As hiring managers or human resources personnel, it is very important to avoid discrimination during the hiring process. All applicants should be treated equally so that discrimination of any job applicants would not be an issue. Sometimes the legalities of recruitment are often ignored but other times, discrimination may be unintentional because you are unaware of what is considered to be discriminatory or not. Your focus of wanting to find the right person, someone who checks all the boxes – education, skills, expertise, and personality, etc., is great as long as it is done lawfully.
When there are any questions that are asked during recruitment and interviewing based upon the below protected characteristics, it may likely be considered discriminatory:
- Gender
- Age
- Race/Origin
- Religion
- Disability
- Pregnancy
- Marital Status
To avoid discrimination in your hiring process, ensure that your hiring personnel are properly trained in interviewing, and use the following tips when recruiting and hiring:
1. DETERMINE YOUR HIRING POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS
Before the hiring process, clearly build a criteria of the role you are looking to hire for. After this is completed, then title it, “Selection Criteria”. First, identify what qualities you want to see in the successful applicant. Second, identify what skills the applicant must have acquired and third, identify the minimum level of education the desired applicant should possess. Your selection criteria should be based on the three questions to evaluate your resumes objectively. The better you are at shaping the criteria for the position, the easier it will be for you to hire the most qualified person.
2. USE CONSISTENCY
In order to make your hiring process fair and non-discriminatory, make sure you ask the same questions from every applicant. Write down a list of relevant questions that every applicant should answer and make sure your interview panel stick to those questions. Write down your applicant’s detailed response so that you can make a comparison between candidates after the interviews are complete. Avoid asking any personal questions because these types of questions may tend to lead to one of the protected characteristics.
3. SCORE THE APPLICANTS
When it’s time to finalize the list of selected candidates, use your “selection criteria” to rate each candidate. This will help the interview panel to focus only on the best candidates. Utilize a scoring system for the selection criteria so that the scoring is based on the association between the candidate’s skills and your requirements for the job. Also, when the top 2-3 applicants are identified, ensure that the final decision is made by at least two people. Try not to allow a single person to solely make the decision.
These tips won’t solely eradicate discrimination from your company’s hiring process, but it’ll additionally help you to introduce diversity and the most qualified personnel. In turn, this can lead to greater number of productivity in your company.
Meet the Author
Alana Williams is the CEO and Senior Investigator of J.A. Investigative Services, LLC. J.A. Investigative Services is a licensed and insured investigation agency that specializes in conducting professional and comprehensive Workplace Harassment Investigations and Workplace Harassment Prevention Training. Services and trainings are offered nationwide. Alana is a collegiate Criminal Justice Instructor and a police officer with 10 years of experience. Also, she is a Licensed Private Investigator and a Certified EEO Investigator that has conducted over 70 trainings and guest appearances with audiences of 200+. For more information about our blogs and newsletters, CONTACT US:
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