Matrix for Inclusive Hiring
Developed by Vicky Napolitano, DEIB & Inclusive Hiring Strategist at Vessy.com
A 1–5 scale to measure the inclusivity of hiring processes
Backward (essentially not inclusive)
Checkbox (not moving beyond the bare minimum of being inclusive)
Willing but Inconsistent (inclusive of a select number of demographics)
Embedded (committed and coordinated efforts to integrate inclusive hiring practices)
Sustainable (inclusivity is a fundamental, high organisational priority integrated at all operational levels)
| 1 Backward | 2 Checkbox | 3 Willing but Inconsistent | 4 Embedded | 5 Sustainable | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position Alignment |
This position alignment process often does not define the required skills with examples or what constitutes success in this position, leaving room for judgement and unconscious biases. The hiring team is unplanned. Job descriptions and org design are not considered, ignoring team data and other relevant information. | Position alignment is more standard with an informal guideline. The job description is based on stakeholders' expectations with a rough projection of requirements. The hiring team is still not planned ahead. Success for the position is ambiguous. Salary range, skill mapping, and demographics are still not considered, but the team is. | Position alignment is done more carefully and follows more defined internal standards. Success and desired skills are better defined. With fewer unnecessary industry-based requirements, the job description can be more objective. The planning of the hiring team is still not thought through. The job description becomes more objective. Some information about the team is considered but does not follow a company guideline or internal process | DEI's mission, vision, and goals now guide position alignment. A definition of success and an exercise to remove nice-to-have skills from the desired profile allow focus on what is essential while remaining open to complementary skills. Skills and experience determine the hiring team to better evaluate candidates. Job descriptions include practical examples of required skills. Salary range and demographics are considered in a quick team assessment. | Position alignment entails creating new positions based on the current company's demographic needs, dedicating a position to specific diversity groups with affirmative action roles, or intentionally hiring people from specific diversity groups. As a result of a thorough analysis of the team’s salaries, skills and demographics, the hiring manager's needs are questioned and aspects of the position are recalibrated to better fit the company and team. This stage links expected experiences to candidate potential. The job description emphasises a strategy to attract diverse applicants. The hiring team is diverse and skilled at interviewing and evaluating candidates. |
Application Review |
The application review phase frequently fails to be inclusive in CV screening, sourcing candidates from dominant groups, and failing to change tactics based on position, area, or even specific requirements. Candidates must fill out many fields in the application process, which are unclear; lacks company information and visibility of the hiring process. No hiring strategy is planned at this stage. | The CV screening process is not intentionally inclusive, but diverse candidates are more likely to be considered than dominant group candidates. The job post is more structured with a list of nice-to-haves and must-haves but the wording still discourages some diverse candidates from applying. Candidates are still unaware of the stages and how the overall hiring process works. No hiring strategy is planned at this stage. | During CV screening, application review becomes intentional, but it only considers one or two demographics, usually from more dominant groups who are not marginalised. Although this process is not standardised, the job post is becoming more structured with the wording, information about the company and requirements. Application is now simpler. Some positions have a hiring strategy that works alongside employer branding and other teams. The process is now more data-oriented and is generating insights for decision-making. | Application review strategies are more inclusive of underrepresented minorities and more marginalised communities. In addition to the sociodemographic questionnaire, candidates are asked about accommodation needs. Employer branding is more intentional about being inviting to diverse candidates. Based on the position's diversity focus, job boards, agencies, and communities are chosen. The CV screening process ensures that diverse talents are thoroughly considered and fairly assessed. The application process now engages the candidate in the process. | This stage’s strategy has a bigger focus on diversity groups and fights biases during application review. Visualising the pipeline's demographic data allows the hiring team to make adjustments to promote equity in assessments. The job posting is carefully crafted to avoid gendered language, superlatives, and other factors that deter diverse applicants. Shortlisting diverse candidates for the hiring process is prioritised. Employer branding efforts are coordinated with the company’s DEI goals and generate more diverse candidates for the position. Candidates’ accommodation requests are thoroughly considered. |
Interview & Assessment |
