The Inclusive Hiring Digest – The National Inclusion Week Edition #ThePowerOfNow
Jennie Child
Inclusive, Accessible & Equitable Hiring through Audits, Training, E-Learning & Advisory | Founder of Balance | Mental Health First Aider | ADHD | Speaker |
Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Inclusive Hiring Digest – The National Inclusion Week Edition #ThePowerOfNow
In our previous edition, in partnership with our friends at Diversely.io, we talked about Neurodiversity inclusion as part of an intentionally inclusive approach to hiring – missed it?
To read the complete edition, including access to our recruiters and hiring managers guide - click on the image below.
In celebration of #NationalInclusionWeek and this year’s theme, we’ve dedicated this entire edition to The Power Of Now! This year’s theme is based on the belief that a more action-focused approach to inclusion is needed to bring about impactful change.?
And to mirror the sentiment of this theme, at Balance , we also believe that REAL inclusive hiring is about continued and persistent action, not tokenistic efforts.
Therefore, in the spirit of #ThePowerOfNow, here are five practical things you can do as an organisation, which do not require ANY additional budget, that will impact inclusion when hiring.
?? Create an inclusive job description template
Inclusive and effective job advertising can make or break your appeal to a broad range of candidates, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds.?However, it seems to be the one task that is often overlooked. We see recruiters and employers posting the same roles on LinkedIn repeatedly without considering how they will land with the desired audience.?
If you don’t have the budget for a fantastic tool like the Diversely.io job ad bias analyser – then a simple template will also help your hiring managers and recruiters.?It should inspire the writer, guide them to the correct length of the advert, optimise the structure and help them avoid gendered or off-putting language.?Read this great article from Creative Access
?? Create a standardised interview feedback form
Have you ever given or received the following interview feedback?
“They’re not quite the right fit.”
If so, then this is un-inclusive.?You haven’t given them a fair chance if you can’t say why a candidate isn’t right for a role. It also won’t do your employer’s brand much good.?
Those who recruit frequently will know that the root cause of this type of feedback is likely a lack of bandwidth rather than poor intentions.?An interview feedback template makes it easy for hiring managers to give feedback whilst holding them accountable for providing that feedback against relevant criteria for the role.?Ask them to score or rate the candidate across 3 – 5 attributes (remember they need to be uniquely relevant to the job).
If you have an Applicant Tracking System (e.g. Greenhouse, Workable, ICIM’s etc.), then you can set this up directly in your ATS. If you don’t, then excel works, too (be mindful of data compliance, where you save the information and who has access to it). ??
?? Remove ‘Culture Fit’ from your hiring vocabulary
This is not new news; we’ve been discussing this problematic term for some time and its anti-inclusive impact.?It encourages affinity bias and often leads to homogenous hiring decisions.?
However, you know we don’t like to leave you without a solution. Therefore, we encourage you to switch to a ‘Culture Add’ mindset and ask yourself, your leaders, and senior managers.
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?? Make it a policy not to ask candidates for their current salary information.
We all know that pay gaps exist, and one of the key reasons is that a candidate’s current salary is often used as the basis for a job offer.?This is another un-inclusive action.?There are many reasons as to why someone’s salary may be lower than the next candidate.?They may have experienced discrimination, had time away from their career to raise a family or experienced health issues.?
Offer within the salary band agreed at the outset, and don’t take advantage of someone because their salary happens to be lower.
Additionally, bear in mind that someone’s existing salary is not necessarily an indication of;
Stick to this inclusive hiring principle, and any gender pay gap you have will likely narrow.
?? Offer Inclusive Adjustments
Most employers offer “reasonable adjustments”, which can usually be found in small print at the bottom of a job advertisement.?
If you genuinely want to improve accessibility, you need first to consider;
? Try adding the following phrase to the beginning of your job adverts.
If you require any adjustments or support during the recruitment process for any reason whatsoever, please advise us by [email protected]. Any information you disclose to us will be treated in confidence, will have no bearing on your application, and will be used solely to provide you with the proper support.?
Even with the correct statement on your adverts, candidates may still feel uncomfortable discussing additional needs until they have been selected for an interview. Hence, we recommend re-offering adjustments throughout the recruitment lifecycle, especially when confirming interviews.
What do you think of our five suggestions? Do you do any of these already, and what impact have you seen? Please add your comments below ??.
In other news....
We recently held our second Inclusive Recruitment Train-The-Trainer programme, where we took another cohort of passionate individuals and turned them into facilitators.??Our next programme will be held on Wednesday 2nd November, to book your place click here.?For more information on our course content, click the image below.
Happy National Inclusive Week from Balance!