A programme by Coventry City Council to improve diversity in its recruitment process has resulted in a 117% increase in the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates. The programme was facilitated through Tribepad’s Talent Acquisition Platform by applying its Anonymous Applications feature, which aims to reduce unconscious bias in the recruitment process. Other Equality, Diversity and Inclusion efforts included different sourcing techniques, line management training and diverse interview panels.
The rise of candidates selecting BAME in Coventry Council’s equal opportunities monitoring form has increased from 18% to 39% since rolling out the programme. The programme involved a range of activities including refining vacancy promotion and making it clear that applications would be anonymous, with the intention of increasing trust and confidence from potential BAME applicants.
Sam Griffin, Recruitment Manager at Coventry City Council, said: “It’s critical for public sector organisations that their teams reflect the communities they serve. We’re very proud of the strides we’ve made in improving the diversity of our recruitment process. We believe that anonymising the application process is a good tool to help deliver on our ED&I commitments, and many organisations across industries could see these benefits.”
The 117% uplift in BAME applicants following the introduction of anonymous applications is very promising. The increase in confidence from minority applicants in applying for roles and sharing their ethnic origin information indicates a reduction in fear of prejudice.
Removing the possibility for unconscious bias is one of ways to increase diversity in recruitment. Tribepad’s Anonymous Applications feature enables applications to be entirely anonymous with no names, gender, date of birth, location, nationality or education institution names visible to hiring managers prior to inviting candidates to interview.
British citizens from ethnic minority backgrounds have to send, on average, 60% more job applications to get a positive response from employers compared to their white counterparts, according to researchers at Nuffield College’s Centre for Social Investigation (CSI). As part of its ‘people first’ mission, Tribepad is looking at innovative ways to work with employers to redress this balance and is committed to enabling the recruitment industry to become fair and impartial.
