Strategies for Successful and Lawful Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Workforce with Inclusivity
In the current landscape, where diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are under scrutiny, organizations seeking to recruit a diverse workforce might feel stuck, especially with the polarized environment. However, leaders can pivot their hiring practices to be both inclusive and legal.
Kenji Yoshino, chief justice at the NYU School of Law and director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, outlines three prerequisites for DEI to be deemed illegal: "granting preferences, preferentially bestowed upon protected groups, concerning tangible benefits." Essentially, activities that favor one group over others are likely to raise legal questions, particularly when it comes to hiring quotas or mandates that prefer certain groups.
Avoiding these practices and fostering an inclusive environment is crucial. Here are three proven strategies for inclusive and legal hiring:
Broaden the Talent Pool
Focus on increasing the pool of candidates, rather than imposing a goal or quota on whom to hire. Common misconceptions propagate the idea that dominant group members cannot hire people like themselves or can only hire women or people of color. This mindset does not promote an inclusive environment where diverse talent feels welcome.
Recruiters often rely on algorithms or AI tools to sort and prioritize resumes based on location, education, companies they wish to hire from, and job titles. However, these tools can limit the diversity of candidates by excluding historically Black colleges, technical schools, and startup companies where diverse talent might be hiding in plain sight.
Case Study: Twill Platform
Michelle Volberg, CEO and founder of the diverse recruiting platform Twill, shared a use case from her platform. A firm that was seeking a senior IT position in Boston used an software filter that only considered Massachusetts residents. Through Twill, they were able to find a qualified woman from Philadelphia, demonstrating a faster and more efficient hiring process compared to traditional sourcing platforms.
Facilitate Vetted Referrals
People often exhibit affinity bias, favoring those who are similar to them. When it comes to hiring, this bias might lead to only referring and interviewing people from the same group. Volberg warns that this approach, long-term, will exhaust the talent pool or result in the same type of person being hired repeatedly.
Twill's model revolves around the principle that a diverse member base equates to diverse referrals, which in turn lead to diverse hires. Fifty percent of their referrals come from diverse backgrounds. Volberg emphasizes the importance of leaders creating more opportunities for people who are different to ensure a steady influx of diverse talent.
Hire the Best Candidate
A common misconception about diversity and inclusion hiring is that the candidate might not be qualified, with some people using derogatory terms like "DEI hire." However, no one wants to hire a candidate who is not the best fit for the role.
To be inclusive and legal, an objective set of criteria should be established to ensure each candidate is evaluated consistently across the team. Often, people make informal assessments or base their decisions on cultural fit or like-me bias in the absence of objective metrics. Objective criteria can include competency-based assessments for skills, behaviors, or attributes necessary for success in the role, a hypothetical on-the-job scenario assessment like data analysis or a presentation, or other skills-based assessments that focus on objective information rather than subjective information.
Other best practices for inclusive hiring include reminding recruiters, screeners, and interviewers of potential biases before speaking with candidates and having individuals rate their candidates individually before reaching a group consensus to avoid groupthink or relying on people with power to make decisions.
Ultimately, these practices matter because they bring tangible business results. Aneesha Rao, chief revenue officer of The Ambr Group, stated, "Twill presented a high-caliber set of diverse candidates – across genders, races, and backgrounds. We value diversity in our employee body as it allows us to solve problems from multiple perspectives. We believe in having the best employees and the best workforce, and diversity in background, experience, and perspective, is key in achieving that."
In the present polarized environment, organizations seeking to recruit diverse talent can effectively do so by adopting these strategies for inclusive and legal hiring.
How to broaden the talent pool for diversity includes focusing on increasing the pool of candidates rather than imposing a goal or quota, avoiding algorithms or AI tools that can limit diversity, and considering candidates from historically underrepresented institutions.
Facilitating vetted referrals for diversity requires leaders to ensure diversity among their member base, as diverse referrals lead to diverse hires. Twenty-five percent of Twill's referrals come from underrepresented backgrounds, demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach.
Avoiding discontinuation of legal practices and fostering an inclusive environment is key. Hiring the best candidate while being inclusive and legal involves establishing an objective set of criteria for evaluating each candidate consistently, using competency-based assessments, and reminding recruiters, screeners, and interviewers of potential biases before speaking with candidates to maintain group consensus.
