According to the National Association of Colleges and EmployersOpens a new window , there are clear benefits of workforce inclusivity and transparency. Multiple studies have shown hiring, training, and retaining workers from diverse backgrounds enables organizations to identify creative, innovative solutions to meet the needs of a rapidly connected, diverse world.
Simply put, when there’s a vacuum of inclusive, transparent hiring practices, companies lose talented employees. That reduces morale and productivity within an organization and can give competitors a preventable advantage in the race for talent.
Take software engineers, for instance. Software engineers are among the most in-demand workers in the U.S., and by all accounts, there’s a critical shortage of candidates — or so we’re told. Yet because of hiring practices that aren’t always as inclusive or transparent as they should be, employers cannot secure qualified candidates due to status quo hiring tactics.
Karat’s data shows many highly qualified and diverse candidates are being shut outOpens a new window of these roles because of code tests that require “absolute correctness and completeness.†This pass-fail approach is weeding out one-third of potential hires because no other factors were taken into consideration.
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In contrast, our data shows nearly half of all job offers go to candidates with incomplete solutions when organizations take a holistic approach by looking at live technical interviews instead of take-home or automated code tests. This percentage is even higher for underrepresented minority and female candidates, who receive job offers based on this approach even with incomplete solutions rates at 57% and 59%, respectively. These false negatives occur because recruiters often find themselves testing for an entire IT department (java, python, PHP, React, Git, and CI with TDD, etc.) and not just a full stack developer in these allotted time tests.
The impact of inclusive and transparent hiring practices goes far beyond software engineers, though. No matter which niche your organization is in, reviewing and revamping your hiring practices can foster inclusivity and transparency. But this requires correcting the systemic failures of status quo recruitment and hiring processes.
Companies can create equitable hiring practices to create a more inclusive work environment by committing to consistent forward-thinking tactics. Here are three ways organizations can bolster their hiring initiatives to create an inclusive workforce:
1. Remove Pedigree Bias
While using automatic solutions to screen resumés can streamline processes, it can also create complications unwittingly. For example, restrictive criteria like only reviewing resumés from candidates at the traditional top computer science schools or requiring experience at one of the big tech companies automatically limit pipeline diversity to those sources. Using a Human + AI system, organizations can remove these biases for highly qualified underrepresented groups from outside of the Silicon bubble from even getting an interview.
2. Create a Level Playing Field for Testing
If the current hiring process involves administering tests to measure technical skills, keep in mind that some candidates may be superstar test-takers while others may be just as qualified but aren’t as adept at taking tests. As such, one candidate’s skillset may not stand up to an apples-to-apples comparison with another candidate’s skill set.
When testing differences aren’t acknowledged, an organization may miss hiring highly qualified candidates who add value and depth to the workforce.
One method we recommend is to offer candidates the opportunity to redo their technical interviews. About 15% of candidates elect to redo their interviews (with new questions) when given a chance, and the vast majority of them improve significantly once they are familiar with the environment and format. In my experience, this makes the interview process more efficient by reducing false negatives and getting more hires out of your existing talent pipeline, and especially out of candidates from nontraditional backgrounds who aren’t as familiar with the technical interview process.
Learn More: Better Together: Technology and DE&I Can Improve Total Rewards Design
3. Do Away With One-Size-Fits-All Interview Formats
Not everyone approaches the same job in the same way. Therefore, it’s vital to consider that non-traditional candidates may come at a problem or situation in a different but excellent way. Or they may communicate their ideas differently.
Interviews should highlight candidate strengths and give people the opportunity to thrive in a comfortable environment. Too often, interviews assess someone’s ability to interview and not their ability to do the job. This is especially important to keep in mind in an increasingly remote job environment where candidates may not have the same levels of access to connectivity.
To combat this, make sure your candidates have access to the interviewing platform before the interview. If you’re interviewing software engineers in a paired coding environment, let them experiment with it and adjust settings like auto-brackets before joining the call. This way, you get a true sense of their strengths and capabilities and not just measuring their nerves or interview anxiety.
In a LinkedIn survey, 77% of talent professionalsOpens a new window believe diversity will be very important to the future of recruiting. But the trio of diversity, equity, and inclusion is essential to not only the future of recruiting but the future health of employers. Without a firm commitment to equitable hiring, employers may find it harder than ever to attract and retain high-quality talent.