Case-Based Screening: How Realistic Job Previews Improve Your Hiring Process

by Sylwia Green | Apr 20, 2022 | Recruitment

Do you feel like your recruitment and selection process doesn’t yield the results you’d hope for? Many recruiters feel the same. 83% of the surveyed by SHRM report having trouble recruiting suitable candidates. When asked about the main reason for those struggles, three-quarters of them point at skills shortage.

But could it be more of an oversight than a shortage? Perhaps our recruitment and selection methods that should be helping at amassing talent are actually obstacles.

While over eight out of ten recruiters say that talent is the #1 priority at their company, it seems like they’re not hiring for that. Only 33% of the surveyed HR professionals state that skill assessment is a part of their typical hiring process.

If it’s talent you’re looking for, case-based screening may be your solution. This alternative recruitment method allows you to look at candidates from a different perspective and improve your recruitment goals. Are you curious to learn how? Keep reading.

#1. Reduced Bias & Increased Fairness

Did you know that resumés have been used for almost 80 years? Now, if you were to guess, how many companies continue to rely on resumés to evaluate candidates? According to Murray Resources, 52% of recruiters still rate them as either the 1st or the 2nd most important part of the recruitment and selection process.

The problem with resumés is that they are of no help when looking for talent. The reason? Unconscious bias.

Unconscious bias has entered the chat

The impact of unconscious bias and its impact on hiring decisions is no longer a new concept. In fact, a staggering 96% of recruiters realise the grave consequences it can have on their ability to hire talent.

For one, many candidates can be discriminated against when sending their resumés in. A study conducted by the University of Toronto found that applicants with non-white sounding names were up to 53% less likely to receive callbacks.

Does it mean that they were simply underqualified? Not necessarily. The candidates had the same qualifications, so clearly, lack of skill-fit wasn’t the issue.

No bias in sight, talent in the spotlight

Whether your recruitment and selection methods are prone to conscious or unconscious bias, they don’t help your overall recruitment goals. Case-based screening, however, fixes that problem.

At Innoflow, we believe that everyone has talent, and we strive to help organisations see it. Your candidates are asked to solve a case (a.k.a. work samples) tailored to your organisation and the exact position you’re hiring for. Our software successfully removes all potential biases and lets you focus on one’s skills. How do we ensure that?

• Fair chances: all candidates are presented with the same case. A fair chance at showing relevant skills.
• Full anonymity: upon application, all your candidates need to provide is a case solution and their e-mail address. No names, no photos, no age, no bias.
• Fair evaluation: judges responsible for case evaluation must have pre-defined criteria they judge on. No place for favouritism.

In the words of Tina Herrman, General Manager at Experis ManPowerGroup, “We believe that everyone has talent, and Innoflow enables us to give all candidates the chance to show it.”

Remove all bias and put talent in the spotlight. We’re more than happy to help!

#2. More Diverse Candidates

Mirror, mirror on the wall – who’ll be the most diverse company of them all? Hopefully, you! A struggle for creating a diverse workforce isn’t an easy one.

While 76% of European organisations consider diversity and inclusion a priority area, only 23% of HR professionals think their strategies are highly effective.

Does your recruitment strategy follow the classic job post-resumé-interview theme? Perhaps, that’s where the problem lies.

Your requirements may be deterring

How often do we come across a job post looking like a monthly shopping list? But instead of veggies and candy, all you get is a plethora of terms that seem to be targeting that 1% of people who fit the profile perfectly.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t look for the best candidate possible. On the contrary! But unfortunately, many job posts don’t truly reflect the job and may limit your talent pool dramatically. Meaning you’ll only attract a narrow audience. That’s where your diversity goals meet a sad end.

Did you know that, for example, women are much more critical of their competencies than men? As research shows, female applicants feel they need to match 100% of the listed criteria for the job, while men settle on 60%.

Don’t overwhelm your candidates with a plethora of requirements. Yes, prepare them for what’s coming, but as for proving their skills – show them the job.

Show me your skills

If you’re looking to attract a diverse range of candidates, set one main requirement – solving a case. When your applicants see that all they’ll be judged on is their skills and not how impressive their resumé looks, more of them will feel invited. On top of that, since case-based screening reduces bias, you may find yourself surprised by the candidates you get!

Heidi Wassini, Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding at Vivino, says, “In our Innoflow recruitment processes, we experience a significantly more diverse final 10 compared to our normal processes.”

