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Anonymize resumes
One of the ways that we have found that we can create a more inclusive process when reviewing resumes is to try and anonymize very identifiable markers of identities such as race and gender. Research from around the world in various countries, from France to Canada to the United States, finds that when two candidates with equal qualifications apply for a job, when one of them has a more identifiably non-Anglo-Saxon name – African-American name, or an identifiably Asian name or an identifiably Muslim name – what we have found, unfortunately, is time and again hiring managers will call candidates who have an Anglo-Saxon name.
Unfortunately, we know that bias is large in many, many parts of our society, and certainly in the hiring process. So, one of the ways that we can be more inclusive when we’re reviewing resumes is to actually anonymize and remove those identifiers of race and gender and any other identifiers, so that candidates are really getting an equal opportunity when they’re being reviewed.
Level set expectations
I’m the first person in my family to complete four-year college. And I am the first woman in my family to work outside the home. And so, when it came time for me to apply for jobs, there were a lot of the social skills and requirements – and even the number of interviews I would have, what it looks like to create a professional resume, what it looks like to create a cover letter – that I did not have enough information about. And no one that I knew close to me had gone through this process. And so, one of the ways that hiring managers can be a lot more inclusive is to level set those expectations and understand that not every single candidate comes in with the prior knowledge of what is expected across the hiring process, what is expected during an interview, who is the right person to talk about salary negotiation, the fact that maybe salary negotiation actually is encouraged.
Reduce affinity bias
As you are interviewing candidates, ensuring that there is a diverse slate of interviewers is really important. Research has found that we ask people different questions based on how much we identify with them or we don’t identify with them. So, it’s really important to ensure that you’re asking candidates a very standardized list of questions, so that you don’t fall prey to your affinity bias: believing and having more of a favorable opinion of someone who shares the same identities as you. For example, a hiring manager will feel more connected to a candidate because they’re both Seattle Seahawks fans.
One of the companies that I was advising was actually assembling a global board of leaders to basically give them advice. And so, initially, their interview questions were standardized, which absolutely makes sense in one country. And if you’re hiring from candidates from the same country, definitely. But when they were assessing for skills and assessing for leadership qualities in different countries, not all the questions translated across different cultures. And so, making sure that the interview questions are customized to fit the society and the culture that the candidate is operating in.
Another way that we can practice more inclusive interviewing is to score candidates in a pre-designed, pre-agreed upon scoring system. When the interviewers convene, they make sure that they score people as quickly as possible after an interview, so that, again, they don’t fall prey to their judgements or biases later on. Their opinions are current, based on what just took place.