What Inclusive Hiring SHOULD Look Like

Summary

• Inclusive hiring practices are crucial for creating a fair and diverse workplace.
• Traditional methods like the Rooney Rule and AI-based recruitment tools have fallen short due to inherent biases
• To truly achieve inclusivity, recruitment processes should be conducted completely blind, from start to finish
• Skill assessments, behavioural interviews, and personality tests can be effective if used correctly, but often fail due to improper implementation
• Reference checks are unreliable and discriminatory, especially against neurodivergent individuals
• Eliminating human judgment and relying on evidence-based tools can help mitigate biases and improve hiring decisions
• For more practical approaches, check out the free job aid, 10 Crucial Steps to Practicing Inclusive Recruiting

 

When it comes to inclusion, recruitment practices highlight some of the deepest gaps within the HR function. And, as usual, the gap isn’t due to a lack of effort. Despite extensive focus and investments in inclusive recruitment practices and systems, the impact has been minimal—and in some cases, downright harmful.

 

Take the Rooney Rule, for example. Originally developed in the NFL, it requires interviewing at least one minority candidate for head coaching and senior football operations roles. While well-intentioned, the corporate application of this rule has often become tokenistic. Research shows that when only one minority candidate is included in the final pool, their chances of being hired are statistically zero.

 

Or look at Amazon’s AI-driven recruitment tool. Developed to streamline hiring and boost efficiency, the tool revealed in 2018 that it showed bias against female applicants. Trained on resumes submitted over a ten-year period—largely from male candidates in a male-dominated tech industry—the AI reinforced existing gender bias instead of correcting it.

 

These examples, one process-driven and one system-driven, both fail in the same way: they perpetuate inequity. In the first, a policy ignored basic statistics, yielding no real inclusion gains. In the second, a machine learned from a problematic past and mirrored it back. Expecting AI to disrupt discriminatory recruitment patterns—without intentional reprogramming—is misguided at best.

 

The Only Way to Truly Be Inclusive

To truly build an inclusive hiring process, organizations must rely on evidence-backed, blind recruitment practices—start to finish. Yes, it's a radical shift. But ask yourself: why do hiring managers need to see candidates to assess them? If professionalism is a concern, outline expectations in a dress code or the employment contract. Physical appearance is rarely a valid job requirement—unless you’re hiring performers or models. It shouldn't factor into decision-making.

 

When Skill Assessments, Behavioural Interviews, and Personality Tests Backfire

Skills assessments, behavioural interviews, and personality tests can be excellent tools when properly used. However, many organizations misuse or misunderstand them, undermining the benefits.

• Skill Assessments: Whether custom-built or purchased, these should be grounded in science. Cognitive ability tests, for example, can measure problem-solving and learning capabilities with high validity. However, if you're assessing niche technical skills, a customized in-house assessment may be more effective.
• Behavioural Interviews: Designed to uncover past behaviours as predictors of future performance. Yet, many recruiters don’t understand what they’re listening for. Without a clear answer key or list of behavioural indicators, these interviews can turn subjective fast.
• Personality Tests: Tools like the D.I.S.C profile and MBTI help determine how well a candidate aligns with team culture. But without trained interpretation, insights are often misused or misunderstood.

In a perfect world, short-listed candidates would complete all three assessments, with scores combined to identify the top-performing candidate—all without names or photos being shared. Once the offer is accepted, then and only then, would the manager meet the new hire.

But this rarely happens.

 

The Role of HR: Intake and Debrief

Inclusive hiring hinges on the recruiter’s ability to lead effective intake and debrief sessions.

• Intake Meetings: This is where the recruiter uncovers exactly who the hiring manager needs. What behaviours are required? What leadership style exists? What technical and interpersonal skills will drive success?
• Debrief Meetings: Held only after all assessments are complete. Here, the recruiter must recognize bias in decision-making and steer the conversation back to data.

If these two conversations aren’t done well, hiring the best candidate is unlikely.

Tip: Build a persona for each recurring role. Once done, the same assessments can be reused—saving time and creating consistent standards. Also, keep this free quick-reference guide mapping leadership styles to ideal MBTI types handy.

 

Cutting Corners = Cutting Quality

Leaders often push to shorten the recruitment process. The result? No debriefs, rushed or skipped training, overburdened recruiters, and ultimately poor hiring decisions. Investing in blind recruitment, self-serve assessments, and well-trained leaders leads to long-term savings—and better hires.

 

Reference Checks: Time to Let Go

Once selection ends, employers move to background checks: education verification, employment verification, and—still, somehow—reference checks. These are arguably the most damaging step in the entire process.