She’s not the only one to see diversity benefits. Based on our data, companies that apply case-based screening to their recruitment and selection process report an overall 62,5% increase in diversity.

Limiting your requirements to one – proving the skills you’re looking for – helps you access a diverse, untapped talent pool you might otherwise overlook. Or that would overlook your company.

#3. Improved Quality of Hires

In today’s business competition, having the right people in the right jobs is of paramount importance. Yet, as mentioned, many recruiters note having problems finding suitable candidates.

Let’s see how case-based screening can impact your recruitment and selection methods to improve the quality of hires.

Predicting future job performance

Predicting future job performance is a key element when hiring. You want to be as sure as possible that the person you choose will be a productive employee and preferably stay with the company for longer.

However, if you rely on resumés to make such predictions, you’re not unlikely to find yourself in a pickle. And that’s because resumés are not a reflection of one’s talent. They’re a mere description of the past and a self-assessment of one’s skills.

A staggering 30% of the surveyed by Zippia admitted to lying or bending the truth on their resumés. Even worse – 80% of them are never busted for lying. If you base your hiring decision solely on the information provided by a candidate, you might as well be making a wild guess based on potential lies.

Now, case-based screening leaves no room for fortune-telling. In an extensive study, Schmidt & Hunter (1998) discovered that screening methods focused on evaluating actual skills are the most reliable when predicting future job performance. In fact, they’re almost double more efficient than unstructured interviews.

And there’s some truth to it. Mark, a British recruiter, posted some time ago about his experience with one of his candidates. The candidate told him that he had gone through 11 interviews with one company. Eleven. Is that truly necessary to judge one’s fit?

The beauty of case-based screening lies in our approach. The cases we create are tailor-made for a position within your organisation specifically. What does it mean to you? You’ll be able to look for the exact set of skills you need and forget about the lengthy process.

Quality matters more in the end

As mentioned before, every company wants to broaden their talent pools to find talent. But answer truthfully: would you prefer 1000 applications out of which only 5% is of any use or 100 of great value right away?

Solving cases is no picnic. It can be challenging and take up to 90 minutes. Because of their nature, it lets candidates pre-select themselves. If candidates decide that they don’t want to spend their time solving it, they can quit the process. Benefits for you? You end up with fewer candidates, but those you do get are motivated and already believe they have the right skills.

Sometimes talent won’t show on a piece of paper, and you’re risking missing out on great additions to your team.

Bjarne Lauritsen, Director of Operations at Bring, “With Innoflow, we are now able to find the talents, which we would have missed out on in a resumé screening.”

#4. Better Candidate Experience

Candidate experience is the proverbial elephant in the room. Everybody knows it’s important to the brand and recruitment efforts, but not everyone takes action to fix it. Where to start? With your recruitment methods, obviously.

Say no to boring recruitment

How many times have you sent a resumé to apply for a job? Personally, I stopped counting after 100. And mind you – I consider myself lucky with my job hunts. The process of sending the same document gets tedious and frustrating really fast. In fact, it completely lost any meaning to me.

I’m not alone in this sentiment. 30% of job seekers decide not to move forward in the application process because it’s too frustrating. Perhaps your website is not mobile-friendly, or the process has too many stages. Or maybe you require them to fill in the same information multiple times – the universal job seeker’s pet peeve. 

Now, what if you offered your candidates something new? As it turns out, over two-thirds of candidates prefer job-relevant assessments, such as work samples. Even those who withdrew from the process at some point had a better opinion of the company’s recruitment.

A positive candidate experience should matter to you no less than employee satisfaction. Why? Because job seekers are four times more likely to consider you as a future employment opportunity even after rejection if they were satisfied with your recruitment.

Feedback? Yes, always

What is one thing that almost all candidates want but few get it? According to LinkedIn, for 94% of the respondents, it’s feedback. How good are employers at satisfying that #1 candidate’s need? As shown by the Murray Resources report, not too great.

• 61% of applicants receive a notification when they apply for a role
• 61% receive status updates throughout the recruitment process
• 45% are notified when the position they applied for has been filled

That means that approximately 50% of candidates never know what’s going on with their application in most cases. They don’t know if it was received, where in the process they are, or if the process for them is already over.

The overall dissatisfaction it produces is not hard to find. For example, Lara, a LinkedIn user, decided to share her experience with the online audience.

