Whether you’re hiring for a temporary job or a permanent position, your staffing firm needs to have a process in place to reduce bias and improve diversity when screening applicants.
To ensure that your screening process does not impact the quality of applicants or staff you eventually hire, your staffing firm should consider the following recommendations. These recommendations can help reduce bias and improve diversity in your screening process.
Use A Blind Screening Process
A blind screening process is an effective way to reduce bias and improve diversity in your screening process. A blind screening process prevents discrimination by ensuring that the interviewer is unaware of the name and identity of the job applicant.
In addition, it prevents employers from evaluating candidates based on their age, gender, race, or ethnicity.
Use A Structured Interview Process
A structured interview process is another effective way to reduce bias and improve diversity in your screening process. A structured interview process ensures that all applicants are evaluated based on the same factors.
In addition, it helps ensure that the interviewer asks each applicant identical questions and evaluates each applicant based on the same criteria.
Use Multiple Reviewers For Each Application
A common mistake many staffing firms make is to have one reviewer evaluate all applicant’s information before making an offer decision or rejecting an applicant from consideration for a job opening. When this happens, there’s little room for reducing bias or improving diversity in your screening process because only one opinion is used to evaluate all applicants’ information.
To ensure that you’re reducing bias and improving diversity in your screening process, you should have at least two reviewers evaluate each applicant’s information before deciding whether to offer.
Don’t Make An Offer Without All Of The Information
When reviewing applications, it’s easy to get distracted by the “buzzwords” in the applicant’s resume. When this happens, you may miss a crucial aspect of an applicant’s qualifications that could affect your decision on whether or not to make an offer.
To reduce bias and improve diversity in your screening process, make sure that you have all of the information before making an offer. It will save time for both hiring managers and applicants because there will be no need for follow-up interviews or additional applications from missing applicants.
Be A Good Listener
When evaluating applicants, it is essential for hiring managers to listen carefully to what the applicant says about their understanding of the job requirements. By listening carefully, hiring managers can better understand what makes an applicant a good fit for their company and how they may contribute positively to their team.
Be Precise With Your Questions
Hiring managers often have a lot of information to process and make decisions on, which can be challenging to do with the interview process. It is essential for hiring managers to be as precise as possible with their questions during the interview and not leave any details out that could potentially cause confusion or misinterpretation.
Ask Open-Ended Questions As Opposed To Closed-Ended Questions
When interviewing candidates for a particular position, hiring managers often ask closed-ended questions that only require yes or no answers. They should also ask open-ended questions that require a response regarding why or how they would complete specific tasks related to the position the candidate is applying for.
It is essential for hiring managers to be as specific as possible when asking questions during an interview to ensure the responses they receive will help them in deciding whether to move forward with the hire or move on to another candidate.
Once you have determined that you want to take the next step in the hiring process, contact us . We are ready to help you find the right people for your team.
