Hiring bias can be incredibly damaging. Not only will it harm diversity and inclusion in your organization, it often means missing out on top talent because they are eliminated from contention for inappropriate reasons.
Both conscious and unconscious bias need to be eliminated from your hiring processes to generate position results. By doing so, you make your company more open and inclusive. Plus, achieving your diversity goals may become easier, as you’re focused on a candidate’s merits and their chance of success in the role above all else.
While it may seem like creating a structured process for hiring would be challenging, it can actually be surprisingly straightforward. If you aren’t sure where to begin, here is a step-by-step approach for structuring your hiring approach.
Define the Job Requirements
First and foremost, you need to really drill down into what it takes to flourish in the position. Create a detailed job description that includes an overview of any must-have skills—particularly those that are needed on day one.
If you’re open to training a particular skill, add it to the nice-to-have list instead. That way, your focus is on capabilities that you aren’t able to teach. Thus, ensuring you get the right candidate for the situation.
It may also be wise to consider a few other aspects of the role. For example, reflect on the existing team dynamic—the position manager’s style, and similar details that are relevant for overall fit. You may also want to break down how much of the role’s responsibilities are independent versus teamwork-oriented, as that may determine which kind of traits are needed for the new hire to excel.
Create a Questions List
Without a questions list, it’s possible to forget to tap on something crucial during one interview but not another. When that happens, you can’t fairly compare two candidates since you don’t have the same gauge on what they bring to the table.
Once you know the critical aspects of the job and what the new hire needs to have to thrive on day one, create an interview questions list focused on those areas. This ensures that critical pieces of information that are necessary for a hiring decision aren’t accidentally overlooked.
Develop a Scoring Rubric
Along with a formal questions list, it’s wise to create a scoring rubric. Again, this creates opportunities for a fair comparison regarding what a candidate brings to the table. You’ll assess what the job seeker has in the outlined area and assign a score based on the pre-defined range.
This approach promotes diversity and inclusion because all candidates are measured against the same scoring model. It creates consistency when you’re assessing capabilities, thus, increasing the odds that the best candidate for the role will be identified. And that potentially biased perspectives—including gut feelings, which can, at times, be based on unconscious biases—aren’t part of the equation.
Ultimately, the approach above allows you to fairly compare candidates based on their merits and likelihood of success in the position. In turn, this can reduce, or even eliminate, hiring bias, ensuring your process promotes diversity and inclusion.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can refine your hiring process to achieve your diversity and inclusion goals, the team at GSG Talent Solutions can help. Contact us today!