It’s known that recruiters often don’t have enough time to send feedback to every candidate, let alone make it meaningful. That’s where our Innoflow process comes with a solution. Thanks to the way our software is designed, candidates always:

• know upfront how many steps the process has
• get notifications about where the process stands (e.g. when their case solution is being evaluated)
• receive meaningful feedback based on the evaluation criteria

How does it work in practice? Pretty well! Just look at a comment we received from Shruthi Dasarapu, one of the candidates who took part in our recruitment.

#5. Time-Cost Efficiency

The conventional recruitment and selection process usually consists of resumé screening, phone screening, and at least one round of interviews (unless you’re really indecisive and need 11). How much time does it take your recruiters? Many hours, depending on how many applications you get.

We all want things to be time-cost efficient, and businesses know it better than anyone. So why not optimise your recruitment and selection strategy by trying case-based screening?

Not to give you unfounded facts, let’s hear out one of our clients:

Alex Bondo Andersen, Chief Technology Officer at Smart-Trial, “For multiple positions, Innoflow allowed us to evaluate and manage all candidates in an efficient way and ultimately find the best one for each position.”

Our software helps you save, on average, 30% of the time spent on screening applicants during the recruitment and selection process. As mentioned, you get fewer (but better-suited) candidates as many pre-select themselves and evaluating their case solutions is also faster. It takes between ten and twenty minutes, depending on the case complexity.

You might think: but isn’t it faster to eye a resumé? Yes, it usually takes 7.4 seconds. But are the results satisfying?

Considering that Denmark reported 33% of mis-hires last year, perhaps the answer is no. Test for skills to predict better future performance and enjoy the right candidates in the right places.

A New Model for The Old Normal

For a long time, it’s been thought that resumé screening was the only way to hire. But people no longer want to be evaluated based on a piece of paper that will never tell their full story. Nor will it reveal their true potential.

Case-based screening is not only a way to get job seekers excited with a new way of hiring. It gives everybody an equal chance to be judged for their talent and nothing more.

For your business bottom line, it’s also no less beneficial. You get to broaden your talent pool, find more suitable candidates, diversify the team, and work more efficiently – something your current recruitment and selection process may not be doing.

Ready to join the visionary Innoflow customers and adapt your recruitment and selection process to that worthy of the 21st century?

Corporate Diversity Targets in Europe and the US – The Plans Meet the Reality

by Sylwia Green | Apr 6, 2022 | Recruitment

Not so long ago, corporate diversity was regarded as an addition rather than something vital for the bottom line. Now, employers worldwide recognise the strong business case for implementing diversity within their workforce – with 80% of people believing that D&I offers competitive advantages. However, creating a diverse and inclusive environment proved to come with many challenges. Hence, companies look to authorities for guidelines on what corporate diversity targets they should focus on.

What are the diversity targets companies in Europe and the US strive for, and how do these plans translate into reality?

The Commonalities in Corporate Diversity Initiatives

In 2017, the European Commission released a document on the D&I strategy for their staff, including many targets and guidelines that corporations of all sizes can also apply. Guided by the motto a better workplace for all, the EU officials included a strategy divided into targets relevant to all groups and individuals and targets focused on specific groups.

Although the document was crafted by the EU authorities, the targets mentioned below align with most of those adopted in the US.

Nonetheless, setting targets and achieving them are two separate things. While 76% of European organisations state that D&I is a priority area or a declared value, translating their targets into action doesn’t always translate into success.

1. Attracting diverse candidates

46% of the organisations surveyed by PWC admit that attracting talent is their primary objective of diversity strategies. It comes as no surprise, as the benefits of a diverse workforce are plentiful.

How are European companies doing when it comes to diverse talent attraction?

Some of them, such as Adidas, did manage to diversify their teams. Based on their statistics, teams in the German headquarters of the brand are composed of people from countries such as Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Russia, and even China.

In terms of gender diversity, the German brand also found a nearly perfect balance. 52% of their staff in the EMEA region is female, and 48% male.

High budget isn’t everything to help your corporate diversity

The United States also takes a committed approach to diversity. As reported by McKinsey, around $8 billion a year is spent throughout the country on diversity training.

The sum is impressive, but does it translate into results?

Pandora is an example of a committed approach to building a diverse talent pipeline. One of the measures they adopted is Road Crew – a 10-week paid internship programme meant to seek diverse talent.

Some companies  (42%) also attempt to attract talents from specific groups by posting their job ads on specialised boards such as military.com, Hispanic Pride, or Campus Pride.

Yet, improvements or a change in attraction tactics need to be made. Still, 45% of companies think their current methods are ineffective at helping a diverse range of job seekers find them.

