Diverse recruitment is good for everyone. So how do you create an inclusive culture that supports long-term success, and share it with great candidates beyond the arts sector?
In 2021 Spektrix published Rethinking Recruitment, a practical resource designed to help arts and entertainment organisations attract a greater diversity of candidates to ticketing, marketing, and fundraising roles.
We shared our key learnings with the UK Theatre network at the time – and in 2026, released a new report, Powered by Purpose, exploring workforce development, employee retention, and workplace culture across the arts and events sector. Inclusive recruitment is just one step toward hiring and retaining great teams – explore the latest research to learn what workers are asking for from their leaders and organisations.
Inclusive recruitment in practice
Nottingham Playhouse, a receiving and presenting theatre in the East Midlands, has recently reviewed recruitment policies as part of its EDI work. The aim was to increase the diversity of its team across multiple demographics, particularly in terms of socioeconomic diversity – a focus driven by the specific needs of Nottingham’s communities. Starting with Front of House and Box Office roles, the organisation changed its job descriptions and advertising to focus on aptitudes rather than practical experience, making it easier to promote opportunities across a wider range of outlets and attract a wider pool of applications.
We can teach somebody software, but you can’t teach somebody to be nice to people and helpful and want to problem solve and all of those really key customer service skills. We basically stripped out previous experience, and we really thought about what somebody needs to do the job, rather than how many years’ experience they had. So looking at competencies and attributes rather than whether they’ve worked in Box Office before.Joanna Sigsworth, Head of Marketing & Communications
Nottingham Playhouse
Today, Nottingham Playhouse has extended its inclusive recruitment to entry-level marketing roles and technical teams, as well as creating more apprenticeships. In parallel, its leaders have consciously set expectations internally that new hires might need sector-specific training from the start. Provided they have hired people with the right potential, they know they can take advantage of tools like Spektrix and Dotdigital that are easy to learn and offer training at no additional cost.
Creating and measuring an inclusive culture
Company culture might feel intangible or jargony, but in essence it’s simple. An inclusive culture shows up in the everyday experience people have when they work in your organisation. What welcome do people receive? Does everyone experience the same inclusive atmosphere?
Broken down like this, culture becomes easier to track. Use simple surveys or demographic data to measure feelings of wellbeing and inclusion across your team, check that everyone has equitable access to learning and development, and ensure that hiring and promotion help you build a more diverse team.
Once you understand what works, you can change what doesn’t. Building a fully inclusive culture takes deliberate effort and conscious choices about what you’re trying to achieve. But the good news is that those choices have often already been made.
Your company’s mission can influence internal culture just as much as your outward-facing work. Support every team member to see how their work relates to your mission, how they can measure success, and where they can change and improve to meet shared goals.
At Spektrix, the mission, in brief, is to work in partnership with arts, culture, & in-person experience organisations to build audience relationships and organisational health. By connecting every role to that shared mission, engineers build new features with users’ needs in mind; when the client success team responds to requests, it can offer answers that support long-term strategy, not just immediate challenges; and office-based roles stay focused on enabling internal efficiencies that ultimately contribute to users’ success
Tell stories that represent your culture
Once you’ve built a great culture, put it at the heart of your storytelling. Content that demonstrates how you live your values may interest audiences, funders, and candidates.
Consider the brands you engage with. Some might give you a warm feeling inside – you enjoy interacting with them and investing in their product. Others might win your custom out of necessity or convenience, but they don’t align with your values.
Then find opportunities to build that same affinity with your organisation. You’re trying to “sell” your organisation to potential candidates, and your inclusive values may be central to their decision. Share your culture across multiple formats and touchpoints to speak to every candidate.
- Employee stories. Once you’re confident that team members are invested in your culture, invite them to share their stories. At Spektrix, team members were happy to share their experiences with prospective candidates, because company values were embedded in their experience from day one.
- Statistics. Be transparent about the demographic makeup of your team, so candidates understand what to expect. At Spektrix, annual data is published across several demographic characteristics.
- Activity. Share news about employee activity – whether you’re working remotely, coming together in person, volunteering as a team, or building affinity groups within your organisation – to show how you’re working to sustain an inclusive culture over time.
Marketing your stories to the right audience
Finally, get your stories in front of the right people. Arts organisations often rely on sector-specific jobs boards, like Arts Jobs or UK Theatre’s Job Vacancies. They’re useful, but they may not break through to candidates outside the sector.
- Create strong job packs or careers pages that showcase employee stories. Help interested candidates understand who you are, what you value, and why they should apply.
- Identify relevant search terms, research them using tools like Google Analytics, and optimise your content. Could your next Front of House manager be searching for customer service roles or flexible hours, rather than theatre jobs?
- Share beyond the usual channels. LinkedIn Life Pages are one way to share your culture; Drumrole lists jobs that put people and planet first.
