Category: D&I

Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Expanding Your DE&I Strategy to Include Neurodivergent Talent

Posted on by akessler

By Tim Powell, Managing Director, APAC 

Neurodiversity in the workplace has become a much bigger part of the wider discussion about diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) at work over the last decade. While the neurodistinct community still experiences prejudice and misperceptions, the cultural wave of “neuroinclusion” and advocacy is driving a number of companies to change their hiring practices in order to attract cognitively diverse talent.  

Neurodiversity has taught us that diversity and inclusion are about more than age, gender, race, religion and physical ability. DE&I is about ensuring different points of view and different experiences are valued. Indeed, Nancy Doyle, an organizational psychologist and neurodiversity advocate, argues we’re all differently abled in some way. We all have different experiences and perspectives that we bring to the table. 

In this article, I’ll explore what embracing neurodiversity in the workplace means for employers and offer some practical advice for creating a neuroinclusive environment.  

What is Neurodiversity? 

Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist, coined the term neurodiversity in 1998 to promote “a political and civil rights movement” for the advancement of “neurological outsiders.” The term refers to the concept that everyone experiences and interacts with the world around them differently. A neurodivergent person’s brain may work in a different way than the average “neurotypical” person. They may have unique ways of learning, communicating, socializing or perceiving their surroundings. 

An estimated 15% to 20% of the world’s population exhibits some form of neurodivergence. While neurodiversity is often used in the context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Asperger’s syndrome, many conditions fall under the neurodivergent umbrella, including ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Down syndrome, Tourette syndrome, and even mental health conditions like bipolar disorder, OCD and social anxiety. However, people with these conditions may also choose not to identify as neurodivergent. 

Research Report

Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes

Read the Report

Why Neurodiversity in the Workplace is Important 

We all understand by now that diversity at work improves business performance, and neurodiversity in the workplace is no different. While some neurodivergent traits, like difficulty with organization or sensory issues, pose challenges in traditional work settings, neurodivergent people have unique strengths that offer myriad benefits to employers. 

Neurodiverse professionals often have special skills in pattern recognition, analysis, mathematics and more. In fact, neuroinclusion is strongly tied to innovation. Cognitively diverse teams, consisting of both neurodivergent and neurotypical employees, are more creative, make better decisions and solve problems more efficiently.  

They’re also more productive. According to Deloitte, research suggests that teams that include neurodivergent professionals can be 30% more productive than those without neurodivergent members. Through their Autism at Work program, JP Morgan Chase has found that cognitively diverse employees are 90% to 140% more productive than neurotypical employees and make fewer errors. 

A diagram of what neurodiversity brings to the workplace
Source: Genius Within

In her TED Talk, “The world needs all kinds of minds,” autism activist and prominent animal behaviorist Temple Grandin says, without autism “there’d be no more Silicon Valley, and the energy crisis would not be solved.” In our world of technological advancements and automation, the advantages of neurodiversity in the workplace have never been greater. 

Neurodivergent Candidates: An Untapped Talent Pool 

Despite these benefits, neurodivergent people are far more likely than neurotypical people to struggle with unemployment. It’s estimated that as many as 85% of college-educated autistic adults struggle with unemployment in the United States. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), just 21.7% of autistic people in the UK are employed and are the least likely to be in work of any other disabled group. In Australia, 70% of new starters with disabilities do not survive the probation period and 65% of Australian businesses are unsure how to access this pool of workers. 

Neurodivergent individuals can sometimes struggle with interpreting nonverbal cues, facial expressions or tone of voice. Sometimes this means they display what may be considered inappropriate behavior for the workplace, like excessive honesty or difficulty maintaining eye contact. This runs contrary to what many corporate cultures think make a good employee—having good communication skills, emotional intelligence and relationship building capacity. 

Most hiring processes are built for neurotypical candidates. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, interviews tend to focus on evaluating social skills and confidence. This may be relevant for some job roles but may not be a genuine need for others. This puts some neurodivergent applicants at a great disadvantage, particularly when high emotional intelligence isn’t required for success in the role.  

In the next section, I offer some practical changes you can make to your hiring program and recruitment processes to support the success of neurodivergent talent. 

“Inclusion is a social, moral and economic imperative. We all lose when human potential is squandered.”

Dr. Nancy Doyle, CEO and Founder, Genius Within CIC 

How to Foster Inclusion for Neurodiversity in the Workplace 

So, how can you make your workplace more neuroinclusive and create a recruitment process that ensures neurodiverse candidates are more likely to be successful? Here are some tips: 

Make Neurodiversity Part of Wider DE&I Strategy 

At the vast majority of organizations, hiring people with disabilities or cognitive differences is often a sporadic initiative rather than a structured program. To achieve success, it can’t be a pet project of HR or any one person. Rather it should become a part of your larger workplace DE&I initiative. 

Objectives 

The first step in building out a sustainable neurodiversity hiring strategy is to be clear on your objectives. It could be to support corporate social responsibility with an inclusiveness focus; to access a wider talent pool in a tight labor market; or to enhance workforce efficiency and effectiveness. Whatever the objectives, the whole organization must buy into the program and have the right expectations. So, communicate your goals and objectives widely and secure strong, visible and consistent support from senior leadership.  

Audience 

Often, we see that organizations don’t think through how a person with a disability might perform their duties. When organizations define a talent persona for each job type, and target those individuals from the outset, employees are much more successful. This in an opportunity to test your assumptions about job roles and explore the impact if an employee didn’t certain skills. Your selection criteria must be justifiable and define what is essential to succeed in the role. 

Once you’re clear on the skillsets you’re looking for in each role, targeting the audience becomes easier. To help with sourcing neurodiverse candidates, you might consider seeking help from an outside partner who can help you think through the art of the possible and drive informed choices. 

Train 

Education and diversity training in advance of a neurodivergent colleague starting, or in the very early stages of onboarding is important to ensure they’re successful in their new role. Talking to managers and other team members about the characteristics and preferences of a neurodiverse person is entirely appropriate if it’s done in a way that is sensitive to that individual’s privacy and dignity. In fact, it’s critical these conversations take place, so your teams understand in advance what they can expect with their new colleague. For example, throwing a person with autism into a group meeting and asking them to say something about themself is likely not going to be a comfortable experience for them. If managers know this ahead of time, they can make informed decisions about how to introduce their neurodiverse new hire to the team. Moreover, when employees know that their new neurodiverse co-worker may not make eye contact, they’re less likely to take it personally.  

