Here’s EXACTLY How to Take Your Hiring Manager Training to the Next Level!
This is #IncreaseDiversity, a weekly newsletter series + Increase Diversity Toolbox sharing best practices for employers who want to learn how to….well, increase diversity. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. | IG: @IncreaseDiversity
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Recruiters, hiring managers, and interview team members are on the front lines of increasing diversity. Each has their own role and with an effective partnership among the three groups, your workplace will be further ahead of the crowd.
Everyone on the front lines to increasing diversity must have the training necessary to create successful outcomes which include increasing representation in spaces where your workplace is currently underrepresented. That is truly what increasing diversity is all about!
But here is the challenge. Through our consulting work, we have had many opportunities to review the training guides and PowerPoints that you use—in particular, to train your hiring managers. These trainings are nowhere near what someone on the frontline requires to help your workplace meet its diversity initiative. As a matter of fact, most trainings that are deemed as “inclusive” training programs for hiring managers include the following:
General unconscious bias training
Legal “to-dos” and “not-to-dos”
Standard interview questions
When you set up your training this way, you miss some opportunities. For example, it is great to learn about unconscious bias (in general), but it is even better to learn about how unconscious bias shows up for hiring managers during the interview process. Context is everything. Also, it is great to learn about legal dos and don’ts, but bias doesn’t always show up as something illegal. It is better to talk about legal dos and don’ts along with things that are perfectly legal, but unethical. Or you can talk about things that are legal, ethical, but inequitable. And finally, it is great to suggest interview questions that hiring managers can ask, but it is even better to show hiring managers how to develop questions that help them to identify whether or not a candidate meets the qualifications as written in the job description and how to recognize a good, bad, or mediocre answer.
Do you see the difference in ways to make your hiring manager training more effective?
With that, here are some additional ways that you can take your hiring manager training to the next level:
Include a discussion about hiring manager accountability. Ensure hiring managers understand that increasing diversity is not only a recruiter’s accountability. Recruiters are accountable for ensuring diversity within the candidate pool. Hiring managers, as they are often making the final selection decision, are accountable for the level of diversity within the workplace. It takes a true partnership to make this work, work.
Talk with your hiring managers about ways in which they can help to source and attract talent in your workplace. Yes, we know that sourcing is a recruiter’s responsibility, but leaders can help too. Job seekers are prone to listen to leaders when they are talking via social media platforms. To hear a leader talk about increasing diversity and underrepresentation and to create space to answer questions can go far in shifting your organization to being seen as an employer of choice among underrepresented populations.
Train hiring managers on the importance of creating an inclusive workplace environment that is ready for increased representation. In other words, create an inclusive environment and make sure that hiring managers understand that there is no possible way to increase representation in your workplace if people are leaving your organization as quickly as they are entering.
Have healthy conversations with hiring managers on the importance of meaningful interview feedback. It is in the discussions of why candidates were or were not selected that we often find bias. To mitigate bias, everyone must be held accountable for sharing the inputs to their selection decisions.
I hope that these suggestions help support your hiring manager training, but if you are searching for more tips and tools on generating effective hiring manager training, consider partnering with Team JTC through our Qualified Inclusive Leader (QIL) professional learning community. or email us at info@JenniferTardy.com.