Steve Bartel is the CEO of Gem, a talent engagement platform powered by Greylock, Accel and ICONIQ.
In recent years, more and more companies have committed to hiring a more diverse workforce and have begun to release their diversity figures annually. The results were a mixed bag at best.
With so many organizations saying diversity recruiting is one of their top goals and making good faith efforts to revamp their recruiting practices accordingly, our team wanted to better understand why the results are disappointing. What we found surprised us: Unconscious biases tend to have the greatest impact on historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the early stages of the interview process.
For example, the data showed that while white candidates see higher passthrough rates at the very top of the funnel, black and Hispanic/Latin talent see higher passthrough rates in the remaining funnel stages: 62% of black talent and 57% of Hispanic/Latin/ Latin talent are extensive offers after on-sites, compared to only 54% of white talent.
This suggests that diversity is usually an issue in earlier stages of the interview process, driven at least in part by unconscious bias. Candidates from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups have to work harder to prove themselves than their white counterparts, despite seeing higher offer rates in later stages of the application process.
When opening a new position, start with the question: How do we ensure that our selection is based solely on criteria relevant to the position?To address this issue, I’m sharing six strategies hiring teams can use to reduce bias in the early stages of the hiring process, when candidates are both coming in and interviewing.
Reconsider the criteria for your open positions
Research has shown that many things people mention on their LinkedIn profile or resume have little or no correlation with their future job performance.
For example, if you require or are amenable to four-year degrees from certain institutions, you will be biased toward privilege. Screening for leadership experience can also be racially biased, due to a lower representation of non-white people at the executive level.
To avoid this, when opening a new position, always first ask the question: How do we ensure that our selection is based solely on criteria relevant to the position?
From there, clarify which competencies and qualifications are absolutely necessary for success in the role, and instead of focusing on the experience, education or – if they are early in their careers – GPAs, ask yourself what about their history suggests the problem – problem-solving ability, cognitive ability and a growth mindset.
Limit access to information that can cause bias
This post 6 Methods to Reduce Candidate Search and Screen Bias – TechCrunch was original published at “https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/31/6-methods-for-reducing-bias-in-candidate-sourcing-and-screening/”
