With special guest, JOSH MILLET
In this week’s Allyship in Action Podcast episode, Josh Millet, founder and CEO of Criteria, joins Julie Kratz to discuss how to make objective, evidence-based talent decisions that reduce bias and drive better hiring outcomes.
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For full episode transcripts please contact Next Pivot Point and mention the episode title.
In this week’s Allyship in Action Podcast episode, Josh Millet, founder and CEO of Criteria, joins inclusive leadership expert Julie Kratz to discuss how to make objective, evidence-based talent decisions that reduce bias and drive better hiring outcomes.
With the current noise surrounding inclusive and legal hiring practices, Josh provides valuable insights into science-backed approaches. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on “strong signals” like potential and ability, rather than “weak signals” such as educational background or years of experience.
Julie and Josh chat about the pitfalls of traditional hiring, provide guidance on how to move forward with diversity initiatives in a climate of backlash, and discuss how Gen Z’s values on equitable hiring practices should affect your hiring practices. Whether you’re a hiring manager, recruiter, or business leader, this episode provides actionable strategies for building a more objective and inclusive hiring process.
Here are the key takeaways from our conversation:
- Beyond the Resume: Traditional hiring methods often rely on “weak signals” like education and years of experience, which aren’t always the best predictors of job performance. Josh advocates for focusing on “strong signals,” such as cognitive ability, personality traits, and the ability to learn, which are more closely linked to success.
- The Interview Trap: Unstructured interviews are rife with bias. Josh shared that almost 50% of people make up their mind about a candidate in the first five minutes! He emphasizes the importance of structured interviews with standardized questions and scoring to ensure a more objective evaluation.
- Assessments with Intention: Assessments can be powerful tools for measuring potential and reducing bias, but they need to be used thoughtfully. Josh highlighted the importance of explaining the purpose of assessments to candidates, providing feedback, and offering accommodations when needed. He also discussed innovative formats like game-based assessments to improve the candidate experience.
- DEI Reimagined: Regardless of your personal feelings about DEI, reducing bias in hiring is something everyone can agree on. Josh pointed out the clear ROI of diverse teams, including increased profitability, innovation, and creativity. He also emphasized that diversity encompasses much more than just race and gender, including age, socioeconomic status, disabilities, and veteran status.
- Transparency is Key: Candidates, especially Gen Z, value transparency in the hiring process. They want to know how they’re being evaluated and appreciate equitable treatment. Open communication and feedback mechanisms can significantly improve the candidate experience.
Actionable Allyship Takeaway: Review your current hiring process and identify at least one area where you can incorporate more objective, evidence-based practices. Maybe it’s structuring your interviews, rethinking your assessment strategy, or simply being more mindful of the language you use in job descriptions.
Insightful Quotes:
- “So much to unpack in there. I hadn’t thought about Big Ten bias, but I think I’m going to look at that one.” – Josh Millett
- “You’re not going to remove all the bias and subjectivity from your process. And we don’t think that, any kind of tool should, should try to do that or should purport to do that because we’re all human, we all have our set of biases.” – Josh Millett
- “The business case is settled…building a diverse workforce, does lead very clearly to a series of “non woke” metrics like higher profitability, better return on shareholder equity, you know, higher revenue growth.” – Josh Millett
Tune in to learn how to transform your hiring practices and build a high-performing, diverse team. Find Josh at https://www.criteriacorp.com/ for more information and connect with Josh Millet on LinkedIn. Find Julie Kratz at https://www.nextpivotpoint.com/ and on LinkedIn.
Read more about this topic and our interview in Forbes.
