THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The fact that you brought more diverse candidates into the pipeline does not mean that they will get hired (are you utilizing practices to reduce bias in your interview process and make it more inclusive).

Similarly, the fact that you’ve hired diverse candidates, does not mean that they will stay in the organization (have you put in place mechanisms and a culture that will allow diverse candidates to feel heard and included?)

picture source: @yesimhotinthis

5 WAYS TO AVOID GROUPTHINK IN YOUR INTERVIEW PROCESS

Groupthink can be a major obstacle to making informed decisions during the interview process. Even if you are using a structured and standardized process, there is a good chance the interviewers are biasing each other without even noticing.

Here are three ways to avoid groupthink in your interview process:

1. Utilize multiple tools and perspectives: Information from multiple valid tools, such as simulations, dilemmas, and behavioral questions, as well as from multiple perspectives (different interviewers), aggregated quantitatively, has been found to out-predict a single interview tool or perspective.

2. Create a diverse panel of interviewers from different departments, professional backgrounds, genders and ethnicities. This will help ensure that a range of perspectives is represented, which can help to identify potential biases and blind spots in the hiring process.

3. Do not forward information from one interview stage to another - this will most likely create the confirmation bias (I am expecting the candidate to be flexible so I am paying more attention to the things that they say that confirm my initial hypothesis that they are flexible).

4. Refrain from exchanging impressions during or immediately after the interview - writing your co - interviewer your thoughts about the candidate during the interview? kicking them under the table? exchanging impressions immediately as the interview ends? That’s a good way to influence each other’s perspective and reduce interview accuracy that is generated by an integration of independent evaluations. It might be tempting to immediately start talking about the candidate, but evaluating the candidate separately first will result in a much more accurate, efficient and diverse process.

5. Focus on skills - we are all (falsely) impressed by specific academic credentials, previous employers and experience - focusing your interview process on assessing relevant skills can reduce the credentials bias most of us share and default to make decisions by.

 

By implementing these strategies, you can significantly reduce bias in your interview process and hire more qualified and diverse candidates.

EQUALITY VS. EQUITY IN JOB INTERVIEWS

We've all come across various visualizations showcasing the difference between equality and equity (here's another great one). However, how do these concepts translate to job interviews?

Equality

During the interview, all candidates are asked the same questions and evaluated for the same set of skills.

When making hiring decisions, all information provided (bio, skills, values, motivations, culture add) is weighed in the same manner for every candidate.

Equity

During the interview, adjustments are made to ensure that every candidate, regardless of their background or circumstances, has an equal opportunity to perform their best. For instance:

1. Language adaptations - If the interview is conducted in a language that isn't the candidate's native tongue, adding an interviewer who speaks the candidate's language or letting the candidate know at the outset of the interview that they can ask the interviewer to repeat questions or speak more slowly.

2. Avoiding questions that may create bias - It is widely known that it's illegal to ask candidates about their ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. However, it's also inappropriate and intrusive to ask questions that skirt around these topics.

3. Modifying interviewers' communication style to be more inclusive of candidates from diverse cultures. This involves using clear and straightforward language, avoiding idioms and slang, and being mindful of different communication styles across cultures. Equality in the interview process sets a baseline that can be achieved through a structured interview and decision-making process. Though it may appear basic, many companies and interviewers conduct unstructured interviews and discussions that result in biased hiring. Equity is the standard that businesses should strive to uphold, and it begins with understanding interviewers' biases, providing them with actionable insights, and monitoring their progress over time. Whether you're aiming for equality or equity, the Informed Interview Intelligence Platform is here to help!

*Picture source: The World Forum

3 OUT OF THE 5 FASTEST GROWING JOBS IN THE US ARE HR RELATED

LinkedIn recently released it’s 2023 “Jobs on the rise” report, in which it recaps the 25 fastest growing jobs over the past five years, based on job title analysis.

3 out of the top 5 growing jobs are HR analytics manager (#2), DEI manager (#3), and Employee experience manager (#5).

These are very encouraging findings that demonstrate organizations’ understanding of the importance of making data-driven people decisions, making their workforce more inclusive and diverse, and engaging their employees in order to retain them and enhance performance.

For HR professionals which are either leading a team or a part of a team, it’s a good time to ask yourself:
Are these 3 components a part of our HR strategy?
Do we already have these positions/capabilities in our team?
Have we clearly defined metrics in each of these areas that we are working towards?

FIVE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR JOB INTERVIEWS MORE INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE

Job interviews are a crucial part of the hiring process, but they can also perpetuate discrimination and bias if not handled properly.

Here are five ways to make your job interviews more inclusive and diverse:

1. Review the position’s description and requirements: Make sure that the language you use in your job description and requirements is gender-neutral and doesn't exclude any particular group of people.