Rethink Your Recruitment Process 

One reason I’ve seen neurodiversity in the workplace fail is because the recruitment process is not sufficiently tailored to the needs of neurodivergent candidates. The focus must be on assessing basic competencies and characteristics as well as a candidate’s capacity and willingness to learn, rather than how well they interview or even their previous job experience (as neurodivergent candidates often have less employment history).  

I caught up with our UK-based Assessment Design team, comprised of organizational psychologists, to understand more about how they’re helping clients create more equitable assessment experiences. They shared that because the interview and assessment process can often be complex—varying by role and company—there is no “silver bullet” and each situation should be addressed on a case-by-case basis, especially since many neurodivergent people are undiagnosed or may choose not to reveal their diagnosis to potential employers. 

Interviews 

Interviews in particular can be a challenging prospect for neurodiverse candidates. While most organizations won’t eliminate interviews altogether, they shouldn’t be the only consideration. They should be balanced with other evaluation techniques, and, for candidates who require adjustments, you might consider weighting interviews so they count for less in the overall candidate appraisal.  

Prepare to offer reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process as neurodivergent candidates in particular will likely need to deviate from established processes. This could mean changing the location or of an interview or allowing for a screen reader during an online assessment exam. Another example of an adjustment is to put the interview question into the chat during virtual interviews to make the experience more accessible. Keep in mind that any adjustments you make for the recruitment process should be adjustments you’re prepared to offer in the workplace as well.  

At PeopleScout, we provide experienced assessors who can act as a neutral third-party in interviews which can help to reduce bias in the scoring. 

Blended Assessments 

The PeopleScout Assessment Design team recommends a blended assessment approach consisting of multiple styles of question, allowing candidates different ways to show their potential. These blended assessments have the added benefit of giving candidates a realistic preview of what the role and organisational culture is like. For example, for a large international airport, the bespoke 1XP experience we created an immersive experience in which security officer candidates had complete various tasks, including “spotting the difference” between images, to test their ability to catch potential security issues in the airport.  

Communication 

Regardless of whether candidates have requested adjustments or not, should always clearly communicate with candidates the steps of the recruitment process, what’s expected of the candidate at each stage and what’s coming up next. All candidates appreciate this, but neurodivergent candidates in particular may benefit knowing what to expect upfront. 

Adjust the Working Environment 

Beyond experiencing issues with workplace etiquette, neurodiverse employees often struggle with sensory challenges, like sensitivity to light or sound. Modern office environments with open floor plans or noisy warehouses or shop floors can prevent neurodiverse employees from being successful in their work. 

Consider offering flexible seating arrangements, quiet places for breaks or noise cancelling headphones. When feasible, remote work is a great option for some neurodivergent employees. Be prepared to adjust lighting or make adaptations to a neurodiverse employee’s workstation. Even changing a uniform to have a softer fabric can make all the difference for a neurodiverse worker. For employees with learning disabilities, assistive technologies, like screen readers, or video trainings can help them complete onboarding modules and job tasks.  

There is no one-size-fits-all approach here. Just like neurotypical people, disabled and neurodiverse employees each have their own unique requirements and preferences for maximizing their productivity. 

Consider Career Paths 

Taking a long-term view of the development of disabled and neurodiverse employees is key to continued success of your program. One idea is to give neurodivergent employees a “buddy” or mentor that they’re comfortable with—outside of their direct manager. Having this extra person checking in on them is invaluable in retaining neurodiverse employees beyond the first three to six months. 

It’s also important that organizations engage with their disabled and neurodiverse employees directly about what support they need and how they feel about their experience. Sometimes employers are uncomfortable asking those questions, but people with disabilities generally want to engage and are open to talking about what support they require. Of course, these conversations should happen in a way that honors the employee’s privacy and dignity.  

Conclusion 

My experience tells me that making disability and neurodiversity part of your DE&I strategy isn’t easy. If it was, more organizations would be further down the path. But it is worthwhile, not only to meet societal expectations, but because it makes good business sense. Start small, build confidence and scale. Neurodiversity in the workplace is a wonderful journey if you’re committed to it and plan appropriately. 

Recession, Recruiting and Resilience: Creating Opportunities for Workforce Planning Success

Posted on by akessler

With signs pointing toward a global recession, employers are preparing their workforces for what’s to come. This may mean cutting back on their investment in talent acquisition, delaying HR projects or even reducing their workforce.

While economic uncertainty can lead to difficult decisions for employers, it’s also important to recognize the opportunity it provides. This may be the perfect time to assess the resilience of your workforce and invest in workforce planning to make it fare better in the long run.

Is your talent acquisition program resilient enough to weather the storm? Here are four questions to ask to find out where you stand.

1. Is your employer brand and EVP still relevant?

If you haven’t updated your employer value proposition (EVP) in the last 18 months, it’s probably out of sync with the market and what candidates want. Now is the time to sense check if it’s relevant in 2023 and beyond. Does your employer brand work for a remote and hybrid workforce? Is it an authentic reflection of what you have to offer your employees?

Even if you’re not planning to hire actively in the near future, employer branding is also important for retention. Auditing and updating your brand will help you retain your current talent and ensure you’re ready to attract top talent in the future.

2. Is your hiring process working for remote and hybrid employees?

At the start of the pandemic, if you shoehorned your old in-person hiring process into your new hybrid or remote work reality and never looked back, it’s time to assess whether that’s really working for you. Remote work often requires a different set of skills than office-based work. Is your current process helping you assess those skills to achieve the quality-of-hire you need?  

Review the competencies and behaviors you need for each role to ensure they’re relevant for hybrid or remote employees. Now is the time to update job ads and evaluate your assessment process to ensure they are in tune with the success factors that drive your business now—instead of those that drove success pre-pandemic.

3. Are you achieving your DE&I recruitment goals?

While you may not be actively hiring, now is a good time to engage with diverse communities to ensure candidates from underrepresented backgrounds make up a significant portion of your talent pipeline when you’re ready to ramp up hiring again.

Increase your visibility in diverse communities via campaigns or event sponsorships. Look into your diversity analytics to understand what’s working and what’s not when it comes to sourcing and hiring your target audiences.

