In recent years, an increasing number of organizations have promised to employ a more diverse staff and have begun to publish their diversity statistics on a yearly basis. At best, the results have been a mixed bag. With so many companies stating that diversity hiring is one of their top priorities and making good-faith attempts to improve their recruitment methods, our team wanted to learn more about why the outcomes have been so disappointing. What we discovered shocked us: in the early phases of the interview process, unconscious prejudice had the greatest impact on historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
For example, whereas white candidates have a greater passthrough percentage at the very top of the funnel, Black and Hispanic/Latinx candidates have a higher passthrough rate across the rest of the funnel: After on-sites, 62 percent of Black talent and 57 percent of Hispanic/Latinx talent receive offers, compared to only 54 percent of white talent. This shows that, at least in part due to subconscious prejudice, diversity is most commonly an issue in the early phases of the interview process.
Despite experiencing greater offer rates at later stages of the interview process, candidates from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups have to work more to establish themselves than their white counterparts. Start by asking yourself, “How can we ensure that our selection is entirely based on factors that are relevant to the role?” whenever you create a new position? I’m presenting six tactics that recruitment teams may use to eliminate prejudice in the early stages of the recruiting process, while prospects are both entering and moving through interviews, to assist address this issue.
Reconsider the requirements for your vacant positions. Many of the items people include on their LinkedIn profile or résumé have little, if any, association with their future work success, according to research. For example, mandating or being inclined to four-year degrees from specific universities might lead to privilege. Because non-white persons are underrepresented at the executive level, screening for leadership experience might be racially discriminatory.
To avoid this, start by asking yourself, “How can we ensure that our selection is purely based on criteria that are relevant to the function?” everytime you create a new role. Rather than focusing on the candidate’s experience, education, or — if they’re early in their careers — GPAs, determine which competencies and qualifications are absolutely necessary for success in the role, and ask yourself what about their history suggests problem-solving skills, cognitive ability, and a growth mindset. Limit the availability of information that might lead to prejudice.
