Equitable hiring: the importance of skill-based recruitment and how to enable it

What does equitable hiring mean? To me, it refers to hiring people based on skills, capabilities, knowledge and what they can bring to the business. 

Yes, both equitable and skills-based hiring have been discussed extensively over the last few years.

However, I believe there is still work to be done, and many businesses require assistance with facilitating this type of recruitment practice.

I saw this highlighted during a recent IRIS Software Group webinar I took part in; during our session, we asked our audience if they have a defined equitable hiring process, to which 80% responded that they don't currently have anything in place.

Clearly, something needs to change.

Why candidates need more than just "experience" 

Now, if there's one piece of advice I can offer, it is that doing what you have always done will no longer guarantee success.

Historically, candidate experience has been viewed as extremely important

In my experience, recruiters would frequently gauge competency based on past experience, often thinking: if a candidate has done this, surely they're capable of this.

However, while I agree that past experience can offer some insight, I’d say that it isn't necessarily the best approach to rely on it, as length-of-service and past roles don't necessarily translate to competency.

I'm sure we've all also noticed that the world of work is rapidly changing; with new technology and ways of working being regularly adopted, past experience can quickly become outdated, further emphasising the need for tangible skills.

How businesses can focus on skills during recruitment 

I recently saw a statistic that for 68% of people, a candidate’s education sways the hiring decision.

Clearly, this contradicts the ethos of equitable, skill-based hiring. 

So, what can be done? How can those hiring focus more on the skills and what a candidate can do?

Firstly, I recommend when creating roles and job descriptions, you define the key attributes needed to be successful.

While that sounds obvious, I urge you to think about when was the last time you revisited competencies for a role; with how quickly technology and tools are moving, the same skills required a few years prior may have completely changed.

Are your candidate requirements up to date?

Additionally, a candidate trait I would strongly urge you to seek when recruiting is a desire and capacity to learn, as that will play a fundamental role in adapting to the changing working landscape and making the most of new tools, such as AI.

Another step you can take to promote skill-based hiring is to anonymise applications. 

By stripping out all personal/confidential details and anonymising applications, you can eliminate any unconscious biases, enabling you to better focus on the skills and capabilities.

I've seen some businesses take this a step further, implementing anonymous testing, where they can only see the results from a test given to candidates, with no indication about who did what - this forces them to focus purely on results and ability. 

Leveraging technology during the recruitment process

While more and more businesses are understanding that a skills-based approach is best for recruitment, the big question is: what else can be done to facilitate it?

Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer a handy solution.  

I've noticed that many recruitment tools on the market now have features which can help with removing biases and promoting skill-based hiring, such as anonymising job applications and assessing data to locate hiring trends.

Technology should empower, not replace 

Let me stress, the important thing to keep in mind when looking at AI is that it's not there to replace.

Rather the aim should be to assist.

Fundamentally, these tools should be used to help you make better-informed decisions and mitigate unconscious biases. 

If you're looking for more advice, check out our full webinar session, where we discussed a wide array of other areas, including fostering pay equity, utilising data and smart recruitment strategies. 

Watch the webinar here: Building winning teams - why equitable hiring fuels success.

Guest author: Mervyn Dinnen