Inclusive Hiring: Meaning and Practices

What Is Inclusive Hiring?

Inclusive hiring is the practice of recruiting and hiring candidates from diverse backgrounds by writing non-biased job descriptions, proactively sourcing underrepresented candidates, objectively interviewing for specific skills and competencies, and providing a thoughtful candidate experience.

The ultimate goal of inclusive recruitment and hiring is to find the best candidate for every role. Doing so requires fighting against biases and discrimination by proactively giving opportunities to candidates of all backgrounds and implementing practices proven to improve decision-making. Hiring a more diverse workforce is also an important part of promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) at your company (though, of course, representation alone is not enough).

Why Is Inclusive Hiring Important?

Research shows organizations benefit from inclusive hiring in a number of ways.

Inclusion and Diversity Matters to Job Seekers

People want to work for inclusive companies. A McKinsey survey found that 39% of respondents have turned down a job or decided not to pursue an opportunity because of a perceived lack of inclusion at the company. In another nationally representative study, 78% of employees say it’s important for them to work for an organization that prioritizes diversity and inclusion.

Inclusive and Diverse Teams Perform Better

Besides attracting the best talent, Gartner finds diverse companies have 12% higher employee performance than non-diverse organizations, and gender-diverse, inclusive teams outperform gender-homogeneous, less inclusive teams by 50%.

Inclusive and Diverse Companies Are More Profitable

Inclusive organizations see better financial returns. A McKinsey study showed that companies in the top 25% for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have outstanding profitability, and in the top 25% for ethnic and cultural diversity the result is even higher: 36% likelihood of outperformance.

If you’re ready to level up your hiring, here’s an inclusion checklist you can follow during inclusive recruitment and all stages of hiring.

1. Write appealing job descriptions with inclusive language.

2. Post jobs to diverse networks.

3. Proactively ask for underrepresented referrals.

4. Aim for at least two underrepresented candidates in the final round.

5. Pre-select the core criteria for the role.

6. Ask all candidates the same competency-based interview questions.

7. Evaluate all candidates on a rubric.

8. Consider different candidates’ needs during interviews.

9. Challenge biases during the debriefing process.

10. Be helpful with rejections.

1. Write appealing job descriptions with inclusive language.

Words have power. Job applicants are looking for even subtle clues to see if they will belong and succeed at your organization. As our everydays are filled with ableist phrases that we should avoid, it’s just as important to pay attention to the language we use in the professional world. For job descriptions, for instance, it’s important to:

• Use non-biased language. Avoid gender-stereotypical terms (e.g. rockstar, ninja, dominant, strong), sports and war metaphors (e.g quarterback, in the trenches, flex your muscles), and jargon and buzzwords (e.g. change the world, disrupt, hyper-growth).

• Highlight growth, not genius. Underrepresented candidates are less likely to apply to jobs that emphasize brilliance. They’re more likely to apply to jobs emphasizing hard work, growth, and learning. Avoid “fixed mindset” terms like best of the best, top talent, brilliant, and whiz. Instead, use “growth mindset” language like learning opportunities, hard-working, persistent, and dedicated.

• Share the mission, values, and impact. Research shows values fit leads to better hires. Write at least 2-3 sentences about how the company and team values show up in day-to-day work. The opportunity to contribute to a larger mission is especially important for women and URMs (underrepresented minorities). Explain how this role will make an impact (on society, the industry, the company, individuals, etc.).

• Limit requirements to 5. When there are too many qualifications, you risk qualified applicants (especially women and URMs) not applying because they take each qualification literally while another candidate may inflate their abilities. Each qualification should be related to something the candidate will actually be evaluated on in the interview.

• Eliminate unnecessary degree requirements. Consider whether a particular degree is absolutely required to do the job well. If not, don’t make it a requirement.

If you have the budget, Textio is an excellent tool that can help you write inclusive job descriptions every time.

2. Post jobs to diverse networks.

Go beyond Linkedin, Glassdoor, and Indeed, and start actively expanding your candidate pipeline. Think about:

• Slack groups such as Ladies Get Paid for professional women, LGBTQ in Technology, and Latinx Who Design.

• Job boards like Jopwell, which is one of the most active job partnership programs for Black, Hispanic/Latine, and Native American professionals and students, or iBreak, which focuses on helping anyone returning to the job market after a career break, which is often women who have taken time off to raise children.

• Professional networks such as /dev /color for Black software engineers, technologists, and executives and Women in Hardware for women and non-binary people building the future of hardware.