4. Is it time to consider RPO?

Now is the time to re-evaluate how you’re going to market for talent, whether via an internal talent acquisitions team, staffing agencies, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) or a hybrid model. Work with your procurement partner to scrutinize your spend and evaluate your options to streamline and minimize risk—including standardizing with one global RPO partner.

Just because you’re not hiring at the same volume you were before, doesn’t mean outsourcing is out of the question. Recruiter On-Demand or project RPO engagements offer flexible solutions for targeted hiring needs. An RPO partner can also offer value-added talent advisory services like market insights, employer branding, assessment services and more. Plus, once engaged, your RPO partner will be on tap to hit the economic recovery running and scale up for your hiring surge.

An economic slowdown is not the time to put your talent acquisition strategy on the back burner. Use this time to take stock and get prepared so you’re ready to bounce back faster. You’ll be able to beat your competition and create a resilient workforce that’s ready for whatever the future has in store.

Want more insight into the future of work? Check out our ebook, Destination 2030: 10 Predictions for What’s NEXT in the World of Work.

Destination 2030: A Roadmap for Talent Acquisition Leaders

Posted on by akessler

By Robert Peasnell, Deputy Managing Director, PeopleScout EMEA

It’s been a wild ride for talent acquisition leaders these last few years, as hiring slowed for most and then grew to record levels. As global economies still remain tumultuous, the one constant we can expect is change. 

With this in mind, PeopleScout undertook a piece of research, evaluating global workforce trends and looking to the future to see how these trends might impact the way we work. The result is our new white paper, Destination 2030.

Here are our top 10 predictions for what work and recruiting will look like in 2030 and tips that talent acquisition leaders can put into practice now to prepare for the future.

Buckle up and join us as we travel to the world of work in 2030.

1. Our Working Models Will Be as Diverse as We Are

Organizations and their employees will decide between them how, when and where people will work. The ways we define work will grow (think hybrid, part-hybrid or even nomadic…), and there’ll be no such thing as a 9-to-5 job.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

With the growth of remote work, talent pools have become more globally dispersed. TA leaders who embrace global workforce planning in their talent acquisition strategy—taking a location-flexible approach—will give themselves a better chance at winning top talent. So, instead of looking for 20 FTEs in France, you could look for 20 French speakers anywhere in the world—vastly expanding your available talent pool.

TA leaders can augment their recruitment capabilities and reach by investing in recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). RPO partners offer single- and multi-country solutions that can help expand your geographic scope to target remote workers. Plus, RPO offers a consistent yet flexible process that can be nuanced to accommodate various cultures and candidate expectations.   

2. We Won’t Work, We’ll Contribute

Will the term “work” even exist? Perhaps not. We will be measured by our contribution and the value we bring to the organization. By 2030, success will be determined by meaningful output, not hours spent at a desk.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

A recent study revealed that 93% of workers want a flexible schedule. Organizations that rethink working patters and adapt to the desires of their target candidate audience will gain a significant leg up when it comes to competing for talent going forward. This will require significant workforce planning on the part of a TA leader to ensure your organization can maximize productivity while also keeping employees engaged and motivated.

3. Reskilling Will Take on New Importance

The pace of change means reskilling will be the norm. No matter how much expertise you have in one field, you could find yourself changing direction and developing a new skillset in a totally different field.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Going by the last 20 years, it seems inevitable that many of the jobs we’ll need in 2030 simply don’t exist yet. So, TA leaders can’t put off workforce planning as some far-off solution to future issues. It’s imperative you plan today for the talent you’ll need for the future—either through recruitment or through an internal training and mobility program.

Organizations who invest in reskilling and upskilling as a strategic initiative will boost their resilience for whatever future business environments have in store. Plus, it will have a positive impact on retention as companies that excel at internal mobility can retain employees nearly twice as long as companies that struggle with it.

4. Retirement Age Will Become Just a Number

Some of us will work hard and live frugally, so we can retire in our 40s. Most of us will work beyond the standard retirement age, taking on new roles, developing new skills and easing out of work slowly.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

By 2030, all Baby Boomers will have reached 65, the typical retirement age threshold in many countries. Keeping older workers in the workplace will become a priority for organizations as talent pools shrink and skills gaps widen. This also means addressing any age-based discrimination that may be hidden in your recruitment processes. Amongst job seekers over 45, 53% believe age is one of the biggest barriers to finding a new job. Eliminating bias in the recruitment process will ensure your organization can access this valuable talent pool and the experience they can provide.

Additionally, employers will need to adjust contracts as few in this generation will want to continue working in a typical full-time capacity. Making certain concessions and ensuring your DE&I program also supports generational diversity will ensure older workers can continue to contribute and will help soften the effects of impending mass retirement of Boomers. 

5. The Greatest Skill Will Be Learning

As new technologies emerge and old ones become obsolete, our work will demand different approaches and expertise. This constant evolution means we’ll be learning new skills. Things will change so fast that the future discussion will go beyond reskilling and upskilling to “learning to learn.”

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Evaluate your assessment process to ensure it aligns with the outcomes you need from your roles—now and into the future. Judging candidates based on characteristics that help them succeed in your unique environment—rather than just on skills or experience—will help you unlock the potential of your new employees. Putting assessment activities in place that test for soft skills, like adaptability, will help create a culture of learning.

6. AI and Automation Will Create Jobs, Not Eliminate Them

Technology, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), will tackle mundane, highly complex and time-consuming work, freeing humans to focus on emotion-driven innovations. This will create a suite of new roles as well as cross-functional teams and agile working patterns.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Talent acquisition and HR leaders can experience the benefits of AI too! Talent technology platforms offer multiple opportunities to introduce more automation into your recruitment processes, allowing your recruiters and hiring managers to focus on developing better connections with candidates, bringing your process to life.

With AI sourcing, recruiters can let the tech do the mundane work of searching for qualified talent and focus on engaging candidates, offering guidance and positioning your organization as an attractive place to work. Automation can be leveraged throughout the candidate journey to supplement interactions from your team, including text interviews, interview scheduling, sharing content, handling basic candidate queries and more.

7. Inclusion Will Be Everywhere

The fact that hiring for potential and the need to reskill are the key criteria any organization looks for in 2030 pretty much eradicates unconscious bias. Organizations that to cling to outdated modes of attraction run the risk of missing out on valuable talent.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Hopefully, by now, everyone understands the importance of diversity and inclusion, if for no other reason than the economic benefits. It’s time for companies to really step up when it comes to diversity, equality and inclusion, especially because underrepresented groups are more likely to say that an employer’s diversity efforts make a difference in whether they decide to apply.  