2. Fostering diversity in recruitment

Successful talent acquisition is linked to a well-working recruitment process. And if your recruitment process is faulty, you will struggle with attaining your diversity goals. What could be the problem? Unconscious bias.

81% of employers admit that unconscious bias can impact their hiring decisions. Unfortunately, sticking to well-known strategies such as resumés may be the obstacle many organisations face.

To reduce bias and increase diversity, Intel opted for including underrepresented members in interview panels. The corporation now requires at least two women and/or representatives of minorities to partake in each interview. The results? The company increased the number of female hires by 41% in two years.

Diverse recruitment isn’t only about gender

Nonetheless, let’s not forget that diversity is much more than gender, and unfortunately, Intel doesn’t provide any information on whether this practice also helped them recruit talent from other groups.

That’s why at Innoflow, we took a different, more wide-reaching approach. An alternative recruitment method we offer and use ourselves is one based on work samples. Case-based screening is unbiased, fair for all, and most importantly for your corporate diversity targets – it helps the cause efficiently.

So far, the companies that teamed up with us report a 62% increase in diversity in their recruitment. We, for one, can be an example. Our ever-growing Innoflow staff comes from seven countries, ranging from ages 22 to 50, and 41% of the team members are female.

3. Gender targets

Although diversity has a plethora of shades, the overall focus of most companies seems to still be on gender. And not without reason. Many big corporations are under increasing social and legal pressure to reach their targets of female employees on all levels. As it appears, 40% seems to be the desired number.

To look at our northern friends, Norway is one of the first countries to have passed the law requiring all companies to have at least 40% of women on their boards – and they were efficient at reaching that goal in 2009.

But success it’s not a solid rule across Europe. For instance, according to the 2007 Spanish Gender Equality Act, big corporations should have no less than the magical 40% of female directors. Yet, as of 2014, the number grew only to 11.6%.

Quotas can be illegal

While in Europe mandatory quotas are not uncommon, in the US, the practice may violate anti-discrimination laws, and for a good reason. One’s progressive goal might be seen as another’s barrier to advancement.

It doesn’t stop companies from setting targets, tough. Nike aims to achieve a goal of 35% representation of racial minorities by 2025 and 50% of women in its global workforce. As for the latter goal, Nike’s already almost reached it. As of now, their female workforce stands at 49.5%.

However, the gender target they set doesn’t include warehouse and retail store workers – a decision that remains unexplained by the brand.

4. Inclusive environment for people with disabilities

According to data, six to ten out of every 100 people in the WHO European Region live with disabilities. Many of them, unfortunately, are left out of the candidate pool.

Let’s look at the data from the UK. According to the report, out of 8.4 million disabled people of working age, only 52.3% were in employment as of 2019. Moreover, the report notes that the disability employment gap is also higher for older and non-white people with disabilities.

That group is a vast and untapped talent pool. But are European companies trying to make recruitment easier for them?

Unfortunately, the results of the actions still leave a lot to wish for. Based on the data, 73% of employers don’t have websites accessible to candidates with disabilities.

Meet the needs of the disabled

One of our newest additions to help people with various disabilities use our website is implementing a tool allowing candidates to adjust the navigation options. Visitors can enable a text reader, stop blinking and flashing elements, enable keyboard navigation, and make many text-display adjustments.

Although a necessary start, creating an inclusive environment for people with disabilities doesn’t end with an easier recruitment process. In this regard, let’s look to our overseas friends.

One of the leading American technology corporations, Cisco, did a great job accommodating their disabled employees. They’re the first company to offer a desk phone with a built-in text-to-speech function. The software makes the workplace more accessible for the blind and visually impaired, making daily tasks easier.

5. LBGTQ community

The LGBTQ community has an equally important place in corporate diversity strategies both in Europe and the US.

The Swedish icon, Ikea, put in place a list of measures promoting inclusivity in their workplace and thus attracting more alike talents. To name a few, Ikea has:

• A global LGBTQ+ inclusion plan,
• Guidelines to help managers build trans-inclusive teams,
• Standards of conduct on tackling discrimination against LGBTQ + people in the workplace

On that note, the brand doesn’t provide any statistics on its workforce within the community.

In America, the numbers are much more easily accessible. For instance, at Accenture, approximately 2.5% of their workforce openly identifies as LGBTQ, and 44 employees identify as non-binary.

Regardless of the efforts and results, however, 20% of LGBTQ+ job seekers in the US still report discrimination when applying for jobs.

