How can hiring teams tap into more qualified, diverse talent pools?

By Portia Kibble Smith, Diversity and Inclusion Leader at Karat

In an increasingly connected and diverse world, employers are recognizing the benefits of workforce diversity. More than four in five (82.1%) of organizations surveyed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers consider diversity in their recruiting efforts.

Companies lacking inclusive, transparent hiring practices today miss out on a wide segment of the talent pool but often struggle with retention. When candidates share their disappointing interviewing experiences online, brands suffer, and employees depart. The drag on morale and productivity is essentially handing competitors a recruiting advantage.

How can employers retool their practices to foster inclusivity and hiring transparency? Here are essential steps.

1. Create bias-free job descriptions.

The first step to structuring efficient and equitable hiring is to fix broken job descriptions. An organization won’t attract good candidates without clearly defined competencies based on job analyses. In fact, women are almost twice as likely as men to forego applying for a job in which they don’t meet every job description point.

Stick to clear, objective requirements that interviewers can measure in a structured way. Subjective terms like “rockstar” deter many candidates from underrepresented groups from applying because they fear they don’t fit the organization’s “culture.” Similarly, this language suggests a candidate must already be an expert rather than reflecting a growth mindset of someone who is eager to learn and unlock their full potential. 

2. Be kind to candidates.

Grueling screening processes such as lengthy coding assignments are unlikely to reveal more about a candidate’s skill set than a well-structured, 60-minute technical interview. Respect candidates’ time to avoid discriminating against those who may work multiple jobs, take evening classes, care for family members, or have other commitments that preclude completing job application homework.

Instead, train interviewers to look for the job description’s core competencies using unambiguous, consistent questioning. This will yield responses that are suited to objective comparison and more predictive of job performance. And no one will miss having to spend hours grading candidate homework.

3. Measure the candidate experience.

Tracking drop-off rates can reveal weaknesses in the organization’s hiring practices when those rates diverge from industry norms. A take-home or automated coding challenge for engineering candidates, for example, typically comes with a drop-off rate of around 50% (and rates will vary by role). If an employer is experiencing significantly more candidates dropping out at that point, the volume of work or other aspects of the activity may be driving away qualified candidates.

Automated tests commonly achieve reasonable sign-up rates in university recruiting, where they can provide an inexpensive, competency-based filter in an expansive recruiting pipeline. The more senior the role, however, the greater the drop-out rate is likely to become. Typically, 10% to 20% of candidates drop out at each stage in a series of screenings, and that rate will increase with delays that discourage the candidate.

4. Monitor interviewers for bias.

Applicants dropping out with unusual frequency anywhere in the process are a red flag to look for a breakdown in the system. Suppose an interviewer has higher drop-off rates for women or members of other underrepresented groups. In that case, they should be pulled off interviewing loops until management has investigated and addressed the situation. Key questions the investigation should reveal include, ‘is the interviewer’s language, behavior, or demeanor deterring candidates;’ and ‘does the individual need training to recognize unconscious bias?’This shows why monitoring the candidate experience is vital, and not just for the sake of compliance. The sooner an organization recognizes and corrects a bias problem, the better it can preserve its brand from damage when candidates share interview experiences with others.

Candidates react positively to brands they feel treat them fairly and feel will give them the same opportunity they give everyone else. The more consistency and transparency an organization can build into its recruiting and hiring processes, the more successful it will be at improving its brand, candidate experience, and workforce inclusivity.

— Portia Kibble Smith is an executive recruiter and diversity & inclusion lead for Karat, a company that conducts technical interviews on behalf of businesses hiring software engineers to create a more predictive, fair, and inclusive process.

Portia has spent her career in sales, marketing, and as an executive recruiter for tech companies like Xerox, IBM, and Sprint, and most recently has been working with Karat as the driving force behind the acclaimed Real Talk: Diversity in Tech series.