While responsibility for diversity, equity and inclusion is shared across an organization, talent acquisition leaders have a significant influence. Use that impact to help the business assess the maturity of its DE&I program. By pinpointing your current state and plotting out the roadmap to your desired state, your organization can make strides in building a more diverse workforce.

8. Personalization Will Drive the Need for Connection

Organizations will inspire unity, belonging and a collegiate spirit on one hand, balanced with hyper-personalization on the other. While candidates and employees have a desire to be connected, they still want to be treated as an individual.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Modern candidates expect digital experiences, but also want the human touch from recruiters. So, how can you achieve personalization at scale?

Leveraging talent technology can be a great way to attain this. This could be through a CRM tool that lets you notify individuals in your talent pools about positions that are a fit for their skills and goals, or an ATS that gives candidates a personlized portal where they can track the status of their application. Technology can help you combine personalization with the power of automation so you can show you recognize each candidate as a person, not just a CV. 

9. Say Goodbye to Work Permits

Workers will become global citizens, working from anywhere for organizations based anywhere. In a single, 10-person start-up, all 10 people could work from completely different places.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

One of the main benefits of RPO is ensuring their clients remain compliant in all the countries in which they’re operating. Most global RPO providers have offshore delivery centers that hold the necessary legal entities and licenses to hire in your chosen countries, so you don’t have to go through the effort or expense.

If you’re looking to expand your recruitment footprint, outsourcing may be an option to explore. Check out our ebook, Building a Business Case for RPO, to learn how to create buy-in and secure budget.

10. The Future is Bright

With Millennials at the helm, we can look forward to ethical and empathetic leadership and a holistic approach to wellbeing. Consumers and shareholders alike will put pressure on businesses to look after the planet as well as society—a welcome shift indeed.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

By 2030, Millennials will make up the biggest generation in the global workforce, representing a massive 40% of all workers. As a whole, they are much more motivated by the difference they can make in the world than they are by how much money they can earn. So, it’s important that employer’s keep in mind that whilst success and status are definitely still in the mix, it’s the cultural fit, values and purpose that matter most for this generation.

Now is the time to assess your employer brand and EVP. Do they reflect your values and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts? Including these strategies as a visible part of your candidate attraction efforts will ensure you are seen as an employer of choice amongst the generation that will lead your business forward.

I’m sure you’re already thinking about budgets for 2023, and I hope you’ll consider some of these opportunities for investment. To learn more about how we came to the predictions and see our research, check out our Destination 2030 white paper.

Candidate Experience Pitfalls That Impact Diversity Recruitment [Infographic]

Posted on by akessler

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a top priority for global organizations, but only 5% say they’re succeeding with their DE&I initiatives. We decided to look into where talent acquisition programs fit in and how the recruitment process may be contributing to this disparity for companies.

In looking at the research, we uncovered some common pitfalls within the candidate experience in which organizations unintentionally sabotage their DE&I efforts.

CHECK OUT OUR INFOGRAPHIC TO EXPLORE SOME OF THE DATA WE UNCOVERED IN OUR DIVERSITY & THE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE REPORT.

Diversity and candidate experience infographic

To learn even more about diversity recruitment, download, Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes.

Global Diversity Awareness Month: Resources to Improve Your DE&I Outcomes

Posted on by akessler

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) is a priority for 75% of global organizations and corporate DE&I programs offer a huge opportunity to win over talent in today’s tight labor market.

In recognition of Global Diversity Awareness Month, we’ve examined the state of diversity recruiting in our recent report, Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes. This deep dive into the candidate journey uncovers common areas where employers are unintentionally sabotaging their DE&I efforts. Plus, we offer actionable takeaways for addressing these issues and improving diversity recruitment outcomes.

In addition to the report, we thought we’d share some of our top articles and podcasts to help you create a diverse, equitable and inclusive candidate and employee experience where everyone feels welcome and respected.

DE&I and Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition plays a crucial role in bringing to life diversity and inclusion within an organization through sourcing, engaging and hiring talent from underrepresented groups.

Here are our top insights for talent acquisition leaders for improving diversity recruitment outcomes.

  1. DE&I Insights for Talent Acquisition Leaders:
    A PeopleScout survey of job candidates revealed important differences between how diverse groups find, research and apply for jobs.
  2. DE&I Initiatives: Assessing Program Maturity & the Role of Talent Acquisition:
    Anthony Brew, Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at our parent company TrueBlue, shares how to determine the maturity of your DE&I program and ideas for talent acquisition leaders to increase their influence.
  3. Podcast: Building an Inclusive & Equitable Employer Brand & Recruitment Process:
    In this episode of our Talking Talent podcast, we hear from Paula Simmons, our Director of Employer Brand & Communications Strategy, about building an employer brand and a recruitment process that is equitable and inclusive for candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.
  4. Podcast: Reducing Unconscious Bias for an Inclusive Recruitment Process:
    In another podcast, Simon Wright, Global Head of Talent Advisory, teaches us about unconscious bias and shares tactics to reduce it from various stages of your recruitment process.
  5. Data & Diversity: Using Analytics to Achieve Your DE&I Goals:
    As the saying goes, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. In this article from Liz Karkula, Associate Product Manager of Affinix®, and Jason Kaplan, IT Manager of Business Intelligence, how to leverage technology and analytics to measure and improve DE&I in your recruitment programs.

Research Report

Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes

Download Now

DE&I and Employee Experience

The employee experience is just as important to the success of your DE&I program. For employees from underrepresented groups, meaningful engagement and organizational commitment to DE&I can improve retention, productivity and employee referrals that can boost your diversity recruitment efforts.

Below, we’ve outlined our most read resources for creating a more inclusive workplace.