Professional references are inherently biased, often functioning as a popularity contest. Worse, many recruiters seek feedback informally through personal networks, introducing untraceable, discriminatory influence into the hiring process.

 

Two Real-World Scenarios

• Scenario 1: The Neurodivergent Candidate A recruiter uses LinkedIn to reach a mutual connection who worked with the candidate. That person says the candidate was brilliant but "rude." The recruiter removes the candidate from consideration.

But what if that candidate is neurodivergent, struggling with tone or reading social cues? Their communication style may differ—but that doesn’t make them unqualified. In inclusive workplaces, these individuals are often top performers once their communication style is understood.

• Scenario 2: The Neurodivergent Reference Provider The recruiter reaches out for a reference who sounds irritated with the call from the start.   The contact shares that the candidate was reliable and competent, then declines to comment on anything related to how the candidate behaved at work.  The recruiter assumes this means something is being hidden and removes the candidate from the list.

In reality, the reference provider was forced out of a hyperfocus to take the call and was then uncomfortable being asked to judge another person’s social behaviours—both of these things, many neurodivergent individuals struggle with. The recruiter’s assumptions, not the facts, led to the candidate being unfairly excluded.  .

 

The Real Inclusion Killer: Human Judgment

Bias, assumptions, lack of training, and time pressures all lead to poor decisions. Most recruiters aren’t trained to recognize invisible disabilities in a 10-minute call—and they shouldn't have to.

 

So, what’s the solution? Remove human subjectivity wherever possible. Rely on evidence-based, blind processes to find the right talent.

 

The practical steps below are a great way to start thinking about inclusive hiring practices.

 

10 Crucial Steps to Inclusive Recruiting

 

1. Begin with a Strategic, Inclusive Intake

HR leads a comprehensive intake meeting to define the hiring strategy, outlining each step in the selection process. Diversity considerations are built into the strategy from the start, using data on current team composition to determine where and how to promote the opportunity most effectively.

 

2. Write Job Descriptions with Inclusive, Plain Language

Job postings should use clear, accessible, and inclusive language. Most applicant tracking systems (ATS) offer tools that flag biased terminology—use them. Inclusive language helps attract a broader pool of qualified candidates.

 

3. Reflect Real Role Requirements

Ensure the job description reflects what the role truly requires. Don’t list a degree unless it’s genuinely necessary. If the position demands managing challenging personalities, state that clearly. Be simple, specific, honest, and thorough—say what you mean.

 

4. Mandate Hiring Manager Training

Every hiring manager—regardless of level or experience—must complete mandatory training on your organization’s recruitment process before participating in a hire. Training should cover inclusive selection practices, tools being used, and their responsibilities within the process.

 

5. Apply a Data-Driven, Objective Process

Adopt a structured, evidence-based approach to hiring. Use ATS-generated shortlists, skills assessments, structured behavioral interviews, and validated personality tools. Provide hiring managers with rubrics or answer keys to evaluate responses objectively. Candidates should be scored based on clearly defined criteria, and the top scorer should be selected—every time.

 

6. Implement a Fully Blind Hiring Process

Maintain a blind recruitment process from beginning to end. Names, demographic details, and personal appearance are concealed until after a candidate accepts an offer. This reduces the risk of unconscious bias influencing decisions.

 

7. Eliminate Traditional Reference Checks

Rather than relying on subjective and often biased professional references, conduct employment and education verifications to confirm the factual claims in a candidate’s application. References—whether candidate-provided or sourced independently—introduce unnecessary bias and should be excluded.

 

8. Prohibit Professional References Internally

Adopt a workplace policy that prohibits employees from giving professional references for current or former colleagues. While personal references are unavoidable, centralizing professional reference handling through HR ensures only trained personnel share appropriate, unbiased information. This mitigates legal risk and reinforces inclusive hiring standards.

 

9. Standardize Compensation

Remove salary negotiation from the equation. Assign one set compensation value to each role, based on your compensation philosophy. All successful candidates should meet the same role requirements and are expected to perform to the same standards—so they should be paid the same. This reduces pay inequities, simplifies compensation administration, and promotes fairness, especially for equity-deserving groups.

 

10. Track and Report on What Matters

Hold recruiters accountable for inclusion outcomes. Set measurable targets like:

• Diversity hiring rate: % of hires from equity-deserving groups.
• Diverse candidate slate ratio: e.g., 50% of interview slates include underrepresented candidates.
• Diversity retention score: Track how long those hires stay and succeed. Also measure the candidate experience, especially perceptions of fairness and inclusion, to continuously improve your process.

 

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