Fairness and Diversity – Eliminating Bias Throughout the Hiring Process Deaf Awareness Week 2024: Five Ways Employers Can Support Deaf Employees and Those with Hearing Loss The modern workplace is an inclusive landscape. By embracing the values of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I), organisations can draw on the skills and perspectives of individuals from varied cultural backgrounds and experiences, including the unique experiences gained from different age groups, those with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Achieving a truly functional, company-wide culture of inclusion requires an investment of time and energy, and effective implementation is a multi-layered task. Businesses are therefore advised to master the initial interactions a prospective employee has with them to set both the business and the new employee up for success. This article will explore how to ensure fairness and inclusivity at two leading stages of the hiring process – sourcing and selecting candidates. Bias-Free Recruitment Practices – Industry Insights and Advice Here are some proactive steps HR teams can take to ensure their recruitment process shifts from unconscious bias to conscious inclusion throughout the candidate journey: Inclusive Job Descriptions Attracting the best candidates starts with placing the most effective job description online. A crucial first step is to ensure your hiring team craft inclusive summaries free from gendered stereotypes and other biased language. By focusing on the essential skills and requirements for a role, the advert will appeal to as broad a base of applicants as possible, ultimately making the recruitment campaign more successful. Research published by the Forté Foundation found that words associated with male stereotypes (such as confident, lead, boast, and active) in job descriptions often demotivated women from applying for roles, with a recommendation to include gender-neutral wording where possible. Similarly, requesting a recent graduate could imply discrimination against older candidates, while asking for strong English language skills will put off non-native speakers. Instead, consider asking for a relevant degree or confident communication skills to appeal to a wide candidate pool. Blind Screening Every CV and cover letter should be considered equally. Once the applications are in, consider utilising blind screening techniques to remove information like the candidate’s name, age, or gender. This will ensure unconscious bias (such as assuming a person’s ethnicity) cannot be introduced when considering each application. If you collect application information such as sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity, ensure these are hidden from the hiring team and maintained for internal monitoring only. Leveraging technology can provide a valuable mechanism for ensuring ED&I compliance, with detection software able to flag potential bias in job descriptions and assist with automated blind screening. Data analysis technology can also scrutinise data to identify potential bias and discrimination patterns. But be aware – AI and machine learning are complex tools that require specialist understanding among recruitment staff in terms of the most effective ways to implement them. Structured Interview An interview is an established way to discover whether a candidate is the best fit for your company, goals, and objectives – but ensuring the process remains bias-free requires measured execution. Structured interviews are a practical method for ensuring candidates can rise to the challenge on an equal footing by introducing standardised questions, scoring rubrics, and evaluation criteria. Incorporating skills-first assessments and short tasks that simulate scenarios the candidate will face in the role will also allow them to showcase their competencies in a practical context. By asking a set of pre-determined questions in a consistent order, defining the competencies being assessed, and focusing on job-related factors, there is minimal opportunity for personal bias to affect the process. Providing clear scoring methodologies to interviewers will help them objectively rate candidates and make it easier for HR personnel to monitor results. Diverse Interview Panel A diverse employee base is a strong indicator of inclusivity and opportunity. Forming a widely representative interview panel is one of the most valuable ways to showcase your organisation’s commitment to ED&I at an early stage in the prospective employee journey. A panel with individuals who encompass a variety of ethnicities, genders, and age groups will immediately show prospective employees that you champion a work culture of representation. Do not overlook the importance of regular training for your HR team and staff from the wider organisation. Bias awareness training, mitigation strategies, and creative role-playing can help illustrate common instances of unintended bias in the hiring process and impact future decision-making and strategy. Adecco’s RPO Service Ensures Maximum ED&I Impact and Compliance At Adecco, equality, diversity, and inclusion are the cornerstones of our RPO solution. By drawing on our large team of industry experts, we are uniquely positioned to advise companies on incorporating ED&I principles into their recruitment process. Speak to an expert Connect with our team to find out how we can help you Contact us Blog Home Inclusive recruitment in 2024: How unconscious bias shapes your hiring process Building out an equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) ecosystem should be a business priority for every company. Involving actionable strategies focused on improving the employee lifecycle in the long run, as a business, your efforts should make... Learn More Across the Generations: How to help your multi-generational workforce excel As of 2023, there are five different generations coexisting in the workplace: Traditionalists, Baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z – that is, an age range which ranges from 16 to 75, covering vastly different life experiences, perspectives and skills. Learn More Menopause and women in leadership: Why doing nothing is hurting your business Each year on 18 October, World Menopause Day offers an essential reminder to acknowledge and support women experiencing the challenges of menopause. However, it’s crucial this support extends beyond a token 24 hours. To empower and uplift women navigating this potentially... Learn More
The modern workplace is an inclusive landscape. By embracing the values of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I), organisations can draw on the skills and perspectives of individuals from varied cultural backgrounds and experiences, including the unique experiences gained from different age groups, those with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Achieving a truly functional, company-wide culture of inclusion requires an investment of time and energy, and effective implementation is a multi-layered task. Businesses are therefore advised to master the initial interactions a prospective employee has with them to set both the business and the new employee up for success. This article will explore how to ensure fairness and inclusivity at two leading stages of the hiring process – sourcing and selecting candidates.
