptions about individuals.

For example:

• If the application pool is broad but the shortlist is narrow, review screening.

• If the shortlist is broad but offers are concentrated, review interviews and selection.

• If offers are declined by particular groups, examine the candidate experience, flexibility and reward.

• If diverse hires leave quickly, review onboarding, management and inclusion.

Data should guide practical action.

It should not become a reporting exercise with no visible outcome.

A Six-Step Inclusive Recruitment Checklist

1. Audit the job description

Remove unnecessary qualifications, excessive experience requirements and language that could discourage suitable applicants.

2. Define objective selection criteria

Agree essential skills and evidence before reviewing applications.

3. Broaden candidate sourcing

Use direct search, specialist networks, referrals and adjacent industries rather than relying on one advertising channel.

4. Structure the interview

Ask consistent questions and score candidates against pre-agreed competencies.

5. Review the decision

Compare evidence, challenge assumptions and record why the selected candidate best meets the role requirements.

6. Measure the outcome

Review applications, shortlists, offers, acceptance and retention to identify where improvements are needed.

Key Questions for Industrial Aftermarket Employers

Before launching your next recruitment campaign, ask:

1. Are all our essential requirements genuinely essential?

2. Could someone from an adjacent industry succeed?

3. Are we advertising in places that reach different candidates?

4. Does our job description explain the opportunity clearly?

5. Are all candidates assessed against the same criteria?

6. Does our interview process measure evidence or personal chemistry?

7. Could greater flexibility widen the candidate pool?

8. Are development and promotion opportunities transparent?

9. Do new employees feel included after they join?

10. Are we measuring where our recruitment pool narrows?

These questions can improve recruitment quality as well as inclusion.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the legal requirements for diversity and inclusion in UK recruitment?

The Equality Act 2010 protects candidates from discrimination connected with nine protected characteristics. Employers should apply fair, relevant and consistent criteria throughout advertising, shortlisting, interviewing and selection. Lawful positive action may be used in specific circumstances, but it is different from automatically selecting someone because of a protected characteristic.

How can I reduce unconscious bias in industrial aftermarket recruitment?

Use clearly defined selection criteria, structured interviews, consistent questions, evidence-based scoring and more than one perspective in the final decision. Avoid relying heavily on gut feeling, personal similarity or vague assessments of culture fit.

What are the benefits of a more diverse industrial team?

A more diverse team can introduce different perspectives, broaden customer understanding, challenge established assumptions and widen the organisation’s future leadership pool. These benefits are strongest when employees also feel included and able to influence decisions.

How do inclusive job descriptions improve recruitment?

Inclusive job descriptions focus on essential skills and outcomes rather than an unnecessarily narrow candidate profile. This can encourage qualified people from different backgrounds or adjacent sectors to apply without lowering the standards required for the role.

Can flexible working attract a broader range of candidates?

Yes. Appropriate flexibility can make roles more accessible to people with caring responsibilities, disabilities, longer commutes or different working needs. For autonomous field-based commercial positions, flexibility can often be introduced without compromising performance.

Does building a diverse team mean lowering recruitment standards?

No. Inclusive recruitment should make standards clearer and more consistent. The aim is to remove irrelevant barriers and ensure candidates are assessed fairly against the capabilities genuinely required to succeed.

Looking to Broaden Your Industrial Aftermarket Candidate Pool?

JSL Solutions supports manufacturers, distributors and service providers across the automotive and industrial aftermarket with commercial, sales, marketing, product, technical, operational and leadership recruitment.

We combine direct search, established industry relationships and structured candidate assessment to identify people who meet the requirements of the role, including credible candidates from relevant adjacent markets where appropriate.

If your traditional recruitment approach is repeatedly producing the same limited candidate pool, we would be pleased to discuss how a broader and more structured search could help.

About the Author

Stewart Lupton is Managing Director of JSL Solutions, a specialist recruitment consultancy supporting manufacturers, distributors and service providers across the automotive and industrial aftermarket.

Drawing on more than 25 years of commercial experience and extensive recruitment expertise, Stewart helps businesses recruit sales, marketing, product, technical, operational and leadership professionals throughout the UK and Ireland.