3. Proactively ask for underrepresented referrals.

Just ask!

Often, simply asking people to think beyond their “obvious” networks results in more diverse referrals. This is especially effective to do when onboarding new employees.

4. Aim for at least two underrepresented candidates in the final round.

Strive to have at least two people from an underrepresented background in your final interview pool. Research shows this practice greatly increases the chances that an underrepresented candidate will not be seen as a “token.”

If you’re working with an agency, ask that they adhere to this goal.

5. Pre-select the core criteria for the role.

A couple of things to keep an eye on when selecting the core criteria for the role:

• Select criteria before you see a single resume!

• Limit it to 5-6 core competencies (i.e. skills and values). You can download Peoplism’s Interviewbot to get help selecting competencies right in Slack.

6. Ask all candidates the same competency-based interview questions.

• Make sure interviewers ask all candidates the same questions so you can compare apples to apples.

• Use objective questions (behavioral and situational). Behavioral interview questions that look into the candidate’s past experience are the most predictive of future job competence. Situational questions that ask candidates to put themselves in a hypothetical scenario and explain what they would do can also be useful. Just make sure to avoid completely open-ended questions like “So tell me about yourself.”

Example behavioral interview questions:

• Tell me about a time you had to deliver bad news to a manager or team member. How did you do it? (Communication)

• What was the last training you attended? How did you use your new knowledge in practice? (Passion for learning)

• Give an example of a time you made a process more efficient. How did you do it? (Takes initiative)

7. Evaluate all candidates on a rubric.

Rubrics allow us to compare all candidates on the same criteria. This makes objective decision-making much easier.

Write down the core competency, and the related interview question, and have each interviewer rate the candidate on a scale of 1 to 5.

Here is a simple rubric example you can modify and use.

8. Consider different candidates’ needs during interviews.

Be proactive and say something like this in your communications with candidates: "We are committed to an inclusive work environment and we want to make this a great interview experience for you. If you have any special accommodations or needs, please don’t hesitate to let us know."

9. Challenge biases during the debriefing process.

When final decision-makers sit down for a final review of the candidates, especially in a group, it is easy to fall back on biases.

One option is to simply not have a debrief and empower the hiring manager to make a decision based on the rubric results.

If you do have a debrief meeting, make sure to notice and challenge common biases:

• Avoid groupthink. The team lead/hiring manager should speak last to avoid swaying people’s opinions.

• Call out personality criticism. Similar characteristics can be interpreted differently based on bias and stereotypes (i.e. men are “direct” while women are “abrasive”). Avoid talking about people’s personalities and call them out when you see them at play.

• Apply the benefit of the doubt evenly. If one “red flag” eliminates a candidate, ask whether other candidates have successfully passed with similar “red flags.”

• Focus on “values fit” or “culture add,” instead of “culture fit.” If you hear a candidate is “not a culture fit” ask what specific company or team values the candidate failed to display.

10. Be helpful with rejections

Candidates spend a lot of time applying and interviewing for roles. Remember that even those that you don’t want to hire can influence other potential candidates on platforms like Glassdoor.

Point rejected candidates to a course, certification, or conference they should look into to increase their skills. Even better: point them to a company that is hiring for a similar role.

It might seem strange to point people to competitors. But the reality is that you can’t or don’t want to offer these folks a job. So use your knowledge of the space to point them to companies that are actively hiring. You may be shocked by the positive feedback.

Inclusive Hiring: You’re Up

When was the last time you reviewed your team’s hiring process?

• Could it be time to check if your job descriptions really appeal to all the qualified candidates out there regardless of their background?
• Is your recruiting process sourcing from the same small pool as all your competitors or are you actively expanding your qualified talent pool?
• What kind of questions are interviewers asking your candidates and can you be sure interviewers rate candidates as objectively as possible?
• Do you make the interview a comfortable space for candidates to be in where they can express their needs?
• If many people have a say in deciding the final hire, is the process structured in a way that mitigates bias, including groupthink and personality criticism?
• Do you have a thoughtful, human feedback process for candidates you decide to reject for a position?

Inclusive hiring is a complex process, and it can take significant effort to review and improve each step needed to make hiring for diversity your competitive advantage. If you’d like to consult with experts on this, Peoplism can help.

One of our key DEIB services is Inclusive Recruiting & Hiring Design. Our consultants are ready to work with your team no matter where you are in the process.