Diversity and inclusion (also known as D&I) strategies are front of mind for many HR Directors and business owners, now even more than ever before. Making sure that your people processes are as free from bias as possible is vital to protect your valuable reputation as well as your bottom line.
Studies have shown that businesses with ethnically diverse teams are 35% more likely to outperform financially (McKinsey, 2017), and can lead to more innovation (Nathan & Lee, 2013), so it’s clear that making recruitment more inclusive is more than just a “nice to have”.
Introducing objectivity
When recruiting, the traditional method of reviewing a CV, carrying out an interview and selecting based on “gut feel” is widely acknowledged to be flawed, and prone to bias – unconscious and otherwise. It’s too easy to be swayed by a perceived connection to or a dislike of an individual based on their name, their gender, marital status, the school or university they attended, a previous employer, a shared hobby, even their geographical location.
Research by Schmidt and Hunter (1998) has shown that aptitudes as well as behavioural and personality characteristics are more predictive of work performance than past experience alone. Considering candidates based on their levels of these characteristics is not just more objective, but also more likely to result in hiring the right candidate for the role. When used alongside blind CV screening and structured interviews, this further increases the chance companies have of finding someone that is well-suited to the job role, and more likely to perform better than hiring using just CVs and personal opinion.
How to attract and hire diverse talent
Psychometric assessments, such as those that Thomas offers can help businesses to reduce the influence of unconscious bias and make their people processes more inclusive. Using assessments as part of an objective process for recruitment, staff appraisal and even when considering promotions provides an easily repeatable approach that can be rolled out across a business to ensure that there are no irregularities or differences between how candidates or employees are considered and treated.
We see many businesses choosing to use the Thomas Aptitude assessment to find candidates who are quick to learn new things and combine this with the Behaviour assessment to ensure candidates match the required behavioural profile for the role. These profiles can be put together by benchmarking top performers in the role and selecting characteristics shared by the most successful, or by selecting from templates based on scientific research and global benchmarking data.
Combining these with our Personality assessment to understand their approach to risk, how likely they are to stick to tried and tested methods and processes versus trying new ways of doing things, how well they cope with stress and ambiguity in the role, and whether they are goal-oriented or will need close management, helps to further triangulate their selection, resulting in best-fit hires.
Where candidates may not entirely fit the prescribed job profile, we also provide a dynamic guide for interviewers that highlights the greatest discrepancies with suggested questions to enable further examination of candidates.
Using these methods, businesses can rapidly and scientifically hire for attitude and aptitude, and then teach the necessary practical skills that the best fit candidate may need for the role. When you’re faced with a mountain of CVs that may appear similar with little to differentiate them, objectivity should win over gut feel every time.
Get in touch with us today to find out more about how Thomas, as psychometric test providers, can help you become more inclusive in your people processes and hire the right people for your business.