2. Train your interviewers: Provide training to your interviewers on unconscious bias and cultural competency. This will help them avoid making assumptions about candidates based on their appearance, race, or background.

3. Create a structured interview process: Use a consistent set of questions for all candidates and avoid relying on the interviewer's gut feeling. This will help reduce bias and increase the diversity of your hiring.

4. Be mindful of your body language: Be aware of your nonverbal communication during the interview, including maintaining eye contact, smiling, and nodding when appropriate.

5. Encourage diversity in your recruitment process: Consider recruiting from a variety of sources and actively reach out to diverse communities. This will increase the diversity of your candidate pool and give you a better chance of hiring a diverse and inclusive team.

By implementing these strategies, you can create a more inclusive and diverse hiring process that will help you to find the best candidates for your organization.

Remember, diversity and inclusion are not only values, but also drives better performance and innovation.

WHY INCREASING DIVERSITY IN YOUR HIRING PIPELINE WILL NOT NECESSARILY RESULT IN MORE DIVERSE HIRES

Increasing diversity in your hiring pipeline is an important step in creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce, but it is not a guarantee that your hiring will become more diverse.

Here are several reasons why:

1. Unconscious bias: Even with a diverse candidate pool, unconscious bias can still play a role in the hiring process. Interviewers may unconsciously favor candidates who are similar to themselves or who fit a certain stereotype.

2. Lack of diversity in the decision-making process: If the decision-makers in the hiring process are more homogenous (in ethnicity, gender, perspectives), chances for hiring diverse candidates decrease, as they may apply stereotypes and not appreciate diverse candidates.

3. Lack of inclusion: Even if a diverse candidate is hired, they may not stay with the company if they do not feel welcomed and included. A company culture that is not inclusive or welcoming to diverse individuals can push out diverse hires and discourage diverse candidates from applying or accepting a job offer.

It's important to understand the goal is not to "check a box," but to create an equitable and inclusive hiring process and work environment where everyone can perform at their best.

Therefore, it is important to remember that increasing diversity in your hiring pipeline is only one step in creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce. It is crucial that you are tackling unconscious bias, promoting a culture of inclusion, and retaining diverse employees.

WANT TO BROADEN YOUR HIRING PIPELINE - IMPLEMENT SKILLS-BASED HIRING

Imagine you are hiring for a sales position, how would each hiring methodology change your approach?

Traditional hiring practice: “Let’s hire people with a degree in Business Administration and previous experience in sales”
Skills-based hiring: “Let’s review candidates from various positions that require excellent communication, working with targets, and independence.

By using a skill-based approach, you can open the position to many more candidates from various positions such as, recruitment, admin, marketing, operations, and more.

Don’t believe us? Listen to what LinkedIn’s co-founder, Allen blue, had to say about skills-based hiring .

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6991639748972797952/?fbclid=IwAR2rCW38oACW3LtcN9Q9fvwAGcf023eqDhj4Gm6YBLddtLBKIv9lAUTDjgk&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Acompanies_company_posts_index%3Bb86db7be-9100-410d-b73e-7ac122dc699c

#informedecisions #skillsbasedhiring #interviews #recruitment #DEI

DON’T REVIEW A CANDIDATE’S RESUME BEFORE AN INTERVIEW

3 reasons not to review a candidate’s CV before an interview:

1. Efficiency - Pre-screening (CV screen and phone interview) should have covered all bio requirements for the position.

2. Accuracy - Skills beat previous experience in predicting job performance, so you’ll want to spend your interview time assessing if the candidate’s skill set match the job’s core skills.

3. Fairness - Resumes contain information that creates biases. For example, candidates who worked at well-known organizations or studied at well-known universities can be assessed more favorably without any connection to their capabilities. As interviewers, it might make us drop our guards down when interviewing them vs. other candidates who will be assessed more harshly.

This doesn't mean that previous experience and education shouldn't be considered in the hiring process. It’s just means that once candidate were screened and advanced to the interview stage, we should level the playing field for all.

#informedecisions #interviews #interviewbestpractices #hiring #recruitment #DEI #bias

FILL IN THE GAPS

I interviewed XXX yesterday.
I was highly impressed with _____ strong charisma. ____ charmed the hell out of me.
From the examples___ shared throughout the interview I could understand how goal-driven ____ was in ___career.
I felt at times ___ had been over-competitive, but I feel ___ ability to set boundaries for upper management, negotiate effectively and be assertive will make ___ succeed in this role.

 

 

 

If you filled in the gaps with “he”/”his” then you probably have “Gender Bias.”
Gender bias describes our tendency to assign specific behaviors and characteristics to a particular genders without supporting evidence. In this case, the description leaned towards “masculine” traits.
In an interview setting, a man might be rewarded for demonstrating these behaviors while women might be punished for demonstrating the exact same behaviors.

#informedecisions #interviews #recruiting #DEI #bias