How Technology is creating greater diversity in hiring practices
Every business wants to hire the best available talent, and today’s technology is rapidly moving toward a consistent and objective process that supports greater diversity and engagement. (Bonus: These tech advances also allow for safely hiring during a pandemic.)
According to Forbes, a diverse workforce yields 19% higher profits than those with uniform employees, yet hiring decisions continue to be influenced by unconscious biases that can be difficult to uncover.
It is no secret that the old way of scanning resumes comes with implicit bias. Hiring managers may perceive candidates who attended certain schools or have particular employment histories as more capable than other applicants.
So, how do you effectively hire candidates while eliminating unconscious biases? Structuring and standardizing your interviewing process is the first step, and this can be done by digitizing the process to guarantee every candidate has a fair opportunity.
On-demand digital interviews assess the entire top of the funnel instead of forcing time-constrained humans to implement biased processes to shrink the pipeline. The benefit is a broader net of potential candidates that allows for more first-round impressions.
On-demand digital interviews also help recruiters and hiring managers to compose structured, unbiased interview questions. The structured part of the interview involves the kind of questions being asked, how they are asked and the order in which they are asked. Any changes in these variables can sway the candidates’ responses, leading to bias judgment that restricts diversity.
Current interviewing practices often inadvertently exclude people from moving forward in the process, but on-demand digital interviews eliminate geographical barriers and scheduling conflicts. For example, a qualified candidate may be working an inconsistent schedule or not be able to secure time off to interview.
Scored online assessments are another efficient tool. According to the Society of Human Resources, scoring assessments remove human bias and hold everyone accountable in the selection process. The system supports objective decision-making by showing that all the other candidates did not meet the skill sets required to do the job effectively.
It is imperative that hiring managers pivot and set concrete, fair criteria for the hiring process. Structured, virtual interviews paired with online assessments are easily measurable to ensure each candidate is evaluated based on the same standards.