  1. The Importance of Inclusion in Your Diversity Program:
    Make your diversity recruitment efforts count by following these ideas to cultivate a culture of inclusion.
  2. Diversity Training: Getting It Right, Right Away:
    Diversity training is one way organizations are fostering inclusion within company culture. This article explores different kinds of diversity training and how to leverage them to improve your DE&I efforts.
  3. Diversity and Inclusion: Building Employee Resource Groups and Driving Change:
    Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs, have multifaceted benefits that impact an organization’s strategic diversity and inclusion efforts in recruitment, retention, mentoring, leadership development, customer relations and more. Check out this article for practical tips on supporting ERGs in your organizations.
  4. How to Support BIPOC Colleagues Through Meaningful Conversations:
    Race can be a sensitive topic in the workplace. This article is a guide for how to make your workplace a safe environment where everyone feels respected, heard and understood while participating in this important dialogue.
  5. Podcast: Women in Leadership:
    In this episode of our Talking Talent podcast, PeopleScout’s diverse group of female leaders from all around the world share what it means to be a woman in leadership. Women at all levels of the company—from executive leaders to team leaders and managers—talk about how they got to where they are and how to create work environments where women can succeed.
  6. Proud At Work: LGBTQ+ Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace:
    This article provides a historical look at LGBTQ+ activism and its victories in the fight for workplace equity. Plus, you’ll learn strategies to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.

No matter how you’re celebrating Global Diversity Awareness Month at your organization, we hope these resources give you practical steps you can take to improve your diversity recruitment outcomes and create a more equitable and inclusive culture at your organization.

Want to learn more about diversity and talent acquisition? Download our report, Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes, for the latest research on how to improve the candidate experience for underrepresented groups.

Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes

Posted on by akessler

Diversity & the Candidate Experience

Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) is a priority for 75% of global organizations. But only 5% say they’re succeeding with their DE&I initiatives.

That’s bad news in today’s tight labor market since 76% of candidates said that a diverse workforce was an important factor when considering a new job.

Download this free report, Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes, for research about diversity and recruitment. We’ll explore:

  • The role of diversity and the candidate experience
  • The gap between the perception of companies and candidates
  • An analysis of the stages of the candidate journey where bias is undermining talent acquisition’s efforts to attract diverse candidates

Diversity Training: Getting it Right, Right Away

Posted on by edyson

Diversity training is important. Creating a more diverse and equitable workplace culture encourages a true sense of belonging among coworkers. So, how can employers create a more diverse and equitable workforce? Not only does diversity improve coworker relationships, it also helps the bottom-line. In fact, the numbers on DE&I in the workplace speaks for itself. According to McKinsey’s Diversity Wins study, diverse organizations are more likely to be more profitable than their less diverse counterparts.

What’s more, in PwC’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Survey, 75% of respondents cite diversity, equity, and inclusion or (DE&I programs) as a priority. However, only 4% say their organization succeeds in DEI initiatives.

The data is clear—it is not enough for employers to merely create a diverse employee population. Employees inside the organization need to feel that they are truly included and that their experiences matter. However, fostering a true sense of inclusion and belonging seems elude many employers. Organizations still struggle with implementing diversity programs that truly improve individual employees’ sense of inclusion.

Some employers may not know where to start. In this article, we provide guidance on building a thoughtful diversity training program to help increase employee awareness, empathy, understanding and inclusion.  

What is Diversity Training?

diversity and inclusion training

Diversity training is a type of professional development training that increases employees’ cultural awareness, knowledge and communication skills. There is no one size fits all approach to diversity training, as it can look different in every organization. However, diversity training should help educate employees on the following topics:

  • Awareness around workplace diversity issues. Examples include issues underrepresented minority groups face, gender gaps, microaggressions, and other forms of discrimination that may not be apparent to employees
  • Beliefs and challenges surrounding unconscious bias and discrimination in the workplace
  • Connecting employees through gaining a deeper understanding of what motivates colleagues of other cultures to get a sense of how others feel
  • How to effectively collaborate and communication with employees from different backgrounds.
  • How to spot and report discrimination, racial bias, microaggressions, or other misconduct  
  • How employees can contribute to an inclusive workplace culture and environment through employee resource groups

In its diversity training, an organization may also want to educate employees about the organization’s commitment to diversity and history of progress on social issues effecting a variety of demographics. Use your diversity training as an opportunity to communicate the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and aspirations.

Why is Diversity and Inclusion Training Important?

The differences between people are what make us unique and offer a richer tapestry of experiences and perspectives to draw upon in the workplace. However, at times, employees experience difficulties communicating and celebrating differences.

As organizations grow their DE&I efforts, it’s important to offer employees the right type of diversity training and support to ensure that DEI programs and learnings translate into a more inclusive environment in practice.

Below, we have compiled three reasons why diversity training programs in the workplace have a positive impact.

Increased Employee Engagement

diversity equity and inclusion training

When employees feel excluded, engagement suffers, which in turn can hurt production and profits. In fact, according to Gallup, a highly engaged workforce can outperform peers by 147% in earnings per share. By implementing a diversity training program, your organization will foster greater inclusivity and increase overall employee engagement which can boost revenue.  

Improved Employee Retention

The Great Resignation is causing organizations to focus on employee retention more than ever. Employees who do not feel included in an organization’s structure and mission may be less likely to invest their time and energy in the organization’s future success.

On the other hand, employees who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to stay with an organization. Diversity training programs help to increase that sense of belonging amongst employees—and overall, can help improve your retention rates.

Positive Systemic Change

Often times, our systems and existing power structures have been built for some—but they certainly may not “work” for all. Put into practice, diversity training can help change systematic diversity hurdles—things like your organization’s hiring practices, how diverse talent is sourced, actions to increase board or leadership diversity and more. These steps may make positive systematic change for all employees, not just some.

The Four Types of Diversity Training

diversity training program

Just like our diverse workplaces, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to diversity training programs. Diversity training programs come in all different types and can be catered to help achieve your organization’s goals.

Awareness Training

Oftentimes, awareness training is the type of early adopter diversity training that’s highly effective for most (if not all) workforces. Awareness training is essentially the first step in creating change in your organization. It gives employees an overview of:

  • Workplace and/or organization demographics
  • Education around sexual orientation, gender, race and racial minorities, ethnicity, and more
  • Education and awareness around workplace equity

Many diversity trainings stop there, making people aware of their actions and how that is experienced by others. But this is a valuable opportunity to drive awareness of the benefits to everyone in the company of having a truly diverse workforce where people can contribute at their best.

By implementing awareness training, team members will increase their problem-solving and decision-making skills. Through awareness training sessions, you can help shift to a belonging mindset—and promote respect, inclusivity, and value among your employees.

