1 of the Big Things that DE&I is doing WRONG in 2023 ??

Super, Super sensitive topic – I KNOW, BUT TRUST ME – THIS IS A GAMECHANGER.

So, what is the 1 Big Thing? What is being done wrong in DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) in 2023?

Right now, there’s a big push to build big DE&I departments all over the place, which, the intention behind it I think is good, however, I usually just see a lot of these departments creating & giving lectures to recruiting, interviewing, hiring teams and employees across the board about uncovering, acknowledging and/or identifying the possibility of biases we may have consciously and/or unconsciously - telling us that we need to be aware of those biases and how they impact our judgement so that we can make better decisions. Now, that's good stuff to know - for sure, and I'll say, I’m very much a supporter of DE&I (I want that to be very, very clear, so take your cancel culture hats off right now, burn them, and just absorb what I’m going to outline here):

• Diversity: I like diversity because it’s the right thing to do, as it makes teams & products better in many ways usually, and, frankly, in my opinion it makes life more enjoyable.

• Equity: I want things to be fair for everyone – that’s pretty straight-forward.

• Inclusion: I want everyone to have equal access to being considered for opportunities and resources.

And I must say, I love the practice of striving to uncover what makes us tick and what influences us in our decision making. As Aristotle once said, “Knowing thyself, is the beginning of all wisdom.”

However, when DE&I professionals start everything with trying to address the conscious and unconscious biases everyone supposedly has, it's kind of like building a house on a crumbling foundation.

Starting DE&I this way isn't correct (in my opinion). This is what I think is wrong with most DE&I programs in the present day (March 23, 2023).

WHERE TO BEGIN:

You need to start with the foundation!

Now, if you’re reading this, you may be wondering, “Well, what the hell’s the foundation?” WELL………………..

?

??The foundation is the criteria and questions that interviewing teams are asked to evaluate candidates by. That’s the foundation!

The one thing that DE&I professionals, Interviewers, Hiring Managers and many recruitment professionals who are striving to make more diverse teams are often failing to consider is something that is should be so blatantly obvious that it astounds me that this isn’t the first thing that’s looked at when companies start looking into improving DE&I.

This may sound weird, but the ONE THING – the big elephant in the room that most people seem to be missing is, ‘question wording bias’,

• I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW – you might be rolling your eyes reading this saying to yourself, ‘Ugh – another thing you’re claiming that I’m biased against… heard this tune before. Next please!”

Allow me to redeem myself and this article with a quick explanation.

Wording bias, also called question-wording bias,?happens in a survey when the wording of a question systematically influences the responses. Wording bias leads to survey data becoming less valuable as it is inaccurate.

This special type of bias is created through the phrasing of questions that teams are told to evaluate candidates by. So, it doesn’t matter if the hiring manager has 0 bias from the beginning, because with specific wording of questions or criteria you’re asking the hiring manager to evaluate the candidates by, the phrasing itself basically forces the hiring manager to be bias in their evaluation of candidates.

• I’ll give you a quick example of this: So... I know this doesn’t initially sound like a big deal – but everyone should be switching from using the term "culture fit" to, instead, saying "+ culture add". Why is that? It’s because when you say “is this candidate a culture fit for our existing team, or our company?”, you’re basically asking the interviewer to make the judgement call if the candidate is similar to the existing team. Well, well, well… Sounds like you’re working against Diversity initiatives right there! Now, switch the phrasing to, “is this candidate going to be a positive addition to the culture of our team/company?” and now, you’re working more towards DE&I initiatives. Trust me, even this tiny switch of going from ‘culture fit” to “+culture add”, will make a major positive impact in the psychological approach your interviewing teams will have when they are measuring/considering/evaluating candidates.

The Beautiful Thing About All This...

You know what’s absolutely beautiful about all this? I’m saying that most people aren’t racist, sexist, agist, (all the -ist’s), that would be illogical to think that there’s racism rampant throughout every company & every interviewing team in the entire world. The truth is that the 'criteria', 'the way you word the questions that interviewing teams are to assess candidates by', could easily be the culprit you’ve been looking for all along.

? Startups & Small Businesses: You probably don’t need to create an entire DE&I department which will increase your overhead to start making some serious progress in the areas of DE&I.

? Start with going through the questions & criteria you and your teams are evaluating candidates by, and/or, partner with an expert recruiter like me who can help you identify where there are areas of improvement in the phrasing of your interview criteria & questions. The first step in DE&I should be to uncover and eliminate the question-wording bias that may exist in your interview process.

WHAT NOW:

Question-wording bias can be fixed on a single day – so, what’s stopping YOU from making TODAY that ‘day’ for your team?

?? If you're one of the rare thorough readers of my sporadic articles that I post within the vast depths of LinkedIn, then, I want to say, "Thank you!" ????

This isn't always the easiest thing to do in the world, to write an article for the entire world to read, and often, be judged on. I consider myself more blunt than most when it comes to speaking & writing, AND, I don’t make the ‘easy to produce’ articles or videos that act as a mere echo chamber of overdone topics. My top priority is to always strive to bring the most value to my audience in every way possible - to question everything and bring understanding or alternative perspectives to a conversation. This is how you become a better recruiting profession. This is how you become a better human.

So, thanks for reading!

#talentacquisition #recruiting #recruitment #startups #UnitedStates #hiring #dei #diversity #diversityequityandinclusion #humanresources #talentmanagement #ceo #csuitepartners #business

Jonathan Cash