Equity in Hiring Project

1
Equity in Hiring Project

• PCPC Training
• 8/2/12

2
Background

• In 2010, Public Health Human Resources launched
  the Equity Social Justice Hiring Quality
  Improvement project.
• The goal of the project is to establish best
  practices to increase the diversity of our staff
  at all levels and in all classifications.

3
Aim Statements

• Aim 1 To increase the diversity of our staff
  at all levels of the organization and within all
  classifications
• Aim 2 To increase the effectiveness and
  efficiency of our process by developing and
  incorporating best practices
• Aim 3 To develop and implement a policy to
  promote accountability for employing a diverse
  workforce

4
MeasuresAim 1 Staff Diversity

• Staff hires by race/ethnicity
• Staff hires by classification
• Staff hires by salary range

5
MeasuresAim 2 Effectiveness Efficiency

• Diversity of our applicant pools
• Percent of staff turnover in first year of
  employment

6
MeasuresAim 3 Policy

• Development and implementation of a policy
  utilizing the Policy Review Team process.

7
Public Health Staff Compared to King County
Population by Race/Ethnicity 2010
Public Health Data Source Peoplesoft 2010 King
County Data Source 1990-2008 Population
Estimates Population Estimates from Public
Health Assessment, WA State DOH, Vista
Partnership, Krupski Consulting. January 2009
8
Applicants Hires by Race
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12

• At the micro level,
• our workforce is not as diverse as the
  communities we serve.

13
(No Transcript)
14
Whats Going On?
15
Schemas
Chair
16
Interrelatedness of Bias and Institutionalized
Racism
17
Common Effects of Implicit Bias in Hiring

• Like me
• Halo effect
• When we see applicants before finalizing
  selection criteria, we begin developing selection
  criteria that favors congruency between candidate
  gender and job sex-type

18
Why Does It Matter

• Hidden bias affects our everyday workplace
  interactions.
• Bias affects what we notice, remember, and how we
  interpret behavior
• We notice, remember, and interpret behavior that
  reinforces our biases
• Small biased judgements have a cumulative effect
• Hidden Gender Bias in the Workplace, Williams,
  Joan. UC Hastings College of Law (2010)

19
What You Can Do

• Begin to recognize and acknowledge your biases,
  including your unconscious assumptions
• Have a diverse hiring panel
• Allow sufficient time to review each application
  thoroughly. Eliminate cognitive diversions.
• Allow sufficient time for the interviews
• Take thorough notes
• Agree on weighted criteria prior to seeing
  applications (qualifications)

20
What You Can Do

• Develop interview questions and scoring plans,
  related to the criteria, prior to seeing
  applications
• Collect information in a systematic manner (i.e.
  reference checks)
• Do not draw conclusions until you have scored all
  applicants
• Watch for evidence of a halo effect
• Simply having the intention to evaluate fairly
  and accurately can reverse the effects of
  stereotypes (priming)

21
(No Transcript)
22
QI Strategies for Divisions

• Notify your hiring managers of the need to
  schedule just-in-time interview panel training
• Insure your interview panels are diverse
• Ask hiring managers to develop selection tools
  before they see any candidate application
  materials
• Insure qualifications match job duties, require
  licenses only when required for the successful
  completion of work, use plain language on job
  announcements

23
QI Strategies for Human Resources

• Provide countering bias training
• Arrange for ET to receive Micro-Aggressions
  Training
• Complete disparate impact analysis
• Prepare metrics on classifications and sections
  by race and gender
• Begin developing library of interview questions
• Best practices in hiring handbook

24

• Thank you!
• Any questions?
• Tina M. Abbott, Sr. HR Analyst
• Public Health-Seattle King County
• 263-8402