4D Blog
Augt 7,2018
” Discrimination in Recruitment” (HR)
BY:
Prof.Nisha Singh *
Prof. Ashok K. Sinha **
As per the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the data received (National FY 1997-2017), there are thousands of charges received from various States in US, regarding employment discriminations. There were many grounds, namely race, colour, gender, maternity and so on.(https://www.eeoc.gov/). Similarly in India too there are litigations in the court of most of the appointments done in the Government sectors. This hinders the final appoints and by the decision comes it is too late. It is estimated that there are several lacs of posts are vacant and delayed due to court litigation due to discriminations. But what we see here is the discriminations after the recruitment and appointments are more in the US than that of India. In India, recruitment notifications are mostly found its place in the court. Means notifications of recruitments are more discriminatory in India than that of in the US. While during employment, discrimination during service is reported more in the US than that of in India. In India, it could be because employees are afraid to report discriminatory conditions of the organization. In India ,in case of discrimination on any of the grounds mentioned in Article 15 (Constitution ), ie, religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth by the Government through its policies, or regulations, or otherwise, including recruitment, promotions, transfers, demotions and removals, the affected person can file a writ before the concerned High Court of the State or the Supreme Court.
But it is more important to analyze the mindset and attitude of the Recruiting agencies and the HR people associated with recruitment. There is a great possibility of a hidden mindset of Recruiting agencies and HR people, sometimes knowingly sometimes because of a pre-occupied notion. As such, there is a dire need for a well-devised training program for the recruiters and HR on a regular basis, so that discriminatory mindset can be restructured.
Training can be a great tool to try to reduce the discrimination. However, how do we think can we reduce the discrimination in the hiring process because many hiring managers admit that they discriminate during the process? Recruitment of manpower is a process of management which has many implications. It implies hiring best talents within Company’s defined policy and rules. It also sends a message both internal as well as the external world, creating its policy, status and image. Recruitment is a process of hiring manpower as such there are many steps from its inception to completion. Since it is a process involving many steps so a well-defined training is required of those persons who are involved in all the stages of recruitment in a Company. Lapse at any stage may invite discriminations, violations of law and alienating talented persons from applying and joining the Company.
Recruitment can be internal as well as external. Further, it can be taken over by the Internal team or can be handed over to an external Agency or Agents. Employers must be aware of their obligations under Federal and State laws regarding, age, sex, race, disability or any other provision
Let us discuss various stages of the recruitment process in chronological order and also how the people involved can be trained effectively to make the process authentic and effective.
Authentic Job Description& creation: There must be a detail job description mentioning duties and skills. It must bear essentials and desirable. It is much better to put diversified statement mentioning different culture and different background. Creating restricted and hidden job description may mar the entire process ultimately.
The process of Application must be transparent: Clarity must be decided for the application process like whether written or online or Company’s printed forms, It should also decide whom to apply and who will process the application.
Genuine Advertising: By mail, in local daily through notice Board other means in order to bring notice to a maximum number of applicants.
Correct Short Listing: Shortlisting is an important aspect. Many times it has been found that a biased person doing shortlisting has rejected the applicants violating rules and regulations due to a different culture, country or race, in spite of all the relevant qualifications and experience.
Unbiased and Honest Interviews: Conducting an interview for the shortlisted candidates is the most important step in the recruitment process. It is advisable to constitute a board of interviewers with a minimum of three qualified persons. These persons must be aware of the requirements of jobs and its skills, qualifications and experience.
It is of a paramount necessity to discard any kind of discrimination or bias while interviewing candidates. Some of the common bias are, pregnancy, age, gender, accent, family background, on the basis of which candidates are cleverly rejected without a proper explanation. Another common method of discrimination in the interview is grilling the candidates by asking awkward questions., often which are a discriminatory too personal question. In such a situation, either the candidate will not speak or will lose interest in Company to join any more.
References: Often references are made from the persons who may not be able to provide the same in an authentic manner about the candidate. Therefore care should be taken to get references and endorsement from at least three persons and verify properly before selecting or rejecting candidates.
Job offer: Offering job and releasing offer letter is the final step in the recruitment process. Here the common practice is that Candidates find a gap between the promises in the Advertisement and the offer letter. This either alienate the candidates from joining or if they join under compulsion they may not give their full attention to the job or may start looking for a better option.
Thus we see that recruitment is an extensive process having various stages. There is always a chance of discrimination at every stage, so a well-defined training is required for those people who are involved in it.
*Prof Nisha Singh is Chair-(Person-Business ),Livingstone College,NC ,US
** Prof. Ashok Sinha is Ex- Executive Director and Director,Quantum University & Galgotias, India.