Equal opportunities for all – it sounds so beautiful. But how does this work in practice? How do you assume equal opportunities if there is no equal basic principle? And when we talk about certain target groups, aren't we already immediately putting people in boxes, with all the consequences that entails? Well, it's still very difficult. A new law is also being drafted, whereby organizations can be sanctioned if they do not do enough to prevent labor market discrimination. Organizations run the risk of being fined €4,500 and their company data being made public. In this blog I give you more information about how you can innovate and make change in the recruitment & selection process. What is the role of the government, what is the role of organizations and what is our role?
Look in the mirror
Nothing human is alien to us and we all have prejudices. This is simply how our brains are programmed and how we humans have evolved. We have been shaped by our upbringing, the media and influential peers and are continuously influenced in our thoughts, beliefs and opinions. Apart from the fact that we humans are naturally inclined to categorize for our survival, stereotypes and prejudices form, especially during our upbringing and the images we perceive. This is very nice for the functioning of our brains, because it costs us less energy if we make our decisions through these automatic and lightning-fast mechanisms.
About 95% of our actions happen unconsciously, all day long!
We make a small part of our decisions rationally, but our prejudices and stereotypes also play an important role here. We humans are subjective beings and this makes it very difficult to judge in an objective way. Within organizations, among other things, the BLM movement is paying more attention to awareness of prejudices. Many organizations therefore have an anti-bias training on the agenda. Although these types of training contribute to awareness, it is certainly not the golden solution to prevent unwanted exclusion.
"An anti-bias training alone is of little use"
Various studies have shown that the effect of this type of training is very limited. A number of reasons are given for this;
- There is often insufficient preliminary research, which means that training is initiated before the problem or question is properly understood;
- Changing bias is not done through a short training; bias is in stereotypes and are formed by lifelong listening to radio, TV and scrolling through social media;
- The organizational culture does not support the training and systems, processes and policies are not in line with the training;
- The leadership is insufficiently able to put what has been learned into practice;
- Training often does not focus on learning skills and clear action points;
- Bias training alone is not going to help you get more diversity.
Are you involved in recruitment and selection? This is what you can do yourself
"Change the world, start with yourself" is a credo that applies nicely to this. In her Netflix documentary, Brené Brown talks about "choose courage over comfort" and the power of being vulnerable. Research by Amy Edmondson highlighted the aspect of psychological safety as a prerequisite for teams to discuss errors and create an environment for growth and innovation. Although managers play an essential role in creating the aforementioned conditions, as an employee you can make a difference by setting a standard in which fear is no longer leading and difficult topics, such as having prejudices, are discussed.
- Accept that you have bias and prejudices. It's not about whether you have bias, but about how much, what for, how badly and how deeply anchored. Conversations about this should be uncomfortable. Learning and development do not go through staying comfortable;
- Make each other aware when there are double standards: stereotypes, prejudices or interruptions;
- Immerse yourself in the outgroup: get to know each other better - they are not responsible for your prejudices;
- The "turn it around" approach. Do you still judge a situation the same if you place someone from the dominant group in a situation, instead of someone from a minority group?
The law promoting equal opportunities within Recruitment & Selection
This law was submitted to the Tweede Kamer on December 10, 2020. When the new cabinet is formed, the law will return to the agenda and enter into force in a not too long time. It is a fact that equal opportunities and anti-discrimination are on the agenda, certainly also during this election period. This new law has been drawn up to take additional measures to prevent labor market discrimination for employers and organizations in the employment mediation. They must have a working method that is aimed at creating equal opportunities in the recruitment and selection process. The working method must show that the recruitment & selection procedure is based on objective job-relevant requirements, is transparent and verifiable and is structured systematically. The employer takes effective measures and carries them out. These are measures to inform those involved about the procedures to prevent labor market discrimination, to share knowledge about this within the organization and to record the working method in writing. If the employer or intermediary does not meet his obligations, the Inspectorate SZW imposes a requirement for compliance. The employer will then be given a certain period to remedy the points on which he has failed. If a re-inspection reveals that he has insufficiently complied with the requirement, an administrative fine of the fifth category (standard amount € 4,500) will be imposed and the company details will be made public.
"Organizations with more than 25 employees who do not meet the set requirements risk a fine of € 4.500,- and disclosure of company details’
When the law enters into force, organizations> 50 employees have 9 months to set up their processes in accordance with the conditions. For smaller organizations this is a period of 21 months. The government will endeavor to create more awareness in the coming period through campaigns aimed at HR professionals and works councils. The aim is to apply the best available (scientific) knowledge and practical experience.
