Many organizations want to improve their DE&I efforts but lack the right tools to make a scalable impact. That’s where hiring technology comes in — through automation, analytics, and real-time collaboration, recruiting software helps to reduce bias and drive DE&I effectiveness, writes Corey Berkey, VP, Human Resources at JazzHR.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion have long been a top focus for business leaders. A 2019 Gartner studyOpens a new window found DE&I to be the top talent management priority, and this past year has only increased organizations’ focus.
2020 presented an opportunity to advance discussions around social justice and, in turn, challenge the effectiveness of existing DE&I programs. No longer can business leaders simply lean on a desire for increased organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion. In order to truly affect change, teams must adopt the right tools and processes to carry out their strategic visions. This starts with the hiring process.
Talent acquisition leaders are leveraging more and more technology solutions to help remove human bias from the hiring process. Still, despite this increased focus, only one in six diverse employees feels more supported, according to a recent McKinsey studyOpens a new window .
While there are no magic bullets, the right tools paired with the right processes can help teams to turn the C-suite focus on DE&I into an achievable goal. Modern recruiting takes time, effort, and often carries ample opportunities for unintended bias.
Learn More: Diversity Recruiting Strategies: 3 Long-Term Ideas to Power Your Workplace
With recruiting software, teams are empowered to centralize their hiring activities and engage with a broad talent pool faster. These benefits extend beyond simply reaching more diverse candidates. Here are three ways organizations can realize their full DE&I potential faster by leveraging hiring technology.
1. Casting a Broad Net
When opening a role, most organizations start by asking themselves a simple question: who do we need? They may look at current high-performing employees and, without a way to easily extend their reach, rely on outdated channels to reach similar individuals. But using the same strategies for connecting with who you believe you need can lead to a homogenous workforce.
Hiring technology reduces this issue by allowing teams to easily reach candidates in a number of places with ease.
With the help of recruiting software, businesses can post open roles to a variety of channels (e.g. job boards, social media outlets, industry forums) in just a few clicks. Diversifying your sources for candidates is a great first step toward diversifying your candidate pool and, in turn, workforce.
2. Standardizing the Screening Process
Once candidates have applied, deciding who is best for each role involves judgment. Unconscious biases influence our decisions as we screen resumes, conduct interviews, and more. A study from the Opens a new window Journal of Occupational and Organizational PsychologyOpens a new window , for example, found that interviewers often make up their minds within the first few minutes of an interview. Considering that many organizations now favor broad hiring teams can only add to the challenge here. But do not get confused, reducing the size of your hiring team is not the solution. Instead, train and educate your team to identify these behaviors. Look to equip your hiring teams with knowledge so they can identify and be self-aware. Education and technology can become integral to achieving success in this area
Standardizing the screening process through leveraging technology is a great tool to help ensure consistency. Ensuring candidates are asked the same questions, and that interview team members have access to templates that enable them to follow the same process are essential. Some common features and capabilities that promote a standardized process include:
- Creating a set of standard interview questions
- Establishing consistent steps in your screening workflow
- Including standard, objective assessments in the hiring process
By assessing each candidate in the same way, you will be able to minimize bias and evaluate candidates on a more level playing field.
Learn More: Why Background Screening Is an Investment – Not a Cost – in the Hiring ProcessOpens a new window
3. Benchmarking Organizational DE&I
Many organizations who have implemented initiatives to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion report anecdotal success. But without performance metrics, they are unable to prove its true effectiveness and drive future improvement.
Hiring technology empowers businesses to benchmark their DE&I efforts and monitor their progress. By collecting data and tracking KPIs in an automated way, recruiting software provides decision-makers with visibility into the effectiveness of their current initiatives. Though unique to each organization, key metrics may include Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) data, salary progression, and candidate engagementOpens a new window .
Having a reliable tech solution in place also allows teams to identify trends of exclusion. Tracking candidate sources, for example, can reveal whether a business’s sourcing strategy is casting the widest net possible. In generating these data-driven insights, teams will be able to prove the value of their existing process and iterate for future DE&I initiatives.