Reducing the impact of biases throughout the recruiting process
During this period of economic constraints, many organisations are currently significantly reducing their hiring needs and having their talent/ internal teams spend some time re-evaluating processes. Focussing on improving the candidate experience throughout the interviewing, hiring and onboarding processes - an area that is massively neglected during the peak hiring periods.
And so the question becomes:
How can we reduce the impact of biases throughout the recruiting process?
Having attended a breakfast panel discussion on this very topic, hosted by ATS platform TeamTailor, they brought together four highly experienced DEI consultants for an open discussion to share their insights and suggestions.
Key Takeaways:
💎 Understanding the difference of Job description & Job advert, how they link together and the lens to view each part to ensure you are engaging a diverse talent pool
💎 Why are diversity statements at the end of vacancy postings...does it seem like an afterthought? Ways to incorporate that DEI value within the entire description
💎 Collecting data? When in the process is the best time to ask for this and are you clearly communicating that this info won't be used in any discriminatory manner?
A case study presented was informing candidates that following their experience of being within the hiring process of a company - regardless of outcome - they would be asked to complete a feedback form and the option to provide specific characteristics data. Not only did this still allow the candidates a choice to share this but doing so after being in the process allowed candidates to build a sense of trust with the company prior to sharing this information.
The benefit of doing so for the company?
They were able to see where candidates where sourcing & finding their opportunities, where in the process candidates where not progressing to which this could also be compared against the level of positions candidates where applying for. The client was able to produce a much wider picture of their hiring funnel against where candidates where being sourced from and identify any potential trends.
💎 As an external recruiter, one question that I will now be incorporating into my client calls, is what adjustments can be made within their current process should this be requested?
💎 With the onboarding experience, is it just one process for everyone or are there ways we can implement an onboarding experience that best suits your new starter's needs and the way they take on information? Documents to read, videos to watch, socials to attend before they start. etc
💎 Buddy systems? Are the internal team members who are chosen to be buddies trained on dealing with different personalities/ perspectives! Your new team members are here so now we shift the focus to retention and the onboarding is the very first impression of the business.
💎 DEI isn't a once and done. It constantly needs reassessing and improving and adjusting. It's a BIG topic so focus on the current pain points of the business and structure a DEI strategy to address it!
💎 Extend DEI resources to the wider team, not just C-Suite, Managers, Talent teams - a successful DEI approach requires EVERYONE to play a part.
What other ways would you add to this list to reduce bias in the hiring process?