Where Do Europe and the US Diverge?

As discussed, most of the corporate diversity targets followed in the US are the same as in Europe. However, our American friends focus also on a few additional aspects worth noting.

In an executive order on DE&I in the Federal Workforce, the U.S. President states that the Federal Government should be a model for how all employees should be treated.

Apart from the targets aligning with European guidelines, the document puts focus on several others:

• A special focus on the employment of people of colour
• Expanding employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated

1. People of colour

As the demographics of Europe and the U.S. differ, it’s not unusual that America pays special attention to the employment of people of colour, that make up 42% of their entire population. Yet, unemployment in this group remains at high levels.

American companies focus their efforts on fixing the issue. The previously mentioned Pandora, for instance, plans to increase the percentage of their employees of colour to 45%. They also provide their employees with groups such as Mixtape, amassing people of colour.

At Accenture, the numbers are already higher. The most current data shows that their workforce comprises 50.7% of people of colour.

2. Employment of the formerly incarcerated as a corporate diversity target?

The US is globally known for its rather strict penal system, at least as far as the West is concerned. As of 2021, American prisons held almost 2.1 million people. As a society, we tend to show little empathy to incarcerated and those who were so in the past, leading to bias that tends to result in those groups being marginalised.

Yet, considering that many of those people do time for minor offences, it’s not surprising that the US also turned its attention to including that particular group in their diversity targets.

How do American companies feel about that initiative?

Some of them notice the value in welcoming another group to its diversity strategies. One of them, a Cincinnati-based Nehemiah, prides itself in having nearly 170 second-chance workers. Greystone Bakery from New York has also practised hiring without questions asked for a long time. The result? The 20 million company’s workforce is made up of 65% of ex-offenders.

Despite the initiatives on the part of the government, the willingness to hire a previously incarcerated job seeker seems to remain an issue. As the evidence shows, having a record reduces employer callback by 50%.

As the labour market remains tight, perhaps corporations should open up to another source of the diverse talent pool?

Corporate Diversity Goals – Have We Reached the Goals?

Diversity in the workplace is a goal recognised by many employers globally. While actions and measures favoured by Europe and the US may sometimes differ in execution, the corporate diversity targets are far from being that different.  

Whether it’s the incentives or the strong business case – opening up to diverse candidate pools is of value. We’ve gone a long way, and the way to go is still long. What matters, however, is that the results begin to show.

The Value of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion – And How it Benefits your Organisation

by Sylwia Green | Mar 23, 2022 | Recruitment

Diversity and inclusion have been a hot topic in recruitment for quite a while now. For some employers, implementing DE&I is a point of social justice or compliance with the new norms. For example, 54% of Robert Walter’s report say diversity is vital to ensure they’re doing business ethically. Others simply regard it as a strong competitive advantage.

Regardless of the reasons, developing a diverse and inclusive workforce yields many benefits. And as a matter of fact, those benefits are there for both sides.

This blog post will discuss how both employers and employees can benefit from implementing diversity and inclusion into organisational structures.

What DE&I Benefits Can Your Organisation Get?

In 2017 alone, there was a 59% increase in interest in D&I among executives surveyed by Deloitte. And it’s not for the lack of reasons.

Organisations with a diverse workforce and inclusive culture can experience many advantages as compared to those that don’t have a diverse workforce. Here are the most commonly quoted benefits you can gain. 

#1. Improved Hiring Results

We all know that attracting, recruiting, and hiring the best talent is the no.1 goal. And currently, employers are facing the most challenging time in many years when it comes to talent acquisition. Currently, 3x more organisations globally are reporting talent shortages – and that’s compared to 2020 alone.

For many, diversity is THE watchword now. It matters to people through many dimensions, and 67% of those surveyed by Glassdoor consider diversity an important factor when seeking jobs.

You’re bound to be more attractive to top talent by delivering on candidates’ expectations, and DE&I is there to help. Embracing its principles improves your employer brand, turning it into a desirable workplace.

Are you struggling with getting a diverse talent pool? Consider trying a more alternative recruitment method, such as anonymous case-based screening, that can boost your diversity up to as much as 62%!

#2. Better Retention

Turnover is a plague undermining all your recruitment efforts. Unfortunately, as reported by Work Institute, in 2020 alone, voluntary turnover increased by 8% – and by a whopping 88% since 2010!