You’ll also lay the groundwork for the need for change and additional actions to come because your workforce is now educated and aware of the diversity issues at hand.

Skills-Based Diversity Training

diversity training in the workplace

Skills-based diversity training focuses on specific actions people at different levels across your workforce can take to practice the skills of inclusion to ensure all employees are equipped to foster belonging. This type of training helps employees at the “awareness” stage move into a “proficiency” stage when handling diversity in the workplace. For example, skills-based training could include a session solely focused on communication and best practices. At the end of the session, employees will walk away with the communication skills needed to foster a culture of inclusivity in their work environment.

Basic Diversity Training

We know sometimes, it’s best to start with the basics. Basic diversity training has a simple goal: create respect and empathy within your workforce.

In a basic diversity training program, it’s common to find the below topics:

  • Identifying company values—and how DEI embodies those values
  • Anti-racism training
  • Anti-sexism training
  • Educating about sexual orientation and gender identities
  • Cultural sensitivity training
  • Human resource compliance training
  • How to create effective diversity training

Regardless of what type of training(s) you choose to implement at your company, it has to be effective to truly make an impact. But how do you create effective diversity training?

First, it’s important to understand where your organization falls in your DE&I journey. Once you’ve figured out what work needs to be done and identified your top priorities, use some of these tips to ensure you’re delivering an effective diversity training programs to your employees.

Be realistic about what you can accomplish. Being aware of where you’re starting as an organization is crucial. If you’re setting out to change your company’s culture with a diversity training program, you might want to think again.

Set goals and communicate them to your employees. Once you’ve established where your organization is on its DEI journey, set realistic goals. It could be as simple as setting a goal that 100% of employees take at least one diversity training course. Once you’ve determined your goals, communicate them. Studies show that accountability translates to better outcomes.

Equip your employees with resources to reach your DE&I goals. It’s not enough to set goals and ask your employees to reach them. Organization leaders need to equip their teams with the resources to reach those goals. Having a portfolio of diversity training programs or encouraging employees to start employee resource groups (ERGs) are just some examples of how leaders can get started.

Measure your progress — and report out how you’re doing. Similar to setting goals and communicating them out, it’s important to measure your progress. Employees aren’t going to be able to impact change if they don’t know how they’re doing. Share feedback with your teams on the company’s progress and ask for their support. 

Fostering a culture of belonging is not an easy journey. Uncomfortable, hard conversations will inevitably be had between peers and leaders. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s in these tough (yet respectful) conversations where real growth happens.

Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace culture is everyone’s responsibility. That means everyone in the organization needs to be a part of the training, regardless of where they fall in your organization’s hierarchical structure.

Commit to the work. Implementing a diversity training program is not going to fix your DEI issues. It’s a great start, but to truly impact change, your organization will need to commit to the ongoing work. You might uncover more work as your organization moves through its diversity training programs—and that’s okay. Stay committed to the big picture.

Conclusion

diversity training programs

Training has so many benefits for any organization. Not only will you see better overall performance that impacts your bottom line, but employees will be more engaged, happier and more productive.

Remember, diversity training is more than an item on your HR to-do list. It is a vital and important component of organizational growth. Companies who are going above and beyond the standard one-and-done diversity training make inclusive leadership a core competency.

The UK Talent Shortage: How to Engage & Support the “Missing Million”

Posted on by akessler

By Joe Mongon, Head of Recruitment Delivery, EMEA

When Dame Sharon White, former Chief Executive of Ofcom and current Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, was recently interviewed on BBC radio, she said: “One area that I think has not had enough attention is what has happened in the jobs market over the last 18 months.” Not enough attention? The UK talent shortage, and the tightness of the labour market, has been at the heart of many mainstream news stories in the UK over the past year: petrol shortages, queues at air and sea ports, and general “skimpflation” in the customer experience.

In this case, White touched upon an interesting factor in the dynamic between an oversupply of job vacancies and an under-supply of job seekers—the “missing million” in the UK workforce who have left employment all together since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Who Are the Missing Million?

White identified that there are “1 million fewer people in work,” adding that, “Some think about it as the ‘great resignation’. I think about it as the ‘life reappraisal’, because this is predominantly people in their 50s.”

This latter point is broadly correct: four-fifths of the recent rise in economic activity is among older people, and while the concerning increase in long-term ill health negates the idea that this is most often the result a positive “reappraisal” of life priorities, growth in early retirement started in summer 2021 and remains persistent.

White rightly called for government action to address the challenge of encouraging early retirees back to work, and it’s possible that “flexible retirement” will in the future be discussed as often as “flexible working.” In the meantime, there is much that employers can do directly to support and re-engage early retirees including approaches to recruitment, job design, workplace support, and – yes – flexibility.

How to Attract and Retain Older Workers

A clear and informative job profile that brings the role to life and amplifies these factors can be the first step to finding the right candidate, including engaging overlooked or under-engaged audiences like the missing million. Job seeker priorities are often straightforward and are typically unaffected by age. Salary and flexibility—especially work from home considerations—lead the way when it comes to potential job switches.

To succeed, employers must recognise that temporary solutions to business problems, such as hybrid working, have turned into ongoing employee preferences and expectations. If you can’t advertise jobs as flexible and leverage that advantage due to the type of role, investment in pay or upskilling offers may be the answer.

At PeopleScout, we are certainly giving the UK talent shortage our full attention. We’re offering our clients bespoke strategies and tactics to overcome these challenges. By helping organisations understand their audiences—including the missing million—we’re able to support targeted candidate attraction efforts that create real results.

Talking Talent: Reducing Unconscious Bias for an Inclusive Recruitment Process

Posted on by nfuqua

Unconscious bias affects us all. In the two years since the death of George Floyd, public consciousness around the issues of diversity, equity and inclusion has risen throughout the globe. As such, employers can no longer remain silent. 

In this episode of our Talking Talent podcast, we hear from Simon Wright, Global Head of Talent Advisory, about tactics to reduce unconscious bias and make your recruitment process more inclusive.

Not only are investors and shareholders paying greater attention to social challenges, but employees, candidates, and consumers are also pushing businesses to make public commitments regarding diversity and inclusion—and to publish their progress. In today’s job market, where job vacancies are outpacing unemployment, candidates have more choices than ever about where to work—and they’re choosing employers that prioritize DE&I: According to Glassdoor, 76% of candidates said that a diverse workforce was an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers. 

