Fairer Recruitment

The Better Hiring Institute is committed to driving fairer hiring practices across the UK. This includes the way work-seekers apply for jobs, how they apply for jobs, the information provided by work-seekers, the recruitment process itself, and the way that organisations make decisions.

The Better Hiring Institute believes that the way companies advertise jobs, the way work-seekers apply for jobs, the way companies sift applications, the interview process, and the decision stage, all provide opportunities for direct and indirect discrimination. The lack of standardisation also results in more opportunity for poor practice to thrive.

A priority for the Better Hiring Institute is to help devise best practice approaches to ensure fairer recruitment, including:

·        Ensuring job adverts do not contain bias.

·        Ensuring job seekers are not asked for more personal information than absolutely required.

·        Encouraging ‘anonymous recruitment’ to protect personal characteristics.

·        Ensuring that the sifting process is clear, transparent, and avoids any form of discrimination.

·        Ensuring that recruitment decisions are based on a work-seeker’s suitability for the role

With the increase in digital recruitment, it is important to ensure that digital programmes do not impact on equality and diversity in hiring. Whilst the Better Hiring Institute supports digital innovation, it is concerned about fairness within the digital route and only advocates technology when safeguarding, equality and diversity have been considered prior to implementation.