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    Formalizing an Inclusive Recruitment Process
    👥

    Formalizing an Inclusive Recruitment Process

    Catégorie
    2. Team
    Sous-catégorie
    2.1. Recruiting & Management
    Stade
    Pre-Seed

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    Written in collaboration with the Diversity & Inclusion Chair at EDHEC, established in 2016 with the aim of inspiring, raising awareness, and supporting individuals and organizations to cultivate inclusive and non-discriminatory behaviors and environments.

    What is at stake?

    ‣
    What is the difference between diversity and inclusion?
    • Diversity refers to the heterogeneity of a group in terms of observable characteristics (gender, age, skin colour, etc.) and non-observable characteristics (religious beliefs, visible disabilities, social origin, sexual orientation, etc.).
    • Inclusion is a process that goes beyond descriptive approaches to diversity: It implies an organization's commitment to fulfilling two needs among its employees:
      • A sense of belonging
      • and respect for their individuality.

    → Thus, a company cannot simply declare itself inclusive. Unlike diversity, which is a measurable outcome based on objective criteria (observable or not), inclusion corresponds to employee perceptions.

    Resource provided by the
    Resource provided by the Diversity & Inclusion Chair at EDHEC
    🔥
    How to create an inclusive and responsible recruitment process at each stage to build the team capable of carrying out the startup's mission?

    Why is it important?

    There is no longer any question that a diverse team will be more efficient than a homogenous one. As highlighted in the McKinsey report (2020), organizations that demonstrate inclusion enjoy better financial performance and greater ability to attract and retain top talent. And this begins from the recruitment phase!

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    Being "responsible by design" means that from the start of a project and a team, we bring together diverse perspectives: different backgrounds, diverse ages, various genders, and multiple nationalities... We can't tick all the boxes, of course, but the goal is to avoid homogeneity of profiles from the beginning of the project, with individuals who have followed the same courses, shared the same experiences, and laugh at the same jokes.

    Hager Jemel-Fornetty, Director of the EDHEC Business School's Diversity & Inclusion Chair

    Three actions to take right now

    1️⃣ Raise awareness about biases

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    Resources to raise awareness about biases
    • ⚒️ IAT Implicit Association Test: an online test that measures a person's implicit attitudes toward certain social categories (note: it is not a diagnostic or exhaustive test but rather a tool for raising awareness and promoting reflection on unconscious attitudes).
    • 📖 Article: How to take the bias out of interviews (Harvard Business Review) → a summary of the article is available in the "For further reading" section.

    2️⃣ Ensure diversity and inclusivity in the composition and advertising of job offers and job descriptions

    ‣
    Write job offers knowing how job descriptions are formulated can attract or discourage certain groups of candidates.
    • Candidate, profile section: avoid long lists of skills and distinguish between essential skills (e.g., having a basic knowledge of Spanish) and "bonus" skills (e.g., being bilingual in Spanish).
    • You can also add a disclaimer to encourage candidates of all profiles to apply.
      • ‣
      🔍 Example of a disclaimer:

      La Solive includes this disclaimer in all its job offers:

      "Authorize yourself to apply! Some scientific studies show that especially women are less likely to apply for a job when they do not have all the required qualifications. If this can reassure you, know that this job description is indicative, so take it as such: it's a guide, no more no less. If you are interested in XXXX, don't put up barriers give us the chance to form our own opinion, we will be delighted to meet you!"

    ‣
    Promote job offers on channels that reach a diverse audience

    In particular, join networks to find diverse profiles: 50inTech, Women in Sales, Simplon, Mozaik RH, Autipik

    3️⃣ Reduce biases and prejudices in the analysis of applications

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    Establish a process and transparent, evaluation criteria to ensure that candidates are evaluated fairly and objectively.

    Example of an evaluation structure:

    1. Focus interview questions on skills so that all candidates are asked the same questions.
    2. Immediately rate each answer given, using a simple scale from 1 to 10.
    3. Compare the scores of all interviewees to revealthe best candidate(s) for the position.
    ‣
    Diversify perspectives and situations in the recruitment process
    • Ensure a diversity of perspectives, thereby avoiding having only one person responsible for evaluating all candidates during recruitment (often the case in startups). For example, avoid a candidate meeting only men or only women during their recruitment process.

        • → This approach has two advantages:

      1. It prevents candidates from feeling excluded by default, thinking “this place is not meant for me,” simply because the recruitment process has given the impression of being insular, even if it may not be the case within the company.
      2. It reduces recruiter bias because different people have different sensitivities. By involving several individuals in the evaluation of candidates, the risk of missing important aspects of a candidate is reduced.
    • Ensure a diversity of situations by varying formats (case preparation, interview, written format, etc.) to give everyone the opportunity to showcase their particular skills and potential.

      • Indeed, some individuals may not be comfortable with a specific type of exercise, which can make them appear disconnected or less competent, even though they could make valuable contributions if evaluated in a way that suits them better.

    → see the article on Team Jolokia's case in the "For further reading”

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    We created Qweeko with a perfect gender parity since there are two co-founders, Martin and me. Since then, we have been committed to growing the team while maintaining this parity!

