whitepaper: fairness and diversity

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Diversity langfristig sichern – Fairness in der Personalauswahl mit der viasto interview suite

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Ensuring Sustainable Diversity — Fairness in Personnel Selec5on with viasto's interview suite

u  How diversity leads to economic growth

u  Why methods like CV-screening and selection interviews prevent diversity in recruiting

u  Why asynchronous video interviews ensure diversity in your

selection process

W h i t e p a p e r



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Diversity and fairness Diversity can relate to a person’s physical appearance, such as their sex and ethnic background, but it can also extend to their less visible characteristics, like personality. Preventing discrimination and supporting diversity is the main goal of Diversity Management. For personnel selection that means equal opportunities for all candidates, fair and equal treatment, and a guarantee to be selected on the basis of objective criteria. Historically, diversity management has placed special emphasis on equal opportunities for men and women (Gender Fairness), and on candidates with and without migrant backgrounds.




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No women Women

EBIT margin

women No women

Diversity offers many advantages for organisations For quite some time now, diversity has been regarded as a competitive advantage for organisations. A study conducted by McKinsey (2009) showed a relationship between gender diversity and the organisation’s financial performance. Organisations whose top employees are at least 30% women have a 53% better EBIT margin.

The McKinsey’s “Women Matter” studies have been reporting on the topic of gender diversity for many years. The annually published studies share insights on the role of women in the economy and on how to sustainably increase the proportion of women at the executive level. More than 800 organisations participated in the 2009 study. The result was clear: The proportion of women at the executive level showed a distinct relationship with the organisation‘s financial performance.

Fig. 1: Organisations economically profit from their workforce’s diversity




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!Diagnostische Qualität

Problem with Selection Interview: In personnel selection interviews, stereotypes and prejudices unconsciously bias the interviewer’s judgement. Once their first opinion is formed, interviewers adjust their interview strategy to this opinion and unconsciously search for confirmation of their “prejudice”. The prejudice then gets strengthened through further interaction (Macan, 2009).

Problem with CV-Screening: Based on their CV, a candidate with a Turkish name has a 12% reduced chance of being invited to a personal interview compared to a candidate with the same qualifications and a German name (Kaas & Manger, 2012).

Traditional instruments in personnel selection often fail Successful diversity management starts with personnel selection. Companies are slowly starting to implement successful diversity management measures into their recruitment strategy. This is partly due to the fact that some – mostly traditional – methods are preventing diversity in recruiting, especially CV-screening and unstructured selection interviews. They have been proven to be prone to bias in making selection decisions. This is how talented applicants are wrongly rejected. Different studies reveal these issues:




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Results showed that participants’ evaluations were not biased by the gender or ethnic background of the candidates. Decisions were fair and objective.

The Study 208 participants (mean age: 32.87 years; 55% students, 20% working in full- and part-time jobs, 25% retirees/pupils/others) evaluated different interview answers presented in video format based on competency scales. The answer sequences they viewed showed candidates of both genders and candidates with and without migrant backgrounds.

Diversity and fairness in innovative recruiting: Recruit objectively with the interview suite When using asynchronous video interviews for recruiting, judgements are not based on the physical appearance or sex of the candidate but on the content of their answers. The Humboldt University of Berlin proved the fairness of viasto's interview suite in one of their most recent research projects.




Gender Fairness: candidates judged solely on their performance Using the interview suite, men and women are evaluated based on their answers, and therefore, on their objective performance. No gender is systematically preferred or neglected (Figure 2). The reason why the interview suite is gender neutral: All evaluations are based on objective, performance-related observations. The study participants judged the candidates according to their performance on criteria like “ability to work in a team” (Figure 3). The evaluation scales are shown simultaneously with the answer video and have a clear focus.

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Fig. 2: Male and female candidates are evaluated objectively

I completely disagree

I rather diasagree

I rather agree

I completely agree

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Fig 3: Male and female candidates are evaluated based on their ability to work in a team

12%

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42%

Male candidates

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Female candidates

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Unsuitable candidates Suitable candidates

female candidates male candidates

Number of ratings Number of ratings

“The candidate recognises the shared goal of the team”




Fairness regarding migrant background: Candidates with and without migrant backgrounds were treated equally Using the interview suite, candidates with and without migrant backgrounds are judged solely on their objective performance. A migrant background does not bias the decision. With regard to the candidate’s background, the interview suite ensures fairness and equal opportunities.

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I completely disagree

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“I would invite the candidate to the following assessment stage”

Fig. 4: Candidates with and without migrant backgrounds have equal opportunities

% of approval

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Fig. 5: Candidates with and without migrant backgrounds are treated fairly




Innovative new method is fairer than the traditional method Although still the method of choice in most recruiting processes, the CV has dramatic consequences affecting fairness in personnel selection. With respect to fairness and equal opportunities, the CV is clearly inferior to the interview suite. If CVs form the basis for a personnel selection decision, candidates with Turkish names have a 10% decrease in their chances of being invited to the following assessment stage than equally qualified candidates with German names (Kaas & Manger, 2012). But if additional information about the candidate’s personality and skills is available, the discrimination disappears. This is how the interview suite works. The video answers provide insights into a candidate’s job-related competencies in a structured format. These pieces of information form an important defence against possible – often unconscious – prejudices.

32 % 42 %

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2. The interview suite Agreement with the following sentence (in percentage): “I would invite the candidate to the following assessment stage” (viasto, 2013)

1. CV Proportion of invitations to a face-to-face interview (in percentage) (Kaas & Manger, 2012)

Fig. 6: the interview suite is clearly fairer than the traditional CV screening

Candidates with migratory background Candidates without migratory background

Candidates with migratory backgrounds were invited 10% less often to a face-to-face interview

Candidates with with migratory backgrounds have equal opportunities to make it to the next assessment stage

43 % 42 %

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Contact us today We are happy to answer any of your questions. Let us know if you are interested in our individual and non-binding online presentation about the interview suite and its implementation opportunities. Dipl. Psych. Sara Lindemann [email protected] +49 30 609 88 533-4

Summary By using the interview suite, an objective and valid personnel selection is ensured. The study by the Humboldt University of Berlin shows that the interview suite forces a fair selection decision that meets the German Equal Treatment Act’s standards (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz). The interview suite enables equal opportunities for different groups of candidates. Using the interview suite in recruitment allows organisations to objectively make the best decisions in an efficient and goal oriented manner.

References Desvaux, G., Devillard-Hoellinger, S. and Baumgarten, P. (2007), Women Matter: Gender Diversity, a Corporate Performance Driver, McKinsey & Co., Paris. Kass, L., and Manger, C. (2010): Ethnic discrimination in Germany’s labour market: a field experiment. IZA Discussion Paper 4741. Ziegler M., Hillebrand L., Kroll, E. (2013). Untersuchung der Fairness zeitversetzter Videointerviews bei der Personal-Vorauswahl in Bezug auf Geschlecht und Migrationshintergrund. Unveröffentlichte Diplomarbeit, Humboldt- Universität Berlin.


whitepaper: fairness and diversity

Recruiting & HR

workforces diversity

topic ofgender diversity

personnel selection

selection decisions

women gender fairness

role of women

theproportion of women

women womenthe mckinseys