Unstructured interviews and assessments with no expected or unexpected answers or deliverables allow for judgement and unconscious biases in this phase. Preventing candidate comparison and consistency. The hiring team is unprepared, uncoordinated and untrained to conduct thorough assessments of either soft or hard skills. Note-taking does not require a standard nor is compliant with general data protection regulations. | Despite a more structured assessment and interview process, underrepresented minorities are still excluded due to a lack of intentionality. The questions and cases used to assess candidates are more technical, leaving room for improvement in soft skill assessment, making it harder to assess diverse talent. The hiring team continues to be untrained but is slightly more experienced The goals of each assessment remain hazy. Note-taking is still not standardised. | This phase includes an even more structured assessment process. Even though there is a guideline for how to evaluate soft skills, the hiring team still does it inconsistently. It is still difficult to compare candidates. The hiring team is more experienced and has undergone some superficial interview training but no structural changes have been implemented. Diverse candidates from more dominant groups feel included in this stage. The note-taking system is more organised and closer to being compliant with general data protection regulations. | This phase has better-prepared interviewers and hiring steps. Validated questions and a consistent approach make comparisons fairer in the assessments. Everyone in the hiring team knows what competencies to assess at each stage. Most hiring teams follow soft skills and cultural add assessment guidelines. The hiring team is more diverse and trained in inclusive hiring best practices. The note-taking and scorecard system is simpler, and the notes and recommendations are more fact-based making it more compliant with general data protection regulations | This phase becomes more transparent and structured. All candidates understand exactly what is being assessed at each stage, resulting in a more inclusive assessment environment that allows diverse talents to shine truly. There is still a list of pre-selected assessment questions with defined guidelines related to cultural add and general soft skills that are being assessed. The note-taking and scorecards are based on facts and key examples that enable assessment of potential; with a structure in accordance with data protection regulations. Everyone on the hiring team is required to attend a recurring interviewer training, ranging from best practices in inclusive hiring to cultural awareness, which is internally controlled. There is a continuous improvement process based on data. |
Offer |
The offer stage includes an unconsciously biased candidate de-brief, a non-equitable offer, and an admissions process that excludes underrepresented groups. In this stage, many top-down decisions are made without the hiring team, preventing a productive discussion about candidates' potential and the area's needs. | The offer stage is still characterised by a non-inclusive candidate de-brief and an overall inequitable offer that does not contribute to the elimination of pay disparities. The company's culture and a more diverse group of decision-makers make the entire process more inclusive, with an emphasis on equality. There are fewer top-down decisions. The admission and internal communications processes remain the same but are less prone to error. | The offer stage consists of a candidate de-brief that intentionally makes decisions more inclusive for a few demographics (e.g., gender) while remaining exclusionary for people from more marginalised communities (e.g., persons with disabilities). There are fewer top-down decisions and an even more diverse group of people determining the outcomes of the hiring process. There is no active effort to combat pay disparity. Employee exposure and inclusion malpractices are avoided through the internal communication and admission processes, lowering the possibility of negative incidents. | The offer stage includes a candidate de-brief, offer extension, internal communication, and admission processes designed to mitigate the most common unconscious biases that occur during hiring processes. There is an active effort to mitigate biases in the de-brief process, ensuring everyone in the hiring team has an equal chance to contribute to the discussions. The offer extension process takes into account pay disparity through an analysis. The decision-making process gets more collaborative and involves other areas and stakeholders to ensure equity in the process. The admission process is well communicated and explained from beginning to end. Internal communication is somewhat planned ahead. | In this stage, the candidate de-briefs process follows strict guidelines to ensure a fair comparison of candidates and role expectations, preventing last-minute requirement changes. Bias champions ensure that diverse perspectives are heard. There is a deep pay analysis when designing the offer that also takes into account the performance cycles. The decision-making is well justified and approved by an independent party/committee. The admission process is more people-oriented requiring only must-have information and keeping candidates informed about the process. Internal communication is careful about the whole process and candidates have the option to choose how they’d like to be introduced and select personal preferences. |
| Score | Inclusivity | Definition | |
|---|---|---|---|
5 |
Sustainable |
"Sustainable" represents hiring processes that are intentional and disruptive about being inclusive with their practices. There are efforts, projects, and programmes to empower candidates and prospects from most of the underrepresented minorities. The company's general culture and hiring culture reinforce the importance of having diverse teams, and that reflects in collaborative actions to actively improve the hiring processes and seek diverse talents. There are constant awareness nudges and reminders in all decision-making situations to mitigate biases. Finally, a candidate's potential is an important factor in selecting the right candidate, translating different work experiences into the position’s current challenges. Different cultures and backgrounds are important parts of the evaluation, and the final decision takes them into account. | |
4 |
Embedded |