    Marie Voyer, CPO & Co-founder of Qweeko, EDHEC Entrepreneurs Alumni & Future 40 (2022)

    📚 For further reading

    ‣

    🔍 Use case: Team Jolokia's secret to building inclusive organizations from the recruitment phase

    Article written by Anne-Ryslène Zaoual (Associate Professor, University of Artois) and Vanessa Warnier (Professor, University of Lille) for The Conversation.

    Repenser le recrutement : le secret de Team Jolokia pour construire des organisations inclusives

    L’étude de cet équipage de course à voile montre que l’inclusion doit se penser dès la phase de recrutement des collaborateurs.

    theconversation.com

    Repenser le recrutement : le secret de Team Jolokia pour construire des organisations inclusives

    This article is based on the example of Team Jolokia, an offshore racing team based in Brittany, which aims to demonstrate that with a heterogeneous group, doing things together is possible and generates wealth. “Our differences are a strength.”

    The article stresses that despite growing recognition of the importance of diversity, bias and discrimination persist in recruitment processes, posing a real obstacle to inclusion. Inclusion can only exist if it is taken seriously

    right from the recruitment phase

    The article highlights three key principles for building inclusive organizations through recruitment:

    1. Openness to atypical profiles: Team Jolokia challenges the traditional norms of sailing by seeking the kind of crew members who are often overlooked by traditional skippers.
    2. Cross perspectives and situations: Team Jolokia uses a 360-degree selection approach, where the final decision is made not solely by the skipper but by a jury that evaluate candidates' nautical, sporting, and relational skills in various contexts. The process also allows for cross perspectives by involving psychologists or using psychological tests to assess candidates' behaviour in various contexts.
    3. Seeking inclusive potential: During Team Jolokia's selection process, inclusive potential is identified through skills such as mutual understanding, plurality of viewpoints, trust, and integrity.
    Présentation de Team Jolokia. Auteurs -- Crédit photo : Benjamin Simon Lohézic
    Présentation de Team Jolokia. Auteurs -- Crédit photo : Benjamin Simon Lohézic
    ‣

    📖 Diverse and Inclusive Hiring in Tech: A Practical Guidebook for Entrepreneurs

    A comprehensive practical guide on Diversity and Inclusion in Tech, published by Diversity VC and Atomico. Resource in English 🇬🇧

    Diverse and inclusive hiring | Atomico in Tech

    Sourcing Candidates In theory, it is easy to say that as a firm you aim to recruit and source candidates from a diverse range of places. In practice, this can be difficult. Typically, tech founders and workers come from homogenous industry and educational backgrounds such as engineering, data science, finance and consulting.

    www.inclusionintech.com

    Diverse and inclusive hiring | Atomico in Tech
    ‣

    📖 Seven Practical Ways to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process (Harvard Business Review)

    Resource 🇬🇧

    7 Practical Ways to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process

    Research shows that the hiring process is impartial and unfair. Unconscious racism, ageism, and sexism play a big role in who gets hired. The good news is there are steps you can take to reduce unconscious biases. Here are some strategies: (1) Simplify.

    hbr.org

    7 Practical Ways to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process
    ‣

    📖 How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews (Harvard Business Review, 2016)

    Article written by Iris Bohnet, author of the book What Works: Gender Equality by Design. Resource 🇬🇧

    How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews

    If you're a hiring manager, you're probably happiest getting a sense of a candidate through unstructured interviews, which allow you to randomly explore details you think are interesting and relevant. (What does the applicant think of her past employer? Does she like Chicago? What does she do in her downtime?)

    hbr.org

    How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews

    This article highlights the problems in the hiring process involved in unstructured interviews (interviews in which the questions are not predetermined, allowing an exploration of the details the recruiter finds interesting or relevant at the time).

    Although these interviews are seen as the most effective, dozens of studies have shown that they are the least reliable in predicting candidate job performance.

    The author explains that the persistence of this inefficient method is due to two factors:

    • Managers' excessive confidence in their own expertise and experience,
    • and their reluctance to adopt more structured approaches that might delegate human judgment to a machine.

    However, this method reinforces personal biases because recruiters tend to hire people who are like them.

    The author recommends using:

    • Practical tests related to the tasks the candidate will have to perform as the main evaluation tool;
    • Structured interviews, which ask the same questions to all candidates in the same order, to allow clear comparisons between candidates.

    The author also recommends immediately rating each answer to avoid biases related to memory and the order of responses.

    By using better-designed recruitment procedures, companies can fully leverage the potential of candidates and reduce discrimination.

    ✍️ Contributors to this document

    The Diversity and Inclusion Chair at EDHEC was established in 2016. Since then, it has undertaken various initiatives and actions to inspire, to raise awareness, and to support individuals and organizations in cultivating inclusive and non-discriminatory behaviours and environments.

    Chaire Diversité & Inclusion

    Depuis sa création en 2016, la Chaire Diversité & Inclusion développe et accompagne des projets de transformation et de sensibilisation pour permettre à toute personne, en tant qu’individu ou au sein des organisations, de disposer des mêmes chances d'intégration et de réussite.

    www.edhec.edu

    Chaire Diversité & Inclusion

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