A committee for interviews and performance overview is an inseparable part of any company’s human resources management (HRM). The workforce serves as an intangible asset that demands attention and care to ensure the best hiring decisions and retention rates. However, the contemporary candidate pool has become more distinct and diversified. In this context, the committee’s unfamiliarity with diversity, equity, and inclusion might lead to undesired consequences for the company, which is why it becomes increasingly important to adopt them at the committee’s development stage.
Even by itself, diversity possesses excellent potential to become an asset in the business field. According to O’Meara et al. (2020), it can be described as representing different and unique identities, experiences, characteristics, and perspectives. By doing so, diversity allows companies to enrich their performance by exposing the collective to various ways of understanding and engaging with the world, identifying challenges, and discovering, designing, and delivering solutions.
In terms of HRM, it is critical for the associated committees to not only value and consider diversity in their actions but also to be diversified themselves. Recent studies have shown there is a direct relationship between the committee’s diversification and registered bias levels. Firstly, homogenous groups have a tendency to gravitate toward candidates replicating their characteristics (O’Meara et al., 2020). Furthermore, underrepresented committee members have a weaker influence in shaping the committee’s actions. Therefore, committee composition belongs among the essential prerequisites of promoting diversity.
In ensuring the representation of unique committee members, one should remember to treat members of particular groups equally. This approach refers to equity – ensuring every individual has what they need to thrive by increasing resources, access, and opportunities (Bhalla, 2019). It is especially significant for historically underrepresented and disadvantaged communities. Given the registered importance of role models in providing examples of career success, aspirations, and persistence, equity is particularly relevant for competitive institutions that value the success of their employees regardless of their attributes.
In this context, sole diversity might not be enough to achieve long-term stability. According to Bhalla (2019), “simply increasing the numbers of underrepresented individuals without re-evaluating our definitions of merit and excellence can lead to tokenization and an inability to retain” a diversified workforce. In other words, the best practice in developing a committee that adheres to the equity principle is not to establish equal merit but to create equal opportunities to achieve excellence.
The two mentioned concepts unite under the banner of what scholars refer to as inclusion. Wong (2019) broadly defines it as a welcoming culture where differences are honored, and every individual is valued, respected, and has the ability to prosper (Wong, 2019). Despite sharing several features with the ideas of diversity and equity, inclusion also possesses a unique, distinctive feature. In short, inclusion is responsible for ensuring that underrepresented individuals are not simply hired and allowed to succeed – they also deserve to feel genuinely affiliated with their workplace and collective.
The committee responsible for interviewing and evaluating performance will be the first and the most frequent institution that employees interact with. Therefore, its actions must be influenced at various levels to ensure adherence to the inclusion principle. Individually, its members should always seek opportunities to learn about cultural diversity to know how to behave accordingly in various situations (Wong, 2019). Personal communication does not end in merely empowering an individual but extends to identifying and addressing communication barriers. Then, on a broader level, Wong (2019) advises creating meaningful communication channels and safety systems around issues and opportunities related to inclusion. Transparency and willingness to learn are key to establishing trust and forming bonds in a diversified collective.
Only by being built on principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion will the committee responsible for HRM be able to foster these concepts in the future. To value diversity in its operations, internal diversity can become the committee’s reference point. By changing its perceptions regarding success merits, the committee will comprehend the idea of equity. Finally, through building understanding and care, the committee can become genuinely inclusive in its practice.
Reference
Bhalla, N. (2019). Strategies to improve equity in faculty hiring. Molecular biology of the cell, 30(22), 2744-2749. Web.
O’Meara, K., Culpepper, D., & Templeton, L. L. (2020). Nudging toward diversity: Applying behavioral design to faculty hiring. Review of Educational Research, 90(3), 311-348. Web.
Wong, C. (2019). Changing organizational culture: From embedded bias to equity & inclusion. Professional Safety, 64(08), 26-30.