Increasing Diversity and Inclusion

To: Leadership in Hiring Committee

From: Julia Waltz
Date: September 15, 2019
Subject: Recommendations for hiring practices and company policies

The purpose of writing this memo is to provide recommendations as requested by my boss. My

task is to assist in establishing proactive and progressive hiring practices and company policies to
increase diversity and inclusion at iNova.

Summary
I was asked by my boss to perform recommendations for hiring employees and incorporating
new company policies here at iNova. My goal is to ensure we are establishing processes to make
our company competitive during this growth phase and lead to positive results in the future.
Along with other technology companies across America, we face the problems of homogenous
teams and lack of diversity throughout the workplace. Our staff is currently composed of 76%
male employees, of which 73% are white, and 24% female employees, of which 16% are white.
Clearly, iNova lacks diversity and needs long term changes. My recommendations will allow our
team to reflect diversity in the community and combat impact from unconscious bias on decision
making. To eliminate unconscious bias in our hiring practices, I recommend implementing
inclusive job advertisements and inclusive hiring practices. I am certain investing in Textio, a
technology which helps people write job ads, will eliminate unconscious bias in our job
advertisements. As a result, we will attract a larger, more diverse group of people. I focused on
Cisco’s use of Textio and discovered they credit Textio with their increase in women and non-
white employees (Novet, 2018). Furthermore, to eliminate bias from our interviewing process,
iNova must offer unconscious bias training to our recruiters. In order for unconscious bias
training to be effective, it must be ongoing and long-term. I am confident in the recruiters’
abilities to commit and put forth necessary effort in training to eliminate bias. Finally, iNova
must form self-managed teams to create a welcoming and inclusive environment. I analyzed
Zappos’ transition to self-managed teams and discovered positive results. They have “created a
structure in which people have flexibility to pursue what they’re passionate about” (Hall, 2014).
Self-managed teams will allow iNova employees to explore different ways of thinking and create
an inclusive environment for both current and new employees. In conclusion, by implementing
new hiring practices and a new policy, iNova will become more competitive during its’ growth
phase.

Discussion
Hiring Practices
Unconscious bias is a significant problem throughout current hiring practices, for it often leads to
unintentional discrimination and poor decision making. INova is working to improve diversity
and inclusion, and unconscious bias is a major setback in achieving our goals. Recruiting
candidates from various backgrounds, races, genders, etc. is crucial to create a diverse
workplace. In fact, “a survey found that for every 1% rise in a workforce’s gender and cultural
diversity, there were corresponding increases of 3% and 9% in sales revenue” (Agarwal, 2018).
Technology companies are beginning to grasp the importance of a diverse workforce and are
Leadership in Hiring Committee
September 15, 2019
Page 2 of 4

taking action. For example, Cisco has invested in Textio, which is a writing enhancement service
designed to remove cliché, gender bias phrases in job descriptions. Cisco now attracts 10% more
female job candidates, and it takes less time to fill positions. They currently have more diversity
than they have experienced since 2000 due to Textio’s positive impact on the company (Novet,
2018).

Two common types of biases when interviewing are confirmation bias and personal similarity
bias. Confirmation bias is “the tendency to search for information during the interview process
that confirms your pre-existing beliefs.” Personal similarity bias occurs when we favor people
who are similar to us (Agarwal, 2018). Both types of biases lead to lack of diversity and
homogenous teams. Unconscious bias is apparent throughout the workplace, but there are ways
to limit it.

Recommendation #1
Creating a diverse workplace begins with improving our current hiring practices by limiting
unconscious bias. Therefore, the first hiring practice I recommend implementing is inclusive job
advertisements. Writing job descriptions and qualifications without targeting a specific group of
people is crucial to expand our reach. Studies have found on average, men apply to jobs for
which they meet 60% of the qualifications, while women tend to apply only when they meet
100% (“5 Proven Recruiting…,” 2018). Therefore, we must minimize phrases, descriptions, and
qualifications specifically appealing to young, white male applicants. This will limit the
impression that we are targeting a specific group of people. Job descriptions alone will increase
the variety of applicants who apply to iNova. Simply adding “salary negotiable” in the job
description reduces the wage gender gap by 45% (“Hiring,” n.d.). In addition to affecting gender
gaps, job descriptions also turn away potential candidates from different races or sexual
preferences. Thus, it is imperative to make it clear in job descriptions that no employee will face
discrimination or harassment. Because bias phrases are often unintentionally used in job
advertisements, iNova should turn to technology. Investing in Textio will give us certainty that
iNova’s job descriptions are free from bias, thus opening our doors to a wider variety of people.

