4: Transforming hiring practices

Hiring process == systems of oppression "oppressive practices based in"
Mainly because of biases

Unpacking myths

Lowering the bar

Lowering the bar ie reducing the quality of hires
Assumption on quality of work by marginalised people
Based on perceptions and not facts

“Many people in leadership believe that increasing diversity means “lowering the bar” or reducing the quality of hires. This argument only holds if you believe that candidates with marginalized identities are less competent than their dominant-identity peers. This profoundly prejudiced belief is ubiquitous in our industry and in others."

Culture fit

Beer test -> exclusive
How do you define "good to work with?"

“You end up with this big, homogenous culture where everybody looks alike, everybody thinks alike, and everybody likes drinking beer at three o’clock in the afternoon with the bros,”

Pipeline problem

Places the blame on the applicants
Examples: hiring from the same well-known schools

“There is no pipeline problem. There are plenty of qualified candidates out there for any position. However, when those candidates don’t apply for a role, most companies assume they don’t exist rather than asking why candidates aren’t applying.”

-- One short paragraph on benefits of diverse teams... but bringing a diverse team in a room together is not enough to promote success. Especially since the team is not cohesive, they need at a minimum training on communication and respect.

Planning for the role

Define your goals: what they could bring to the table:
- Experience level
- Is contextual knowledge and well-rounded person from another industry be useful?
- How did they acquire their skills? any assumptions on their education level?
- Skills the team lacks?
- Experience outside of work that might be useful?
Assess your team
- Affinity bias
- Focus on what the team is missing -> avoiding homogenous hiring
- What skills are lacking?
- What does an inclusive team looks like?
- What accommodations are provided in the interview process?
- Unconscious bias training for interviewers?
- How can you support candidates? what steps can you take to include them?
- What can you learn from past hiring sprees?
Hiring cohorts with multiple people from under-represented groups, and selecting a person based on selection criteria and what is needed in the team
Define a stopping point - what is the level where someone is good enough?
Referral systems are bad for team diversity

Scaling a pathway

Document the objectives, goals, and tasks for each phase of the hiring process
Why?
- Easier coordination, improved communication, and clear expectations
- Align on objectives, candidate assessment, and ideal outcomes
- Increase awareness of bias (intentional or not)
- Helps to see the process holistically
Steps:
- Map the hiring process
- Schedule pre-briefs and debriefs with added structure -> multiple interviewers

Better job postings

“If our language or processes alienate candidates, the negative impact far outweighs our intentions.”

First meaningful interaction with a company
Inclusive language
Transparency - more info a company can provide (values, expectations, interview process) -> better alignment of all parties -> better company culture
Recruiting: actively look for people and reach out
It’s crucial to make sure your words and actions align.

Bias in screening

Career background bias
Collegiate bias: formal education vs self-taught
Experiential bias
Citizenship bias - migrants -> cross-cultural awareness and empathy. also keen awareness of systems thinking

Benefits of hiring juniors

Fresh perspectives and varied skillsets
Fewer ingrained habits to unlearn - you can shape them to pick up how your company works
Less costly to hire a junior and mentor them -> loyal employees
Grow the other senior members of the team
Reinforce processes and techniques - re-justify why we do things the way we do -> better communication across the org
Good energy, new ideas, and good questions

Combatting bias

Anonymising hiring: hide personally identifying information
Hire for culture add

Additional suggestions:

Unconscious bias training
Having two interviewers in an interview
Role definition to be used as a reference
GH anonymous user for code challenge
BeApplied review answers per question rather than per candidate

Inclusive interviews

“In workspaces with pricey computers and high-speed internet, we forget that candidates may not always have access to what we do. They may live in rural communities without enough internet bandwidth for video calls. They may not have access to transportation to and from interview locations. They may not have high-end digital equipment at the beginning of their design or development careers. Time zones, work or home situations, or disabilities may limit how and when candidates can communicate.”

Support candidates with disabilities
Communicate early and often
Create opportunities for candidates to request accommodations
Be flexible about location
Arrange for different types of interaction

Open door policy doesn't get people to come and confide with you. Putting the onus on people with disabilities might not actually work

What are the business and legal implications for paying candidates for their time? Can mess up someone's tax situation. Maybe companies use vouchers as compensation?

Code challenges are problematic.

Hiring is the easy part

“it’s a lot easier to get someone through an interview process than to make sure they feel included at a company”

Blackmill / book-club

Inclusive design communities: Feb 7: chapters 4-5 #175