With Gartner recognizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as one of the top HR trends for 2022, one of the major challenges facing companies is how to truly adopt DEI initiatives that foster a truly diverse and inclusive culture. Changing your hiring process may be one answer.
What is open hiring?
Believed to have started in 1982 by Greyston Bakery, open hiring is the practice of hiring without interviews, background checks, or resumes. Of course, this is only possible for certain industries, such as manufacturing, retail, or hospitality, where workers go through training.
Other sectors such as government or finance, for instance, would require background checks due to the nature of the job. However, this idea of canceling out certain traditional requirements can be molded to suit your company.
The importance of the job interview
One option is to omit resumes and place more importance on the job interview. With the introduction of hybrid and remote work, the concept of company culture has both evolved and, for many, become more important than ever before.
As an article in the Harvard Business Review mentions,
…remote work also exposed social risks. Workers are experiencing burnout and loneliness. Without face-to-face communication, many miss having a sense of shared purpose and are more indifferent to their employers.
Taking these risks into consideration, it is crucial to establish a workplace culture that makes employees feel included. While skills and qualifications can be summarized on paper, it’s the interview that is an applicant’s time to let their personality shine.
How will they work on a team? What motivates them? What were the best and worst parts of their last job? How do they speak about their previous managers? These are all questions to ask yourself (and the applicant) that can help you understand how a person will contribute to your company culture.
By shifting focus from the resume to the interview, you also tend to change what you’re looking for in an applicant, Omar L. Harris, author of Be a J.E.D.I. Leader, Not a Boss: Leadership in the Era of Corporate Social Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, tells Fast Company.
Consider what are the true requirements for the job…Then begin looking for the behaviors that make someone successful instead of looking for educational pedigree or experience.
How does it lead to diversity and inclusion?
While the percentages seem to vary a little, one study shows that a shocking 93% of people know someone who has lied on their resume. That’s not very encouraging!
If you choose to omit resumes and interviews, the idea is that you automatically open yourself to inclusiveness. It allows for a more diverse candidate pool and eliminates unconscious bias.
Amy Spurling, founder and CEO of the software company Compt, has hired half of her team without looking at their resumes. As she explains to Fortune:
If your immediate network is just people who look like you, and you only hire from that pool, you’re just going to get the same people over and over again…That’s how you get tech companies that are 80% Stanford or MIT alums—that’s just who’s in the founders’ networks.