Unconscious bias is one of the key forces holding employers back from making strides in DE&I initiatives, and it’s a complicated issue to tackle. In this article, we’ll walk through the different types of unconscious bias, how they can affect your recruitment process and how to effectively reduce their effect.   

What is Unconscious Bias? 

What is Unconscious Bias?

Unconscious bias—sometimes called implicit bias—is a term that describes the associations we hold outside of our conscious awareness. Everyone has them, and they don’t make you a bad person; they’re an evolutionary adaptation designed to help our brains make decisions.  

Imagine if, every time we made a decision, we had to consciously take into account every piece of information available to us. Unconscious bias develops from our life experiences to help us navigate the world more quickly. However, it can also have negative consequences. And, the fact that it happens unconsciously means it can be difficult to bypass.  

For instance, in action, unconscious bias can look like what happened in the Boston Symphony in 1952. The Symphony was looking to diversify its male-dominated orchestra, so it conducted an experiment with a series of blind auditions. In an effort to remove all chance of bias and allow for a merit-based selection only—a selection that would hopefully increase the number of women in the orchestra—the musicians would be auditioning from behind a screen. To their surprise, the initial audition results still skewed male. Then, they asked the musicians to take off their shoes. The reason? The sound of the women’s heels as they entered the audition unknowingly influenced the adjudicators; once the musicians removed their shoes, almost 50% of the women made it past the first audition. 

This is just one example. There are several different types of unconscious bias that affect our decision-making: 

Confirmation Bias 

Confirmation bias causes us to seek out information that confirms something that we already believe. We hear about this type of bias most often in relation to politics. People are more likely to seek out positive news about the candidate they support, reenforcing their belief that they are supporting the right person. It can also play out in the hiring process. Recruiters and hiring managers can make snap decisions about candidates based on perceived truths. Then, they ask questions to try to justify these biases, rather than evaluate each candidate on the same criteria.  

Affect Heuristics 

Affect heuristics are mental shortcuts we take to make decisions based on our emotional or mental state, rather than taking all of the facts into account. In the recruitment process, this could play out with a recruiter or hiring manager discounting a candidate because of personal feelings that have nothing to do with the role. For example, if you used to have a friend named Pete, who you fell out with, you might still carry a negative bias toward a candidate named Pete. 

Anchor/Expectation Bias 

An anchor or expectation bias happens when we allow ourselves to anchor on to one piece of information to make a decision. This can happen in the hiring process when a hiring manager believes that a new hire needs to be a carbon copy of the person who used to have that role, so they anchor on one aspect of a candidate that is similar to the previous employee and ignore other information. 

Halo Effect 

The halo effect is a bias that causes us to use a general positive impression of someone to influence how we evaluate their specific attributes. For example, if we’re impressed by one fact about a person (like if they went to a prestigious university), that could make us see them in a generally positive light. The halo effect often kicks in when we wish we were more like another person. This plays out in the hiring process when a hiring manager or recruiter focuses heavily on one positive aspect of a candidate’s background and lets that guide their opinion moving forward.  

Horn Effect 

The horn effect is the opposite of the halo effect; it happens when we let one perceived negative aspect of a person influence the way we think about them. For instance, something as simple as not liking a candidate’s outfit or the way they speak can cloud a recruiter’s or hiring manger’s judgment during the recruitment process and be difficult to get past. 

Affinity Bias 

The affinity bias causes us to connect with people who are similar to us. This is different from the halo effect because it happens when we identify a similarity with someone, rather than looking up to them. We like the feeling of affinity because it makes us feel connected and part of a community, and we also want to surround ourselves with people who we feel we have rapport with. In the hiring process, this can lead to teams with little cognitive diversity as recruiters and hiring mangers lean toward candidates similar to themselves.  

Conformity Bias  

In essence, conformity bias is peer pressure. It causes us to rely on the opinions of others when making decisions, rather than making an independent choice based on our own interpretation of the facts. This can kick in when making the hiring decision: If you’re on a panel and you think one candidate is really great, but the rest of the group prefers someone else, you could get swept along by the majority. 

Contrast Effect/Judgement Bias  

The contrast effect happens when we compare two similar things to each other, rather than assessing them independently. During the recruitment process, this can happen when a recruiter or hiring manager compares one résumé or CV to another they viewed before. In doing that, they shift the goal posts; instead of judging a candidate based on their suitability for the role, they make a decision based on what they thought of another candidate. 

Combating Unconscious Bias 

Unconscious Bias

Understanding the different types of unconscious bias is only the first step toward reducing its influence on your organization. And, while training can raise awareness, it rarely changes behavior. So, to make a real change, employers should implement a robust diversity and inclusion program that touches every aspect of the hiring process. Following are some proven steps you can take to reduce bias.  

1. Clearly Outline the Role 

Taking time to really understand what the role requires is essential for weeding out bias in the recruitment process. Specifically, by identifying eight to 10 objective criteria that are predictive of role success, you’ll decrease the likelihood that decisions are made using unconscious bias. It’s important to evaluate what it takes to be successful in the role. Is there anything that could stop a candidate from applying? Does the role need to be performed in person or can it be done remotely? Are the criteria you’re using accurate predictors of success? Are you relying on the vague concept of “cultural fit” that breeds affinity bias? 

As an example, some of the big four accounting firms have reduced their reliance on academic achievement for their early careers and campus hiring programs because they know it’s not an accurate predictor of future success in the role. Instead, they’re now focusing on potential by using other measures that they’ve tracked over time to show their effect on performance. 

2. Build an Inclusive Job Description 

Once you’ve outlined your role internally, focus on your external job description. Is there anything that could discourage a strong candidate from applying? In particular, remove gendered language from your job descriptions and check the pronouns you’re using. Additionally, avoid words like “expert,” “superior” or “rockstar” that turn off female candidates. A variety of online tools can help highlight and remove biased language. 

Next, ensure that the requirements that you list for the role only cover what is absolutely necessary. Women are less likely than men to apply to a role if they don’t feel that they meet all of the requirements, whereas men are more likely to apply if they only meet a portion of them.  

Finally, when creating a job description, ask multiple people from different backgrounds to review the job description—and take their feedback into account.  