Recommendation #2
Once we have attracted a variety of applicants, the next step in building a diverse workforce is
eliminating bias from our interviewing process. Therefore, I recommend implementing an
inclusive hiring process to reduce and eventually eliminate unconscious bias. To avoid seeking
employees similar to ourselves, we must treat each candidate equally. We do not want to use
personal similarity bias to seek individuals similar to our currently employees. Additionally, we
must avoid confirmation bias by removing questions used to confirm preexisting beliefs about
the candidate. I understand unconscious bias is difficult to eliminate, so I recommend offering
unconscious bias training at iNova. Training will allow recruiters to practice and improve
eliminating bias from their interviewing process. Although there are arguments against training,
“A metanalysis found that diversity trainings can be effective, depending on many factors
including content, length, audience, and accompanying diversity efforts” (Emerson, 2017). By
properly implementing unconscious bias training, we will dramatically reduce bias from iNova’s
interviewing process.
Leadership in Hiring Committee
September 15, 2019
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Company Policy
In order to establish our reputation as a positive and inclusive workplace, we must create an
environment where people of all races, gender, sexual preferences, etc. can perform at their best.
INova should be a place where employees want to work and feel comfortable doing so. Even if
companies are able to hire a diverse group of people, creating an inclusive environment is a
whole other task. This is up to you, for it is crucial for iNova employees to welcome and express
interest in all coworkers. I recommend creating self-managed teams to allow people in different
roles to work on projects as equals. As a result, contact among diverse types of people at our
company will increase. According to Fogelson (2017), self-managed teams have many benefits
to companies, including an increase in:
• Innovation
• Diversity
• Profit
• Operational efficiency
• Employee retention
• Customer loyalty
Building these high performing teams requires self-awareness, trust, and cohesion. All
employees must be willing to practice new behaviors, explore different ways of thinking, and
embrace a more adaptive way of working. In addition to creating a more inclusive environment,
self-managed teams will allow iNova to increase our potential.

Recommendation
As outlined in my discussion section, I recommend eliminating unconscious bias in hiring
practices and creating a more inclusive workforce through a new company policy. To eliminate
bias in hiring practices, iNova must create inclusive job advertisements and perform an unbiased
interview process. As a recommendation, iNova should invest in Textio to eliminate unconscious
bias in job advertisements. Additionally, to improve our hiring process, we must enforce
unconscious bias training. In order to create an inclusive environment for our newly diverse staff,
employees must utilize self-managed teams to work on projects as equals. Please feel free to give
feedback on my recommendations because my goal is to create a positive, inclusive environment
for all employees. I believe that if we adopt these policies, iNova will become a more diverse
and inclusive workplace while expanding our growth and influence.
Leadership in Hiring Committee
September 15, 2019
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Reference List

Agarwal, P. (2018, October 19). “Here Is How Bias Can Affect Recruitment In Your
Organisation.” Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/pragyaagarwaleurope/2018/10/19/how-can-bias-during-
interviews-affect-recruitment-in-your-organisation/#1692931d1951

Emerson, J. (2017, April 28). “Don't Give Up On Unconscious Bias Training -- Make It Better.”
Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/04/dont-give-up-on-unconscious-bias-training-make-
it-better

Fogelson, M. (2017, November 1). “How to Build High-Performing, Self-Managed Teams.”

Retrieved from https://medium.com/the-ready/how-to-build-high-performing-self-
managed-teams-ec139961f41f

Hall , S. (2014, January 3). “Zappos to Ditch Job Titles, Bosses for Self-Managed Teams.”
Retrieved from https://insights.dice.com/2014/01/03/zappos-ditch-job-titles-bosses-self-
managed-teams/

“Hiring.” (n.d). Retrieved from https://projectinclude.org/hiring#

Novet, J. (2018, October 9). “Cisco is Hiring More Women and Non-white Employees Than
Ever, and They Credit This Start-up for Helping.” Retrieved from
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/09/textio-helping-cisco-atlassian-improve-workforce-
diversity.html

“5 Proven Recruiting Approaches to Increase Workplace Diversity.” (2018, December 13).

Retrieved from https://www.hirevue.com/blog/5-recruiting-strategies-to-increase-
workplace-diversity