Best practices for DE&I in screening & hiring
What can you do to ensure you are creating a screening and hiring process that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DE&I)? Here at Eureka Process, we offer vScreening as a service and we are really good at what we do. However, do we have the best practices in place to source, advertise, and interview inclusively?
I recently attended a webinar on DE&I from a large HR software company to see if we were hitting the marks. I found out that we are doing a good job but, like most, we can always improve. So let’s dive in and see how you can use what we learned about diversity, equity, and inclusion to improve your own screening and hiring process.
Sourcing
First up, sourcing. Make sure you are looking for candidates not only on social media but also on a mix of traditional job boards.
- If you are looking for talent locally, call local colleges and technical schools to see if they have internal job boards for their students.
- Reach out to your local department of labor office to find out if there are any job fairs that you could attend.
One of the keys to being inclusive in sourcing is to cast a wide net so that you can attract talent from a variety of places.
Job ads
Next, your job ads.
- Try to use gender-neutral titles and non-gendered pronouns. Instead of saying “he or she will be responsible for…” try using “they will be responsible for” or “this candidate will need to be able to…”.
- Another tip, make sure that you have your list of wants and needs as clear and succinct as possible.
Several studies have shown that minority candidates will not apply for a job if they do not feel they meet 100% of the items listed on the job description. We want a candidate who has that attitude and aptitude to be a part of our team. We don’t want to miss out on someone who doesn’t know how to prep and install firewall X but does know firewall Y.
Assessments
Likewise, assessments are a great way to get a feel for a candidate’s work style. Do they prefer to work in a group or alone? Or, what’s their learning style? Just be certain you’ve chosen an assessment that demonstrates and documents a constant process of DE&I improvement to ensure that bias won’t come into play at this stage.
- ALWAYS score the candidates the same way.
- If you have a threshold that they must meet to advance to the next level, document that in your process so that it is clear to all interviewers and screeners. Check your local laws regarding pre-employment assessments.
Interviews
Ultimately, interviewing potential candidates is critical to confirm our committment to a diverse and equitable screening and hiring process.
- Create standard interview questions that everyone interviewing will use.
- If like many, you have started to use a video calling platform like Zoom, and that works, you may decide to continue to use that format in the future. Just make sure you are using the same interview platform for all candidates.
Another component that can help with DE&I is a group interview.
- It is a great way to get buy-in from your staff as well as showing the candidate the range of diversity of people who work at your company.
- Have employees of different backgrounds, ethnicities, races, etc. participate in the in-person interview process. Having a second or third set of eyes and opinions helps to select a quality hire that will be a great long-term fit for your team.
Staying committed to DE&I
Oftentimes, finding that perfect candidate can feel like we are looking for a needle in a haystack. By staying implementing these best practices into our process, we stay committed to and guarantee a wealth of talent that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
How does your hiring process hold up to DE&I? Are you talking the talk or walking the walk when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Leave a comment below.
If you’d like to talk more about DE&I or discuss how Eureka Process’ vScreening can do the heavy lifting for you, just reach out to us by setting up a free consultation.