3. Update Your Screening Process 

The next area to consider is your selection process. Are you relying too much on résumés and CVs? Research shows that CVs are not only fraught with bias, but that they’re also bad predictors of success. That’s because there are many factors on a CV that can trigger unconscious biases, like the person’s name (gender or ethnicity), the school they went to (geography or economic class) or the year they graduated (age).  

For example, according to the National Centre for Social Research, people with white-sounding names are nearly twice as likely to get callbacks for jobs than people with ethnic-sounding names. In their study, job applicants with white-sounding names were a significant 74% more likely to be invited to a job interview compared to applicants with an ethnic/minority-sounding name. 

4. Rethink Your Interviews 

Recruiters and hiring managers often rely heavily on interviews, which can be rife with unconscious bias. On top of that, interviews have a predictive power of 56%, according to Don Moore, a professor at the University of California, Berkley. That means that, if you’re making your decision based on an interview, you’ll make the wrong decision nearly half of the time.  

Plus, most interviews are conducted one-on-one or with small groups, where bias can flourish. However, mixed panels with diverse interviewers and objective criteria used to assess each candidate can lower the risk of bias when compared to traditional interview settings.  

Meanwhile, there can be an increased risk for bias in the new world of virtual interviews, as well. That’s because, when interviewers can see the inside of a person’s home, they can make unfair assumptions. So, if you use video interviews, ask candidates to blur their backgrounds. 

It’s also important to standardize your interview process so that all candidates are evaluated on the same criteria. This helps you avoid the contrast effect where you only compare candidates to each other, rather than against an objective set of criteria. And, to further reduce the chance of bias, reduce the power of the interview. Can you add other assessment techniques, instead, like work simulation tools or sample tests? 

5. Formalize Your Decision Process 

The final piece of the recruitment process is making a hiring decision. Don’t just get together at the end of the interview and say, “You know, I think John was really great,” or “There was just something I really liked about Kathryn.” Conformity bias can play a strong role in these types of discussions.  

Instead, have your panel step away individually, reflect on each candidate and score them based on your objective criteria. Then, you can review those scores as a group and discuss what you learned about the candidates during the recruitment process.  

Defining Success 

Because unconscious bias is so deeply embedded in all of us, it takes the efforts of everyone to reduce it. However, reducing bias in your recruitment process is a long-term commitment and not something that can happen in three or six months—or even a year. Rather, it involves backing from across the organization and all the way up to the leadership team. It also requires hiring managers to really engage with the process and be willing to give up making “gut decisions.” Finally, it also calls for a clear picture of where you want to go and how you’re going to monitor, measure and communicate success.  

Learn more about how to evaluate your program and progress in our ebook, “Progress in Action: Moving Toward a Globally Diverse and Inclusive Workplace.” 

Early Careers Recruitment: Hiring for True Potential

Posted on by akessler

By Joe Mongon, Head of Recruitment Delivery, EMEA

School’s out for the summer, but in the world of our RPO partnerships this is the time of year where we focus on early careers recruitment, in anticipation of entering apprentice, undergraduate and graduate markets in the autumn. Right now, we’re talking with clients both established and prospective about their needs in this area and, as ever, the focus on using EC programs to correct or balance diversity of workforce and (future) leadership remains a priority.

Most organisations will not necessarily view themselves as having a “diversity crisis” of the kind described in a recent article highlighting research into consulting and finance hiring in the City of London. However, many will benefit from accepting its key takeaway that, “employers are more likely to hire black candidates if they rely on anonymised, ‘skills-based’ assessments in the hiring process”.

In my experience, employers have long moved on from the most “traditional methods”. It’s certainly been a decade or more since I’ve heard of an early careers program requiring a cover letter or making space on an application form for candidates to list all the University societies of which they were definitely the President.

But my experience is not universal. I’m not a graduate looking to start my career, and I’m lucky enough to work in a recruitment business with an award-winning assessment consultancy arm, partnering with clients who take hiring for true potential seriously. That doesn’t mean there’s not more work for us to do within these partnerships—even for those who’ve taken positive steps in this area. Each year brings a new implementation cycle, and new opportunities to improve. 

Here are some solutions we’ve developed, launched or refined in our early careers RPO partnerships:

Assessing for Skills & Strengths in Early Careers Recruitment

Over time, many employers have reduced focus on abilities in favour of strengths- or behaviour-based testing, which is considered more conducive to measuring potential. Organisationally we broadly agree, but, where appropriate, we continue to recommend reasoning tests covering verbal, numerical and cognitive ability.  

The key here is not to use them in isolation as a blunt tool. Benchmark or cut off scores should be set only within the parameters of adverse impact analysis using anonymised candidate diversity data, and ability tests should be followed up with strengths or behavioural assessments. The link RPO expertise can create between recruitment technology, recruiters, and business psychologists is critical in this space.

Recruiting for Role Fit to Enhance Diversity

Predicting workplace performance and potential through behavioural assessment is often seen by early careers talent acquisition leaders as a smarter approach to hiring. Experiential tests, backed by data and research, producing personal interview guides for final stage assessment often leads to better outcomes and maintains diversity in the process. 

This approach highlights candidate suitability against role fit over culture fit, the latter being a potential barrier to creating a more diverse workforce (the concept of aligning new recruits with a prevailing culture or mindset being an obvious denial of the need for organisational change).

Focusing on Culture Add Rather than Culture Fit

I am not yet aware of any early careers programs where assessment is now 100% anonymised. Whether online via video, as part of a wider virtual assessment experience, or in a traditional face-to-face meeting, an interview is going to happen before a hire is made. Removing anonymity can introduce bias, and we promote two key mitigations.

Firstly, design and deliver structured interviews which are competency-based and/or focused on culture add (what the candidate can contribute to your organisation’s culture) over culture fit. Our teams often partner with hiring managers on best practice in this area, even facilitating or assessing directly where needed. This helps maintain consistency and relevance, avoiding questions on personal interests or previous experience—instead asking specific questions on working styles and preferences. 

Secondly, put candidate experience first and learn from feedback to provide support and guidance, setting the stage for success. By hearing the candidates’ voice, and measuring their experience across, we’ve been able to improve outcomes for employers.

We’re looking forward to seeing how these solutions progress, and what improvements they bring as we take early careers RPO from now to next, supporting the diverse workforces of the future—identifying and unlocking true potential wherever it exists.

Learn more assessment best practices in our ebook, Candidate Assessment: Bringing in Better with Passion, Purpose and Mindset.