Just like people somewhat demand diversity from their employers, they also need it to stay. For example, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation found that 25% of LGBTQ workers have stayed at a company thanks to its inclusive environment.

#3. Performance & Innovation Boost

What does your company’s success depend on? To a great extent, it relies on your employees’ performance. Research shows that racially diverse teams are 35% more likely to perform better than their competition. If you add to it gender diversity, your likelihood of outperforming others will increase by 15%!

Better performance can be linked to the fact that diverse teams also prove to be more innovative. As everybody brings various and fresh ideas to the table, it allows your teams to come up with creative solutions to drive sales.

As mentioned by Forbes, inclusive teams can also make better business decisions up to 87% of the time and even solve problems faster.

#4. Increased Financial Profitability

With better employee performance & innovation come better financial results. For instance, the data from the McKinsey study highlights that gender-diverse organisations have a 35% higher chance to achieve above-average financial returns and the overall business performance increased by 31%.

The financial gains may be connected to another benefit of having a diverse workforce. Namely, inclusive and diverse companies are 70% more likely to increase their business reach by expanding into new markets.

What About Your Employees? How Can They Benefit From DE&I?

The perfect recruitment is a two-way street where both sides give and receive enough to be satisfied. Implementing DE&I does precisely that, so it’s only natural that also your employees and candidates can greatly benefit from it. Let’s have a look at some of them.

#1. Enhanced Sense of Belonging

A sense of belonging is one of those feelings that we all crave, as it makes us thrive and feel happy. Since many of us spend more time at work than outside of it, a workplace where people feel included is very sought-after.

As shown by research, when employees feel they belong in a workplace, they’re:

All of the above is the exact reason for the performance boost we mentioned previously. If one works at a place where they can’t openly express themselves and their ideas, why would they stay?

DE&I, when implemented right, provides your workforce with a place where employees can be themselves and thrive, enhancing the quality of their lives and your business. Most importantly, too, it’s a place worth staying at.

#2. Trustworthy Relationship

Fairness is where employee trust begins. So far, only 1 in 5 HR leaders believes their employees deeply trust their company leaders. If your workplace isn’t just for all, it won’t be a comfortable place in the eyes of many workers – existing and potential ones.

When implementing DE&I correctly, everyone has fair chances on all stages – from recruitment to the last day of employment. Giving everyone equal treatment will surely build a solid and trustworthy relationship between you and your employees.

Don’t forget to ensure that your recruitment process is fair from the get-go. The previously mentioned case-based screening is an excellent alternative to the current hiring strategies that can, unfortunately, be biased. And bias, even if unconscious, has little to do with fairness.  

#3. Employee Satisfaction

40% of the surveyed by IBM admitted to quitting their jobs because they weren’t satisfied with it. Employee dissatisfaction can stem from many reasons, some of them hard to grasp, but a sure way of minimising it is by embracing DE&I.

Modern workers want to work not only for companies that don’t discriminate but also accept and encourage everybody’s differences.

An inclusive and divisive place is welcoming as it helps everyone feel more fulfilled by the work they’re doing – something we strive for at Innoflow. If there is no job satisfaction, there is no value.

The data from Deloitte shows a distinct correlation between nurturing company culture and one’s satisfaction. In such a workplace, 86% of the respondents admitted to feeling valued, and 84% felt happy at work.

#4. Personal & Professional Growth

If you were to give one personality trait shared by all exceptional employees, what would that be? The need to grow. As it seems, as much as 74% of high potentials leave their jobs searching for better career opportunities.

In a fair, inclusive, and diverse workplace, everyone gets a chance to grow, both personally and professionally. In such an environment, your employees can:

• Learn from their colleagues from different cultures and backgrounds,
• Openly share their perspectives and opinions,
• Learn to understand others better and cooperate.

Moreover, a company genuinely embracing DE&I is also fair and transparent about promotions. As most people seek meaningful jobs where they can advance, an employer that is open about how promotions are judged is seen as more valuable to them.  

DE&I Will Help You Grow. But It Also Helps the People Working For You

Organisations dedicated to building and embracing DE&I into their structures are seen as more humane, fair, and trustworthy. At the same time, their employees can benefit from higher job satisfaction, learning opportunities, and an inclusive environment. It’s a win-win for both sides.

Position yourself on the winning side to benefit from all the important aspects of DE&I to be the employer of choice for many.

