Creating an inclusive and unbiased hiring process

Prioritize flexibility in your processes

There’s no one right way to do things when it comes to recruitment, which is something Jessica stresses in her episode. People function differently and embracing this will lead to a more inclusive hiring process. One thing Jessica highlights is the importance of giving your candidates multiple ways to apply to your roles. For example, instead of sticking with only accepting resumes, consider allowing your candidates to submit portfolios or videos or something else creative. This will allow your candidates to showcase their uniqueness in the way that feels most comfortable to them.

Another area you can be flexible is when asking your candidates to do tasks or assignments. Most people who are applying already have their own full-time jobs or commitments, so instead of setting strict deadlines, ask your candidates how much time they need to complete a task. A small change like this can level the playing field, accommodate your candidates’ schedules and improve the candidate experience exponentially.

Fostering inclusivity throughout the process

There are a number of things you can do to encourage more inclusivity throughout your hiring process. A smaller but quite powerful change that Jessica’s company, Coolr, have done is offering an open text field for pronouns, which allows candidates to input themselves exactly how they want to be addressed. This enforces that the company is respectful and open to each candidates’ identity from the get go.

Another key thing Coolr does is avoid using the term “reasonable adjustments”, as who is to say what is considered “reasonable” and what isn’t? To allow your candidates to feel more comfortable about requesting any accommodations, consider simply asking “are there any accommodations we can make for you?”

Lastly, Jessica recommends giving candidates the option to have a look at interview questions beforehand, which is a practice that is gaining a lot more attention in today’s recruitment landscape. The idea of this is to reduce stress for candidates, but also to make the interview process feel more like an opportunity for conversation and less like a test to be caught out, which could lead to a more authentic conversation.

Using training to reduce bias

Jessica stresses the importance of training hiring managers to foster a more inclusive hiring process. A lot of the time, managers can be promoted into hiring roles, without having any previous experience at evaluating candidates. Because of this, it’s crucial to upskill your hiring managers on how to assess candidates without any bias and with an objective point of view, which will ensure a fairer recruitment process. 

Also, with multiple hiring managers involved in the process, Jessica emphasizes how essential it is to maintain an organized process. Coolr uses their ATS to keep all candidate data and communication in one place, which helps keep all stakeholders involved aligned on what’s going on.

Another tip Jessica recommends is to always be learning and looking for resources on the topic. She stays inspired by connecting with other thought leaders in diversity and inclusion and following advocates of the topic. She recommends following professionals such as Alicia Richardson from Black Create Connect, who provides insights on sourcing marginalized and underrepresented talent.

Takeaways

Creating a more inclusive hiring process doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, there are a lot of small and easy adjustments you can make straight away that will help to create a more welcoming and comfortable environment for your candidates. This will lead to a more diverse and more creative team, the benefits of which we've discussed in a previous episode here.

The journey to creating a more inclusive hiring process will involve changes, but ones that will end up being a worthwhile investment as they’ll end up benefiting not just the organization, but its employees as well. To get more tips from Jessica, listen to her episode of Happy Recruiting! On your preferred platform below