Section outline

  • Racial bias in hiring and promotion can reaffirm racism by encouraging selection of applicants who exhibit attributes associated with racial privilege. Organisations should review their processes to mitigate these prejudices and systemic biases as far as possible.


    Actions

    • set public diversity targets across all levels of the organisation.
    • expressly encourage racial diversity in the application process, and advertise broadly, including in avenues more likely seen by racially marginalised people. Consider the use of specialty recruiters. Articulate why the organisation is an attractive and culturally-safe workplace for racially marginalised applicants.
    • include salary range information in job advertisements.
    • pay interns and Board members.
    • involve racially marginalised people as decision makers in the application process.
    • use structured assessment processes and evidence-based scoring systems that employ clear criteria that consider relevant skills and experience rather than specific qualifications, racially-privileged leadership styles, interviewing skills, cultural fit, or likeability, all of which may be avenues for racial bias, whether conscious or not.
    • value global experience, multilingual skills, and cultural knowledge.
    • make it easier for racially marginalised people to participate equitably in the workforce, including by recognising a diversity of holidays, and ensuring work social events are racially inclusive.
    • if they choose to, profile successful racially marginalised colleagues as role models.
    • establish mentoring and networking programs for racially marginalised colleagues.
    • include anti-racism considerations in standard staff performance appraisal processes.


    Example

    • Oxfam Australia adopted mandatory quotas, including to strengthen the participation of First Nations People and other people of colour, so that they constitute at least 30% of their Board. The quotas represent floors, not ceilings. To facilitate these reforms, the Board also amended its policies so that the recruitment process is required to actively seek broader diversity in relation to gender, Indigeneity and race, age, and socio-economic background. Position descriptions were checked to remove bias, and applications from diverse candidates were explicitly encouraged.
    • Action Aid expresses an intentional commitment for diversity in advertised positions and widens their recruitment field through advertising channels. Selection avoids tokenism by targeting skills and expertise, together with a principle of ensuring there is a diverse range amongst shortlisted candidates. The policy does not limit hiring to Australian citizens, meaning there is no barrier to employment for non-citizens and migrants. At the interview stage, Action Aid utilises questions in their recruitment process to actively seek values alignment, including specific questions about taking action on anti-racism and diversity. Assessment also includes observation of how candidates interact with diverse members of the recruitment panel.
    • WaterAid built their expression of interest form with consultation from external people of colour and included consideration of where to advertise, networks to engage, and communicating the desire for diversity. Facilitation support and feedback was sought from consultancy Mind Tribes, one Board member of Pasifika background, and women of colour within WaterAid's networks. WaterAid recognises that the aim is not to test interview skills but candidates' skills relevant to the position. To reduce such potential biases of the interview process, the panel chair contacted the shortlisted candidates prior to conducting interviews, for an introduction and an overview of the interview topics and questions.
    • IWDA has introduced a new, de-biased recruitment system to ensure they are doing all we can to remove unconscious bias from recruitment processes. They have tweaked the way the system is applied to take an affirmative action approach and boost candidates with relevant cultural competence in the regions where they work.

    Resources

    Racism, power and truth: Experiences of people of colour in development (2021)Downloads a Word document

    Bond’s report that explores the experiences of people of colour working for UK international development organisations, both those based in the UK and overseas.

    Credit: Bond
    Making Compensation More Equitable (2022)Downloads a Word document

    Six steps to better closing pay gaps, and developing a thoughtful compensation philosophy.

    Credit: The Management Center

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