Inclusive design

At the heart of inclusive recruitment and selection is the commitment to create processes and experiences within which individuals are best placed to perform well, see themselves as part of your organisation, and apply and participate easily.

We have already explored ways in which you can review and improve your recruitment and selection processes, but this is a field of dynamic change, so it’s important to keep up to date with new thinking and examples of good practice.

The hiring manager may wish to consider or discuss whether the role is being recruited for competence or potential – for example, is the role salaried, or is it a traineeship or apprenticeship? Understanding the difference will enable you to design recruitment and selection processes that reflect the needs of the role.

It is good practice to put in place anticipatory adjustments so processes and experiences are as inclusive as possible from the start. Making adjustments in advance means applicants should have fewer direct access requests, which are an additional burden.

In addition to anticipatory adjustments, you may wish to highlight support available and what you have put in place in the past. Again, this shows evidence of your organisation’s commitment to applicants and candidates and ensures that everyone involved has an idea of what you can accommodate.

Outlined below are some steps you could include to ensure that the selection process is more inclusive:

• Send interview questions to candidates in advance.
• Ensure the workplace environment is supportive and welcoming – this may involve prioritising good customer service or reviewing imagery and branding onsite.
• Offer virtual interviews to support those for whom travel will be more challenging as a result of caring responsibilities, financial precarity or a disability.
• Copy and paste your verbal questions into the chat or message box to help focus interviewees during virtual interviews.
• Explore how you will support those who are experiencing unequal access to technology (known as the ‘digital divide’) when advertising, recruiting and selecting.
• Schedule interview timeslots with participation in mind – for example, adjusting interview times to early in the morning or later in the afternoon as required by the candidate.
• Ensure that interview or selection event dates are scheduled to enable people to participate and perform. For example, most organisations wouldn’t hold interviews on Christmas Day, so consideration of other religious festivals and cultural holidays should be part of your planning.
• Include a break during the interview or selection process.
• Extend time provided for the completion of interview exercises or tasks, and/or extend the duration of the interview itself to allow for more time for responses.
• Focus on the competencies required for the role and how those relate to your choice of interview questions and exercises and the design of selection events. See the definition for face validity in the glossary: for example, if the role does not require the appointee to deliver presentations, why should delivering a presentation be part of the selection process?