Checklist arbeidsdiscriminatie | Publicatie | Inspectie SZW
This checklist goes through four steps of the recruitment & selection process; recruitment, screening, interview and selection. In each of these four steps, it is indicated which risks of discrimination there are and how these can be prevented.
Where is the profit for organizations?
First of all, organizations must be convinced that they are heading for a new era, in which there is a greater diversity of markets, customers and talents. The current recruitment & selection processes are often insufficiently set up to prevent unwanted exclusion. Take as an example that job interviews often still look at background, side activities, social circles that are recognizable to find out whether there is a click. In other words, known makes loved. The similar to us bias plays a role in this. However, the recruitment & selection process consists of several phases. For example, there is often no systematic way in which CVs and motivation letters are assessed. Several studies still show that a lot of exclusion takes place on the basis of name. Also, selectors are often not aware of the prejudices and exclusion mechanisms they use in assessment and interviewing.
Finding new talented people is a permanent challenge for almost any organization. You only have to open your Linkedin and recruiters with the best vacancies are all over the place. Everyone wants to bring in the best people and preferably also someone who effortlessly blends into the organization, fits within the culture and matches the current population of employees. This is of course very nice in the short term. This is how it went for a long time and still is going in almost all cases.
'However, this pond is going to dry up, which means that as an organization you have to make concessions'
Are we going to keep searching for that talented new employee that we may have to hunt from the competitor, which costs time and extra money? Or are we going to lower the bar and settle for someone who at least fits within our current culture? Or are we willing to think more out of the box - are we going to be open to talent that may not directly fit into our current culture? The question is whether we are prepared to take a critical look at the current culture and try to find out to what extent it is still future-proof. What do we mean by a culture fit? It seems that many organizations are or will be at this crossroad. Doing nothing means that they are being overtaken by reality - talent is becoming scarcer, markets and customers are becoming more diverse and demanding (also in the field of diversity & inclusion) and the competition is constantly innovating.
As an organization, how can you prevent unwanted exclusion?
In one of the webinars of Marise Born (researcher at the VU and Erasmus University Rotterdam), she points out that standardization and structuring works best to be able to predict better and to minimize the role of bias. A practical example is that interviews must take place in a much more structured manner, relevant criteria must be described in an objective manner and the judging process can also take place much more systematically. She also gives several tips, such as putting together a 'diverse' recruitment team, or participating in an anti-bias training. At the same time, she also points out the pitfalls. Saying that you shouldn't think of a pink elephant makes you think of a pink elephant. In other words, a lot of research has shown that anti-bias training actually fosters prejudices.
Action points that you can take as an organization:
- Create an environment in which "difficult" topics can be discussed - an environment in which there is psychological safety;
- Managers should act as bias interrupters, who can intervene quickly when there are double standards;
- Pay constant attention to the role of bias and prejudices at the top, middle management and on the floor, especially in the recruitment process;
- Research shows that small systematic changes - targeted recruitment, training for everyone, a diversity task force - already lead to significant differences;
- Standardize and structure as much as possible. Establish objective criteria, define a culture fit, make use of assessments, structure interview and make use behavior-oriented questions, standardize the way you make judgements;
- Formulate a concrete plan for action, make people responsible for specific topics, for example collecting data, vacancy texts, recruitment channels, training, labor market communication, etc;
What role does Artificial Intelligence (AI) have for more equality in recruitment and selection? meer gelijkheid in de werving & selectie?
Various researchers are focusing on the applicability of AI within recruitment. Organizations such as Amazon or Unilever are already very advanced in the use of AI for pre-hire assessment in particular. The trend at the moment is that AI and the digitization of the recruitment process is certainly the future and that it offers great benefits in terms of time and cost savings. However, the results of the studies by, among others, Jacqueline Breemen and Elmira van den Broek do not sufficiently show that AI stimulates equal opportunities. There is still a major human factor in how AI is used, replicating stereotypes or counteracting diversity. Organizations must ask themselves to what extent they want AI to lead or support the process. The promise that AI will make the selection process more objective has not yet been fulfilled, which means that further research in this area is needed and will be continued.
In conclusion
My expectation is that more organizations will be actively working on their recruitment & selection process in the coming months. For some organizations from a commercial interest, for others a moral consideration and for the other organizations it will become an obligation when the law enters into force. The promise I want to make is that organizations that properly leverage diversity will be able to speed up and accelerate leading to further growth and innovation.
Reality indicates that the process will be slow and not easily realized. As an organization you can already initiate the right steps. My advice is to set both short and long term goals for you as an organization. The short-term goals should be focused on the low-hanging fruit, so that successes are achieved, which has a positive stimulus for the long-term goals.
‘’It’s time for the next step in recruitment’’
