Gender Bias Audit of Recruitment Processes

Situation

This mining company wished to conduct a desktop audit of their recruitment processes to identify potential gender bias within their processes. This was part of a broader project aimed at cultural change and trying to increase the representation of women across the business, with a focus on particular roles.

Challenge

Due to a limited budget, the initial scope for this project was limited to a desktop audit, rather than comprehensively consulting with hiring managers and employees about their experiences.

There was also limited HR data available on gender either throughout the recruitment process or across the business more broadly, which presented a challenge for confidently identifying specific pain points or areas to target.

Solutions

We began by reviewing the literature for the most up to date best practice guidelines for minimising gender bias and removing barriers to entry for women.
We then collected a series of recruitment-related documents and information from the customer, including recruitment policies and procedures, associated policies and procedures that support women in the workplace, job descriptions and job adverts, interview guides, and the company website and social media.

We compared what the company had to best practice guidelines across four main areas:

• Policies and procedures
• Job adverts, job descriptions, and marketing
• Interviews and selection criteria
• Diversity data
• We presented the findings in a report, outlining what aspects of their recruitment process were in line with best practice and where there were gaps, as well as recommendations for improvement and recommended next steps.

Result

The report and findings were presented to the client and well received, with next steps in discussion now.

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