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Is this a discriminatory hiring process?
Within the first day or working with my new employer, I was a bit skeptical. Almost every new colleague I met with was white and middle class. Whether this is unconscious bias or not, I worry about the people managers and recruiters continue to hire. I'm an advocate for equality and I feel bad sitting back and watching this happen if there's something that can be done.
However, I do understand that it is a sensitive subject and I’d hate to point fingers but rather, start a conversation. If anyone has any good resources or personal advice that they can share with me, I would be very thankful.
Anonymous
06/04/20 at 7:38PM UTC
I have some tough love to offer. How are you an "advocate for equality" and mention unconscious bias, but not mention how many employees your company has since that's the starting place for equal employment opportunity and anti-discrimination law at both the state and federal level?
To find federal requirements that apply to your employer you can go to a couple sites - rules are based on size and federal grants/federal contracts: EEOC.gov, Department of Labor and Department of Justice.
To find state requirements look up the state human rights Commission and fair labor standards pamphlet.
Municipal governments can also have additional requirements so you can go to google to search for an equal employment, human rights, or "affirmative action" section of their code. Contrary to popular opinion, affirmative action is not a quota system.
In closing if the "culture fit" includes staff who cannot perform the technical skills of their job and they pawn it off on others, or worse, they don't care about getting work right that's a likely clue this is conscious or unconscious discrimination and not simply "cultural bias" - which is 100% discrimination if a business of a certain size still hasn't taken steps to reduce discrimination and foster Diversity & Inclusion.
I'm also surprised again that an "advocate for equality" is asking how to create diversity. I suggest finding the local work force board or local EEO related group and working thru them. If your workplace has established organizational discrimination and is a large enough employer to follow EEO regulations and doesn't, they will squash you in 2 seconds.
If you're going to undertake protected activity you'll need to keep a meticulous paper trail of your performance ratings, goal-setting, workplan accomplishments, 1:1 meeting notes, and copies of emails that don't sound right. Sometimes emails are sent to link you to something that people made up to paint you as a problem. For example, if you provided very clear information in person, the person repeated it back to you, and then the person - completely out of character- asks you a bunch of questions as if you hadn't just worked on this 24 hours prior because they don't even mention the conversation in passing -- that's an odd email. If you had a call with someone, helped them thru a problem they just brought to you, and you say you'll help and email them analysis info, etc., if they respond with something like "thank you for clarifying the previous information you provided that I found confusing..." That's a huge red flag. Basically anything that mischaracterizes work product and conversations is something to take seriously. Silence is a strategy on this. Print and keep material and the other performance information at home. Where it makes sense you can and should email back, "let's chat soon offline. I'm confused by the email contents. At 4pm yesterday we talked in person and agreed on all next steps......or....I'm confused since this is the first time I've helped with content for this request." It's easier to retaliate against female employees since there's a built in bias on judging women on "soft skills" that FGB has written about where they are essentially rating you on a "personality problem" that is based on protected activity and not on performance with colleagues not trying to terminate you.
There are law firms and consultants that train management and HR staff, usually on "leadership retreats", on how to go after staff in hopes they will voluntarily leave and how to terminate staff without being linked to harassment, discrimination, or retaliation for protected activity.
Kimberly Ellsworth
Creative problem solver + UX Designer
41
06/04/20 at 6:08PM UTC
What may be happening is the folks hiring are looking for "cultural fit." While on the surface, this means people who will "get along" with the existing team, it typically results in people of the same race and come from similar backgrounds. We connect most easily to the people who look like us, and this causes unconscious bias to seep into hiring practices. If you are in a position to bring it up, I would definitely ask what the company's policies for ensuring unbiased hiring practices. At my previous organization, we developed quantified metrics for our behavioral interviews to minimize decisions like "I just feel like they'd be better than the other candidate."
If you don't feel comfortable cutting straight to the chase about their hiring practices, maybe request professional development opportunities provided by the company include topics on diversity, equity, and inclusion. This way you can increase the awareness across your org, and potentially find other allies.
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