The challenges:
- Ensuring that recruitment processes effectively reach candidates from under-represented groups
- Ensuring that workplace culture encourages everyone to succeed
The solutions:
- Recognizing that recruitment processes and workplace culture can be biased in unintended ways
- Taking steps to ensure that recruitment and retention/promotion systems are not biased against any worker
Bias:
- Bias is an inclination or preference formed without reasonable justification that can prevent judgement from being balanced or even-handed.
- Bias can be based on stereotyped beliefs about individuals and groups.
- Everyone has biases, but by being aware of them, we can choose to not let them influence our behaviour and decisions.
Unconscious bias:
- Often we are unaware that we have biases because they are very deep in our subconscious.
- These biased perceptions can form the basis of business decisions and the development of business processes without conscious awareness that they exclude those outside of the dominant group.
Workplace culture:
- It's both the cause and effect of written and unwritten shared meanings, assumptions and values that guide and shape behaviour at work.
- A workplace that is dominated by one sex or one race will reflect the shared meanings and values of that sex or race.
- This can have unintended consequences on who gets hired and promoted.
IS YOUR COMPANY EXCLUDING QUALIFIED CANDIDATES FOR HIRING & PROMOTION DUE TO BIASED RECRUITMENT & WORKPLACE PRACTICES?
Job ads:
- If a company always advertises job postings in the same platform, it will always reach the same group of people.
- Solution: Place job ads in at least three different platforms.
Workplace orientation:
- Don't assume that new recruits will "just fit in."
- Because the majority of employees in construction are men, the workplace culture is male-oriented and new recruits, especially women, may not understand this culture.
- Solution: Clearly explain your workplace culture and expectations so they have an equal chance of success.
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OUR NEXT INSTALLMENT: What it means to treat people as professionals.
Previous installment: Celebrating Canadian women in tradeswork on Canada's 150th anniversary
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Resources:
- Advancing Women in the Skilled Trades. Inclusive Job Advertisement Checklist. Available online: www.advancewomenintrades.com
- Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion. Understanding Hidden Bias. 2014. Webinar.
- Kaplan, Sarah. "Meritocracy: From Myth to Reality." In Rotman Magazine. Spring 2015.
- Women Building Futures. She Works: Best Practices Awareness Workshops. May 2012.
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- JOIN THE CONVERSATION -
What are some of things you can do to help new recruits feel welcome?
This project has been funded by Status of Women Canada.