Scanning
job postings one can find thousands of ads with the statement: “Diverse
candidates encouraged to apply.” Employers also include the phrase: “An EOE
Employer,” indicating that they do not discriminate in hiring. This certainly has not always been the
case. There are many examples of
discriminatory want ads to share with you and, although some of them may seem
amusing now, they were quite serious when they were published. There are many
books and articles on how to avoid legal problems when writing and publishing a
want ad, but that is not the purpose of this blog entry.
I
have heard variations on the following statement many, many times: “I cannot
find any women who qualify for the job!” We can replace women with any other
word describing a ‘diverse candidate’, meaning a person of color, a person with
disabilities, et al. My response is
always the same, “Where did you look?” This
may sound flip, but it is an important and valid question to ask
recruiters. For the past several years
we have all been aware of recession conditions and high unemployment
rates. There are many statistics showing
that more women (of all races) than men have been earning college degrees in
recent years.
(SOURCES: U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics. (2012) http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=72 The Rise of Women: The Gender Gap in
Education and What It Means for American Schools, Russell Sage Foundation.
http://www.russellsage.org/blog/rise-women-seven-charts-showing-womens-rapid-gains-educational-achievement)
There is still a gap in STEM
(science, technology, engineering and math) fields between white males and
everyone else, but that creates a great opportunity: organizations can sponsor academic scholarships
for diverse students at high school and undergraduate levels and begin their
recruitment in the sixth grade. The earlier an employer recruits candidates for
employment, the more successful they will be in hiring a more diverse range of
employees. Employees who are in obscure
jobs are thrilled when they go out and speak at local high schools and middle
schools with the response of the children.
This helps with employee engagement, recruitment and marketing. The children go home and tell their parents
how great the presentation was by employees from the “Acme Company” and the
parents get a subliminal ad for that company’s products.
One
way to create a viable ‘pipeline’ of diverse candidates in STEM industries is
to have strong internship programs. This
is a terrific way to find out how competent an employee is and for both the
intern and employer to find out if they are a good cultural match. So, why is
it so hard to hire ‘diverse candidates’?
Many job descriptions are ineffective.
They do not tell the candidates what they need to know about your
organization. A job posting needs to
provide three sets of information:
1.
What are the job duties?
▪ Is
the job description up to date?
▪ When
is the last time it has been updated and by who?
▪ Are
the job listed duties both accurate and relevant?
Potential
candidates will often be dissuaded from applying for a position where the job
duties do not match their experience.
2.
What are the job qualifications?
▪ Does
the candidate really need experience
in a particular industry to be able to successfully carry out their job duties?
▪ Does
the candidate really need a master’s
degree in business administration to schedule
conferences?
People
will not usually apply for jobs if they do not meet the requirements, such as a
specific degree or industry experience.
3.
What is it like working at your company?
▪ Do
you know what the organizational culture is, particularly in the department or
location where the selected candidate will be working? Is
the workspace open or are there offices or cubicles?
▪ Is
it a highly socialized environment or more isolated?
▪ Is
the team interactive or independent?
▪ Are
work hours flexible?
Savvy
candidates will do research on your organization before applying for a job with
you and if their information conflicts with what you state in your ad or
website, they may not apply.
 |
| Philadelphia - During WWII |
Some of my clients have told
me that they are successful at attracting and recruiting ‘diverse candidates,’
but they are not successful at getting them hired. ‘Diverse candidates’ are
getting rejected at the interview phase of the process. Recruitment professionals who have
pre-screened and pre-interviewed candidates are often baffled as to why their
candidates are not being hired. There seems to be a challenge developing
interview questions that focus on the Bona
Fide Occupational Qualifications of a particular position and developing
interviewers with a high level of cultural competence. Very few interviewers who I have spoken with
are aware of Transferable Skills and
their value. For example: If someone is great at planning a meal for 20
people, they can probably handle organizing board meetings or employee
events. The skills are the same they are
just being applied differently based on the specific need. Another great opportunity for employers to
increase the diversity at their organizations is to provide transferable skills
workshops for their human resource professionals and any employees who are part
of their selection and hiring teams.
Even employers who are
committed to increasing the diversity and inclusion at their organizations are
sometimes stymied as to how to achieve those goals. Sometimes this results in
hiring of ‘diverse candidates’ who may not be fully competent for the
position. This creates a couple problems:
first, the new hires are set up for failure if they are not fully qualified for
the position; second, this reinforces the urban myths surrounding affirmative
action. So, I urge you to hire only the
most highly qualified candidates for every position that you are filling. I also urge you to reassess the jobs that you
are seeking to fill, what they entail, and what someone really needs to know in
order to do them well.
Employers
invest a great deal of money in the recruitment and hiring process. Fees for search firms are in the many
thousands of dollars for each position, and the salaries of HR and other staff
when prorated for each new hire brings the investment to quite a high sum. So, how sound is your investment? Are you selecting and hiring the best
candidate for the job? Is the job being
described in the most effective and honest way possible? Have key members of
the selection team been developed to be as competent as possible? If you are confident that the answer to these
three questions is yes, BRAVO! If not,
isn’t it time to reassess your process?
Onward!
~ Wendy
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