Guide #009: How hiring managers can create a more inclusive recruitment process

Keep a pulse on your industry and communities relevant to the role you're trying to fill. Use Twitter, blogs, newsletters and other platforms to track trending topics, active conversations, and key voices. Attend or participate in conferences and industry events, and share thought-leadership. Recognize when you’re in an echo chamber. Seek out new communities across geographies, disciplines, industry associations, ethnicities, gender, disabilities, etc. to find opportunities where you’re the only person with your background present.

Start by getting a firm grasp on the business needs the role is being created for. If the role is dedicated to a specific project, write down what constitutes success for the role on that project. Document the skillsets you're looking for based on what you’re hearing from stakeholders. Align this with career frameworks and areas that would expand the skills of the group.

Brief HR on the role, team, and projects the candidate will be working on. Encourage a broad range of recruitment channels. Point HR/Recruiting to the communities you’re aware of from being active in your industry. Outline any specific processes you’d like to incorporate. For example, if you want to introduce “blind hiring” into the recruiting process, you’ll need to work with HR to facilitate this change.

Analyze your job descriptions for gender bias. Use software tools (like Textio or similar language analysis tools) that can help with this. Recognize that women are less likely to apply for a role if they don’t meet all the requirements. Consider including language that encourages prospects to apply even if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements. Ask HR to include diversity language in the job description.

Establish an interview panel with the goal of keeping the team small — 3 to 5 if possible. Ensure cross-functional representation. Brief your panel on the role being filled, the skills you're looking for and the projects or teams the candidate will be working on. Coach the panel on the process they should follow to ensure equity in candidate assessment. Identify what each interviewer will be focused on. Provide specific questions or ask them to share their baseline set of questions with you before the interview process starts. Coach your panel on how to ask good questions and what questions they should not ask during an interview.