Race Diversity in Recruitment

This article covers race diversity in recruitment post a webinar held on Tuesday 21 February 2023 with Natasha Broomfield-Reid from Diverse Matters, covering past challenges and current solutions. Additional research has also been added to further explore the subjects discussed and take a more in-depth analysis.

Diversity in Recruitment

How have the names of applicants affected the selection process previously?

In 2017 the BBC conducted a test with two job seekers who had identical skills and experience seeking a business manager role in advertising. One was called Adam and one was called Mohamed. Out of 100 jobs applied to Adam was offered 12 interviews, while Mohamed was only offered four.

Two years later, a study in 2019 revealed that CV name bias is still rife with a study launched by the British Academy, revealing that 24% of white British applicants received a positive response, compared to 15% for minority applicants who had all:

• applied with identical CVs and covering letters.
• stated they were British born so fluency in English was not a consideration.
• had received a British education since the age of six.

How has the selection process changed to remove bias?

Anonymising CVs, often referred to as Blind CVs, are now used frequently by many organisations, and was first introduced into the UK in 2011, however anti-discrimination legislation covering hiring in most cases is difficult to prove.

What is a Blind CV?

A Blind CV is aimed at removing unconscious bias and would exclude all personal details which refer to the applicant's gender, age or ethnicity. The only information provided would relate to work capabilities, academic training and work experience.

What are the debates against Blind CVs?

In seeking to hire minority candidates, removing names will not allow you to identify who those candidates are. Education and experience will also not really tell you much about a candidate’s real abilities and are often accepted as the least predictive means of assessment.

What is the current appropriate term to use for minority candidates?

BAME has been used widely to represent minority candidates, however, it is more acceptable to now use the term 'ethnic diverse' or 'ethnic minority.' If you are discussing a specific community then reference to that community should be used. You should also ask those in your organisation what term they agree on as there can be a difference of opinion on what term is most preferable.

What assessments work best for predictive validity?

Psychometric testing can provide a glimpse into a person’s performance potential and suitability for a role, providing a scientific working around assessing an applicant’s aptitudes, behaviours and responses to job-related scenarios. You can also test their alignment to the company’s values covering their attitudes to integrity, transparency and belonging. To ensure these assessments are effective it is crucial to work with a job analysis for each role being recruited for, ascertaining the skills required.

There are three basic categories of tests covering:

• Aptitude Tests – these cover cognitive ability (verbal and numerical) reasoning, and skill-based assessments specific to the role.
• Behavioural Assessments – these include personality questionnaires and assess traits like creativity and innovation.
• Situational Judgment Tests – these mimic real-life scenarios that may be encountered in the job and can be measured through responses on the ability to overcome challenges. These also provide the candidate with good examples on what the job might entail.

These tests are fair and objective, providing the candidates an opportunity to showcase their skills, in addition they can receive their assessment report on their performance which allows them to identify and strengthen their skills and work on any weaknesses.

Where can I find a recommended assessment provider?

If you are seeking a recommended assessment provider, I personally worked with Spotted Zebra in 2021 and would highly recommend them - they have created a platform that enables organisations to adopt a skills-based approach, embedding best practice and ensuring a data-driven approach to people decisions.

What is the current experience of candidates from ethnic and minority groups applying for jobs?

A study by the Chartered Management Institute in 2022 revealed Black and Asian UK workers felt they were being held back at work by bias. The reasons provided for those being overlooked for promotion were hairstyles and not drinking alcohol. Shockingly, one worker who was leaving an organisation, on their last day had just happened to have straightened their hair and was told: ‘Oh, your hair looks really nice. It’s a shame you didn’t do it like that before, maybe it would have worked out for you differently here.’ Workers who identify as LGBTQ+ also experienced greater harassment and bullying.

Job descriptions and inclusivity – what should you not forget to include?

• Details on who to contact for any required interview adjustments.
• The offer of providing alternative formats for applicants with relevant disabilities and using a font that is easy and large enough to read.
• Confirm you are seeking to address under-representation in your organisation through adding in a paragraph such as the following ‘We welcome people from diverse communities and are looking to increase our racial diversity and welcome applications from marginalised communities’. You can research other adverts to consider the best wording for your organisation.
• Use inclusive and gender-neutral language using tools such as Textio which is a paid tool but you can check Google for free options.
• Include details of how you are dealing with race equity, such as working groups in the company and that you have a zero-tolerance policy.

How can you ensure your interview process is free of bias?