Bias-Free Recruitment Practices – Industry Insights and Advice Here are some proactive steps HR teams can take to ensure their recruitment process shifts from unconscious bias to conscious inclusion throughout the candidate journey: Inclusive Job Descriptions Attracting the best candidates starts with placing the most effective job description online. A crucial first step is to ensure your hiring team craft inclusive summaries free from gendered stereotypes and other biased language. By focusing on the essential skills and requirements for a role, the advert will appeal to as broad a base of applicants as possible, ultimately making the recruitment campaign more successful. Research published by the Forté Foundation found that words associated with male stereotypes (such as confident, lead, boast, and active) in job descriptions often demotivated women from applying for roles, with a recommendation to include gender-neutral wording where possible. Similarly, requesting a recent graduate could imply discrimination against older candidates, while asking for strong English language skills will put off non-native speakers. Instead, consider asking for a relevant degree or confident communication skills to appeal to a wide candidate pool. Blind Screening Every CV and cover letter should be considered equally. Once the applications are in, consider utilising blind screening techniques to remove information like the candidate’s name, age, or gender. This will ensure unconscious bias (such as assuming a person’s ethnicity) cannot be introduced when considering each application. If you collect application information such as sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity, ensure these are hidden from the hiring team and maintained for internal monitoring only. Leveraging technology can provide a valuable mechanism for ensuring ED&I compliance, with detection software able to flag potential bias in job descriptions and assist with automated blind screening. Data analysis technology can also scrutinise data to identify potential bias and discrimination patterns. But be aware – AI and machine learning are complex tools that require specialist understanding among recruitment staff in terms of the most effective ways to implement them. Structured Interview An interview is an established way to discover whether a candidate is the best fit for your company, goals, and objectives – but ensuring the process remains bias-free requires measured execution. Structured interviews are a practical method for ensuring candidates can rise to the challenge on an equal footing by introducing standardised questions, scoring rubrics, and evaluation criteria. Incorporating skills-first assessments and short tasks that simulate scenarios the candidate will face in the role will also allow them to showcase their competencies in a practical context. By asking a set of pre-determined questions in a consistent order, defining the competencies being assessed, and focusing on job-related factors, there is minimal opportunity for personal bias to affect the process. Providing clear scoring methodologies to interviewers will help them objectively rate candidates and make it easier for HR personnel to monitor results. Diverse Interview Panel A diverse employee base is a strong indicator of inclusivity and opportunity. Forming a widely representative interview panel is one of the most valuable ways to showcase your organisation’s commitment to ED&I at an early stage in the prospective employee journey. A panel with individuals who encompass a variety of ethnicities, genders, and age groups will immediately show prospective employees that you champion a work culture of representation. Do not overlook the importance of regular training for your HR team and staff from the wider organisation. Bias awareness training, mitigation strategies, and creative role-playing can help illustrate common instances of unintended bias in the hiring process and impact future decision-making and strategy. Adecco’s RPO Service Ensures Maximum ED&I Impact and Compliance At Adecco, equality, diversity, and inclusion are the cornerstones of our RPO solution. By drawing on our large team of industry experts, we are uniquely positioned to advise companies on incorporating ED&I principles into their recruitment process.