Don't lower the bar to increase diversity

I responded to a post on LinkedIn that asked the question should hiring managers be more lenient on "diverse" candidates in interviews to increase diversity.

I think this question speaks to a belief that you need to lower the bar to increase diversity. My response focused on running a higher quality hiring pipeline.

I don't think lenience is the right way forward for building diversity. If anything my approach to hiring has higher expectations on candidates. The issue is the hiring pipeline—it's the typical interview processes that prevent us from finding "hidden" talent.

Some practices that have given me hiring success over the last few years, both in terms of increasing team diversity and finding people that stick around and deliver:

• Standardised interview rubrics—workshopped, structured questions and answers, that cover all areas of competence and team culture.
• Consistent and larger interview panels (I like 3-4 people)—this reduces bias, yes, but also evens out the evaluation.
• Sending candidates the questions beforehand—this has been a game changer.
• Less interviews. Round 3+ isn't going to tell you anything that rounds 1+2 didn't when you've built a solid and comprehensive interview stack.
• A structured probation period with action—this is the +real+ interview. If the new hire can't deliver, let them go sooner rather than later and fix your interview process.

I'm not doing anything special for any gender, race, neurodivergence, disability etc.—these practices benefit everyone by levelling the playing field.