• Ensure you have at least two interviewers (but three interviewers is even better) to eliminate bias.
• There has been and is evidence that some psychological assessments are biased and not great for diverse candidates so review the data.
• Include a question at interview relating to race such as asking a candidate what they would do if they saw someone being mildly aggressive in the workplace or noticed someone was not getting the same opportunities.

What is the difference between ‘positive action’ and ‘positive discrimination’?

Positive action is reaching out to diverse candidates through organisations and setting a standard, which could be that you interview everyone that falls into this, thereby preventing barriers. If you have a few people achieving the same scoring you can legally recruit the person who is from an underrepresented background as long as there is transparency to everyone involved in the process and confirmed as the reason for hiring that candidate. Alternatively, if you are unsure on who to offer the role to you can consider looking at individual scores for specific questions asked and offer the role to someone with the highest score for a particular question or task. Positive discrimination would refer to recruiting a candidate based on their diverse background and not their talent.

What is the law on positive action?

Positive action is a range of measures allowed under the Equality Act 2010 which can be lawfully taken to encourage and train people from under-represented groups to help them overcome disadvantages in competing with other applicants.

What can you do if you are seeking diverse talent and work with recruitment agencies?

It is acceptable and legal to request a short-list of diverse candidates to review for a role you are trying to fill.

Racism in the workplace

A survey held by the University of Manchester in 2019 revealed that racism is a huge issue in the workplace with 70% of ethnic minority workers saying that they have experienced racial harassment at work in the last five years, and around 60% saying that they have been subjected to unfair treatment by their employer because of their race. Almost half reported that racism had negatively impacted on their ability to do their job, and almost half have been subject to ‘verbal abuse and racist jokes’.

How can you convey the message that you want to recruit diverse candidates?

Look at what your messaging is all year round on your website and ensure you are confirming the work you are doing around diversity. Include regular messages on race equity and how you support and seek this in your organisation and confirm it is ongoing. Create race networks that can become safe spaces and advertise these in your messaging to candidates who are looking to apply.

How can you ensure race is being addressed in your organisation?

You should regularly audit and review your policies to ensure there is an action plan with messages on race inclusion and race equity clearly identifying what inappropriate behaviour is. You should have a champion that addresses race and have senior people on board so that race is on the agenda. Look at how development opportunities are held, provide resources and guidance and seek race inclusion to be confirmed through actions and not words. Provide relevant links on your intranet that can accessed at any time, as opposed to specific delivered sessions when the issue highlighted. This will ensure race is always on the agenda and ensure that inclusion is embedded as everyone’s responsibility.

What should the audit include?

Audits are important to look at monitoring, recruitment, promotion, development, pay gaps, retention, grievances versus demographics (looking at the breakdown of ethnicity as there will be different issues for different racialised communities). Include disability. Look at the career progression levels of those employed and check for discrepancies. There is evidence grievances and disciplinaries are higher than those from ethnic backgrounds so breaking down ethnic groups will identify communities and challenges.

How can you address race inclusion?

Ensure you conduct anonymous employee surveys where you can ask questions about culture or if anyone has witnessed inappropriate behaviour. Ask them what they think it is like to work in your company. You can then set some targets on what you are striving for and make any relevant changes based on the responses provided.

What training can employees involved in recruitment benefit from?

Training in anti-racism, race equity and cultural awareness should be held to help reduce bias in recruitment.

Reverse mentoring – what is this?

You could consider implementing this in your company where you have someone who is junior to be a mentor to someone senior. This provides opportunities for senior management to share experiences within a safe environment where boundaries are set out from the start on what can be discussed.

How do you encourage employees to be ‘race champions?

You may have a network or group in your company who can focus on how support can be provided but if you do not currently have anything in place, provide training and a range of activities to create culture awareness which can be promoted and celebrated by employees.

How can smaller companies with low recruitment needs promote diversity?

Provide a diversity message on your website even though you may not currently be hiring, confirming you are looking to recruit candidates from inclusive backgrounds. For those with smaller budgets and not able to partner with expensive organisations, it was suggested you could build your own relationships with communities and ask for some free collaborations. Ask how you can help each other with what they can offer you and what you can offer them.

Finally, who should you advertise your job vacancies with to ensure you are attracting diverse and inclusive talent?

In supporting organisations who work with focus groups supporting all protected characteristics, ensure you advertise your vacancies with the following, as relevant to your industry:

BMEjobs.co.uk, LGBTJOBS.co.uk, Includability.co.uk, Disabilityjob.co.uk, UpReach.org.uk, RareRecruitment.co.uk, 55Redefined.co