"Embedded" represents hiring processes that are intentional about being inclusive in their practices. There are efforts to mitigate the effect of negative biases by creating an inclusive environment for candidates and prospects who are underrepresented minorities. The intention connects to a broader DEI strategy, making a more coordinated effort to foster inclusivity among hiring processes. It reinforces not only the company's values but also the company's hiring culture. There are awareness nudges and reminders in most decision-making situations to mitigate biases. Lastly, there is some commitment to consider the potential in the assessments, including how different backgrounds can add to the company. | |
3 |
Willing but Inconsistent |
"Willing but Inconsistent" represents hiring processes that are somewhat intentional about being inclusive with their practices. Still, that intention only focuses on some social markers (for example, gender diversity). We use this score when the intention comes from specific business demands and does not connect to a more comprehensive DEI strategy, leaving aside coordinated efforts to foster inclusivity among hiring processes. Creating a somewhat inclusive environment for some groups of people is possible, but that still depends on a significant number of variables (for example, the specific hiring manager). Some biases that affect hiring processes can still have a profound impact. | |
2 |
Checkbox |
"Checkbox" represents hiring processes that are still not intentional about being inclusive with their methods. However, no practices would be considered discriminatory because of a policy or process. We use this score when there are still no efforts to hire for diversity or come up with a way to include people from underrepresented minorities, but the current practices do not fully lead to exclusion, even though they are still open to most biases. | |
1 |
Backward |
"Backward" represents hiring processes that are mostly not intentional about being inclusive in their practices. Sometimes those practices can be considered discriminatory without any policies or processes around them. We use this score when there is no effort to hire for diversity or create an approach to include those from underrepresented minorities, creating an exclusive environment that prevents a thorough assessment of diverse talent because of biases, outdated practices, and discriminatory behaviour. | |
To evaluate hiring practices, we look at the company's hiring culture, hiring practices, metrics and KPIs, and the overall candidate experience at each stage of the process.
| Stages | Definition | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position Alignment | This phase defines the hiring needs based on a new headcount or a replacement position. This stage includes choosing a strategy for hiring, mapping hard and soft skills, interview stages, assessment methods, a job description, a deadline, and overall requirements. | ||
| Application Review | Application review applies to the first interactions of the company with leads and candidates, including the process of marketing the role, screening CVs, sourcing candidates, partnering with job boards, communicating with applicants, or even scheduling interviews. | ||
| Interview / Assessment | Interview and Assessment is the process of assessing candidates' and prospects’ competencies, skills, and "cultural add." This stage can include things like assignments, synchronous interviews, phone screenings, panel interviews, technical cases, challenges, and more. | ||
| Offer | This stage considers the final steps of the hiring process: candidate de-briefs, offer extensions, internal communication, and the admissions process. | ||
Concepts Definition
Inclusivity: the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised, such as those having physical or mental disabilities or belonging to other minority groups. Please note that other conditions and situations, such as contract type and working setup (i.e., hybrid, remote, in-office), are also elements that could generate bias and can contribute to a lack of inclusion.
Equity: the term "equity" refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality. Equality means giving everyone the same thing. Equity, on the other hand, means recognising that we don't all start from the same place and that we must recognise and fix imbalances.
Demographics: relating to human populations and the information collected about them, such as race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, neurodiversity, mental health, and socio-economic background.
Underrepresented minorities: refers to people from historically marginalised communities who are more likely to face oppression and marginalisation because of factors such as race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, neurodiversity, mental health, and socioeconomic background (for example, a black man, a Latina woman, a white non-binary person).
Marginalised groups: people who are not only members of historically excluded communities but also have an identity that is being actively marginalised by society. This frequently leads to poor access to education, basic resources, support networks, and a general sense of belonging. (For example, a disabled black man or a transgender woman.)
Dominant groups: people from dominant groups who are less likely to be marginalised and overall excluded, considering social markers such as race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, neurodiversity, mental health, and socio-economic background. (E.g. white heterosexual cisgender man, white heterosexual cisgender woman).
Diverse candidates: applicants, prospects, and overall candidates who are from underrepresented minorities and sometimes even from more marginalised groups.
DEI: diversity, equity and inclusion, often mentioned as a department or area of expertise.
Intentionality or Intentional Hiring: the act of adding intention to be inclusive in current hiring practices, actively seeking to include people from diverse backgrounds, especially underrepresented minorities.