Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Inclusive hiring
that keeps the bar high and treats people properly
The pet and animal health world is a small, well-connected industry. Candidate experience travels fast, through practices, peer networks, WhatsApp groups, LinkedIn, and word of mouth. When a process feels robotic, inconsistent, or unclear, it does not just lose you great people, it sticks to your reputation.
At The Animal People, we help employers hire fairly and consistently and get the results they need. That means structured assessment, better decision-making, and a candidate journey that feels human, because that is what professional hiring looks like.
Why this matters here
A poor experience hits differently in this sector. Many candidates are already navigating burnout, redundancy, compassion fatigue, or uncertainty about their next step. If an interview is badly handled, if feedback disappears, or if decisions feel arbitrary, it can knock confidence and leave people feeling worse than when they started.
What we mean by DE&I
For us, DE&I is not a statement on a wall. It is what your hiring process does in real life. It shows up in:
- How roles are designed, and whether requirements are realistic
- How candidates are assessed, and whether decisions are based on evidence
- How accessible the process is, and how safe it feels to ask for adjustments
- How you communicate, especially when you are saying no
If your process is vague or inconsistent, bias has more room to creep in, and you will lose strong people without ever knowing why.
A great candidate experience raises the quality of hiring
When expectations are clear and interviews are structured, you get better evidence and more consistent decision-making. Candidates know what good looks like, interviewers assess the same things, and the process feels fair from start to finish. You still hire the best person for the job, you just stop filtering people out for the wrong reasons.
How we help
We work with employers across the pet and animal health industries to improve attraction, assessment, decision-making, and candidate experience.
Support typically includes:
- Reviewing your hiring journey, spotting drop-off points, bias risks, and friction
- Improving job adverts and recruitment messaging, so you widen reach without diluting quality
- Building structured interviews, including questions, scorecards, and panel alignment
- Strengthening decision making, including note taking, evidence-based debriefs, and consistency
- Improving accessibility and adjustments practice, so candidates can perform at their best
- Tightening candidate communication, so your process feels respectful and professional
What you can expect
If we do this well, you will feel the difference quickly. Hiring becomes clearer and more consistent across managers, interviews generate better evidence, candidates feel informed and respected, and your employer brand strengthens through lived experience, not just marketing.
Let’s talk
If you want inclusive hiring that is realistic, straight-talking, and built for this industry, get in touch.
Jo Major is an integral part of how we do recruitment properly. She is a highly respected Diversity, Equity & Inclusion specialist with a rare ability to combine deep expertise with warmth, humanity and real-world commercial understanding.
Jo works alongside our team and our clients to ensure hiring decisions are fair, inclusive and truly focused on potential – not just polished CVs. From interview training and bias awareness to building assessment processes that actually work, she empowers leaders to spot brilliance in all its forms.
Having Jo as part of our offering means our clients don’t just hire faster – they
hire better, more responsibly, and with long-term impact. She helps protect employer brands, elevate candidate experience, and create hiring processes that people feel proud of. Quite simply, she raises the bar for what great recruitment should look like.
“Inclusive hiring only works when it is practical. I help Animal People’s clients build recruitment processes that remove unnecessary barriers, improve accessibility, and give candidates a fair opportunity to show their strengths. We cover everything from inclusive job design to structured interviewing, scorecards, adjustments, and decision-making. The goal is hiring that is rigorous, consistent, and better for everyone involved.”
Jo Major