Inclusion, Diversity & Equality – How to Embrace Them in Your Organisation

by Sylwia Green | Mar 16, 2022 | Recruitment

Diversity, equality, and inclusion. How many times have we all heard those words in the past few years? It’s fair to say that DEI is becoming one of the core values most organisations try to implement into their workplaces. Even for numerous job seekers, these values seem to matter – as 67% of the surveyed told Harver that a diverse workforce can be a decisive factor when evaluating job offers.

The problem is that successfully becoming more DEI-friendly is not a piece of cake. Perhaps because many consider DEI just another policy that must be followed – sometimes even blindly.

That’s why some companies make sure to hire enough people representing diverse backgrounds and then rest on their laurels. We got our quota, so the job is done – right? Unfortunately, no. Diversity, equality, and inclusion are three separate concepts that need to coexist to work properly.

So, what do these terms mean in a work context? Let’s define them briefly to understand how to make them a part of your brand’s strategy.

What is diversity, equality & inclusion in the workplace?

Diversity – is about acknowledging our differences and embracing them. Instead of sticking to a homogenous workplace of people, step out of our comfort zone and team up with diverse people. Mind you that diversity is more than gender or race; it has many faces. It relates to anything from religion, sexuality, or even political beliefs.

Equality – is about assuring that all your employees have equal opportunities to grow and thrive. Equality in the work context relates not only to the same opportunities to get a job, promotion, or pay rise. Sometimes it’s as simple as being able to speak up freely. If you want to pride yourself on being a brand advocating for equality, nepotism or favouritism can’t have any right of existence.

Inclusion – is strictly connected with one of our basic human needs – the sense of belonging. Have you ever had a great job but just ‘didn’t vibe’ with the team? I have. And no matter how fantastic the job was, I couldn’t enjoy it. Inclusion at work is about showing people they’re accepted, valued, and needed. That way, your workplace will be a place worth showing up at. And not quitting!

How to embrace diversity, inclusion, and equality in your workplace?

Diversity, equality, and inclusion are all interconnected, and all of them need to be present simultaneously for you to benefit from them fully. Without inclusion and equality, no number of diverse candidates will help – as they’ll simply leave faster than you hired them.

And yet, only 11% of organisations surveyed by Deloitte have strategies that help them be more inclusive.

Surface-level gestures and empty words won’t be enough to ensure your workplace is fair, inclusive, and diverse. You need to take a close look at your environment, acknowledge certain obstacles, and face them – even if it takes a while to see changes!

This blog post suggests a few strategies you can implement to get the best benefits of DE&I within your organisation.

1. Minimise the gender pay gap

The gender pay gap is simply the difference between average hourly earnings for men and women. Although the equal pay for equal work principle was introduced 65 years ago in the Treaty of Rome, and things have been changing for a while now, the statistics show that the issue is still present.

• In the EU, the gender pay gap stands at 14.1% – meaning that women earn 14.1% less per hour than men on average
• In Denmark, the gap is slightly bigger – almost 15%
• The average female employee loses over $530,000 in her lifetime because of the pay gap
• For women, hourly wages top off between 35-44. For men, their wages rise until around the age of 45.
• Less than 8% of top companies’ CEOs are women

There is no one single reason behind the issue. But it is a complex one and doesn’t go unnoticed.

Wildgoose conducted a study involving employees from 117 workplaces. The results show that 75% of female workers point at gender pay equality as a major concern for them, making it the most important DE&I concern.

How can you, on the organisational level, help reduce the gap?

A: Be open about wages

Secrecy around compensation is one of the biggest drivers of inequality and may lead to resentment in the workplace and even turnover. As shown by one report, people who suspect there’s a pay gap are 16% less likely to stay at the job. Hence, the best thing you can do is be transparent about wages.

For every position in your company, report the minimal and maximal wage you offer, so anyone can see if the number on their contract checks out. That will give your employees a sense of fairness and remove much of the potential inequalities.

B: Be transparent about promotion

Be open about processes and criteria for the promotion. Is it the length of employment? Extraordinary results? Or always keeping deadlines? Help your employees understand what managers consider when making their decisions and what is required to succeed.

C: Encourage salary negotiation

Some employees may feel hesitant about asking for a rise – even if they feel it’s well-earned. Propose acceptable salary ranges. By doing so, employees will know what they can reasonably expect and feel less intimidated. That will minimise the situations where a group of more self-confident workers manages to get a pay rise every X month, while others hardly ever do it.

