Developing “In-the-Moment” Tools to Bust Bias in Hiring
The Client Need
A $6 billion financial technology company wanted to build a more inclusive and equitable hiring process. While the company had a successful history with DEI training and instructional courses, they wanted to shift gears and invest in asynchronous learning opportunities. The leadership team was looking to develop an innovative approach to both structurally and interpersonally debias the candidate evaluation process, and decided to partner with ModelExpand.
To identify a path forward, ModelExpand assessed areas where bias manifested in the company’s candidate evaluation process. After identifying areas of opportunity, ModelExpand deployed multiple strategies, the goal being to provide hiring teams with the education and tools necessary to model inclusive behaviors in the talent attraction process.
The Solution
“The hub aimed to upskill hiring managers on inclusive talent attraction processes and outlined ways to mitigate bias throughout the candidate experience, from job descriptions to intake to debriefs.”
To support hiring teams struggling with bias in their candidate evaluation process, ModelExpand led focus groups to identify common biases and created real-time "Bias Buster Cards" to guide interviewers toward more objective evaluation. ModelExpand also developed an Inclusive Hiring resource hub which provided educational resources and tactical strategies. The hub and toolkit aimed to augment current recruiting and hiring efforts to be more inclusive, while upskilling hiring teams on how to combat interpersonal bias in critical moments. The initiative was scaled across the business to ensure enterprise-wide adoption.
Focus Group Insights
To begin, ModelExpand conducted focus groups with various team members to get a stronger understanding of the beliefs, processes, and different perspectives on the recruiting and hiring process. Insights from focus groups highlighted instances of emotional contagion, groupthink, and the effect of snowballing. Given this feedback, ModelExpand did some journey mapping and used the information collected from the focus groups to inform the custom debrief scripts and Bias Buster cards.
Resource Hub
To encourage a different approach to hiring, ModelExpand provided a complete suite of resources and recommendations designed to address the unique gaps and needs of the team. The hub aimed to upskill hiring managers on inclusive talent attraction processes and outlined ways to mitigate bias throughout the candidate experience, from job descriptions to intake to debriefs. Backed by data and informed by real employee experiences and stories, the information hub was the single source of truth for best practices as it relates to talent acquisition.
Bias Buster Cards
To motivate behavior change, ModelExpand developed bias buster cards for the debrief process. The digital tool empowered those on the hiring team to identify and challenge bias when and where it occurred. Highlighting specific examples of bias in the debrief process, the cards offered research-backed recommendations and equipped participants with the skills to pivot the conversation towards a more inclusive path forward. The cards also encouraged those in the debrief session to work collaboratively to brainstorm solutions. By increasing awareness of bias and an enhanced ability to identify when bias can occur, the cards afforded participants the opportunity to check their own behaviors and influence the behaviors of others.
Results
By implementing these practical tools, the team was able to increase awareness and create a more inclusive and equitable evaluation process, resulting in better and more diverse hiring outcomes. By standardizing parts of the hiring process, and equipping team members with bias-busting tools, ModelExpand was able to make this work scalable, allowing team members to own aspects of the inclusive hiring process and become change agents, ensuring sustainable change. More than a tool for inclusion, the hubs, and specifically the bias-busting cards ended up being a jump starter for enhanced conversation, collaboration, and alignment on how to create a more positive candidate experience.
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