2. Fair recruitment to increase diversity & give equal chances

When going through a pile of applications, it can be nearly impossible to give every candidate the attention they deserve. Moreover, your evaluation may be affected by how busy your schedule is, that you’re in a bad mood, or even the biases you have – whether they’re conscious or not. And you’re not an exception! Unfair hiring happens all the time and, unfortunately, undermines your recruitment goals.

As found in a 2004 study, racism and bias are present in the hiring processes. In the study, the researchers submitted five thousand resumés. Their goal was to test the impact a name had on job interview opportunities. As it turned out, applicants with more white-sounding names received 50% more job interview invites than those in the other group.

Bias in the hiring process is not a myth. It can take various forms (gender, age, background, looks), but it’s there, and we’re becoming very much aware of it. In fact, 96% of recruiters see unconscious bias as a problem. A problem that only heightens the need for new recruiting strategies.

A: Blind the resumé…or remove it completely?

A method to fight that problem that’s been gaining more and more recognition is using blind resumés. It’s only natural when we consider that 77% of recruiters believe that removing personal information from CVs would effectively reduce unconscious bias. But is that really enough?

If you’re keen on the idea of blinding resumés, we encourage you to go a step further. Remove them completely. As we’ve discussed it already in the past, resumés aren’t the best at predicting future performance anyways. What you need is a method testing if a candidate has the skills you’re looking for. So test for that!

Case-based screening has been proven to be the most precise available recruitment method. The benefits?

• gives your candidates a chance to preselect themselves -saving you time and money,
• allows you to test-drive a candidate – so you’re not buying a cat in a bag,
• and heavily reduces the amount of potential bias. In fact, the companies that used our software report a 62% increase in diverse candidates!

An excellent example of how letting one’s skills speak for themselves helps your diversity goals in a natural way is a Princeton/Harvard study. They found that when symphonies turned to blind auditions for musicians, suddenly female candidates were 50% more likely to make it past the first round!

We can’t quickly change how we think. But we can acknowledge that our thinking may at times be faulty and act against it. Trying an alternative recruitment method will help you ensure your recruitment is equal, inclusive, and fosters diversity.

3. Foster the sense of belonging – inclusion on board!

Generally, we spend more time at work than we do with our families. That being said, as an employer, you should make sure the workplace that is our second home makes us feel like we belong there.

After all, the sense of belonging is one of our primary human needs. It makes us thrive, boosts motivation and increases happiness. Moreover, as agreed by 75% of employees, healthy company culture drives their active engagement at work.

Indeed, as reported by Josh Bersin’s study, if workers feel like they belong in the workplace, you can reap substantial benefits such as:

• 56% increase in performance
• 50% drop in turnover
• And even a 75% reduction in sick leaves!

To foster a sense of belonging among your employees, you need to ensure they feel supported, valued, and respected. Luckily, there are ways you can do it regularly.

A: Feedback & support

The power of feedback is undeniable yet often underestimated. It’s the exact form of communication that helps us grow, but it also assures that the communication is there, to begin with. I perform my task, hence sending a signal, and it’s only natural to expect a signal in return. If there’s none, we feel neglected or ignored.

In the past, we talked in detail about the importance of feedback for your candidates. But it shouldn’t end once the contract is signed. On the contrary – it should be even more present!

The same goes for support. To feel like we belong somewhere, we need to feel that we can rely on others. Be there for everybody, don’t let anyone feel left behind.

According to TINYpulse, high performers rate the level of support they get at an 8/10, while low performers are a bit less optimistic. They place it at 6.8/10. If you only give more support to your ‘best’ employees, the others will soon start sensing inequalities.

C: Bring inclusion to your meetings

Your best chance to be inclusive is during team meetings. That’s when you have all – or most – of your team in the same place!

Some people aren’t great at coming up with new ideas ad hoc, which doesn’t mean they don’t have any. To help with that, and give everybody an equal chance to speak up, share an agenda with points to discuss before the meeting. That way, more people might speak up. Or at least – everyone will feel treated equally.

Another tip is to invite inclusion to your meetings and try to engage everybody in the discussion. While discussing a topic, you go around the room (or zoom chats) and ask every present person to contribute. Anyone can either add something or pass. That way, you acknowledge everybody, give them an equal opportunity to speak up, but also respect their boundaries – they’re not forced to say anything.

Don’t talk – act!

To have a fully diverse, inclusive, and fair workplace, you need to take those concepts and translate them into actions you apply daily at your company. The three tips we gave you today won’t be implemented in a day, but they’re not groundbreaking either. And, most importantly, they’ll work. So why not give them a go?