This article provides advice for employers, leaders and anyone else looking to interview virtually within their workplace about how to conduct a video interview smoothly and successfully.

What is a Video Interview?

A video interview, also known as a virtual interview, is a great way for you to interview candidates from afar. As more and more companies extend their talent search further afield, video interviews offer you a meaningful way to interact with potential hires who are located outside of your workplace’s immediate catchment area, and without the hassle that can come with a face-to-face interview.

Top Tip

These days, as people increasingly turn to roles that involve remote working or hybrid working, a video interview can be an invaluable tool for reaching the best candidates, no matter where in the world they’re located.

Benefits of Virtual interviews

There are many benefits to video interviewing, some of which include:

• It’s less likely that the candidate will need to take time off work to attend the interview, as they take up far less time than conventional face-to-face interviews
• You can host the interview at any time, including outside of normal working hours, at a time best suited to each candidate.
• You can record virtual interviews and replay them later. Never underestimate what you can learn from a second look.
• No one has to pay travel or hotel expenses.
• Unlike a phone interview, you can read body language and facial cues when watching the candidates on screen.

Disadvantages of Virtual Interviews

However, there are also some obstacles you may need to overcome when interviewing virtually:

• Both you and the candidate need a reliable internet connection, webcam and microphone. Ahead of the interview, make sure that each candidate has access to the technology and software they need to attend the interview, so they’re not at a disadvantage.
• Unexpected internet connectivity problems could cause delays or make it hard to communicate.
• Distractions such as bad lighting, cluttered surroundings, noise and other people in the room can detract from the video interview and what is being said.

Types of Virtual Interviews

There are two main types of virtual interviews that you can choose between: one-way interviews and two-way interviews.

One-way Interview

A one-way video interview, or ‘pre-recorded’ interview, is where the interviewer isn’t present on screen. In this scenario, the interviewer gives the candidate a series of set questions in advance and the candidate responds by recording and submitting their answers. The candidate can have multiple takes at recording their answers before sending them to you. 

As an employer, a one-way interview can be useful because it means you’re able to review each candidate’s answers in your own time. You don’t need to schedule a specific time slot to speak to the interviewees and can attain answers to some of the more general questions (such as ‘why did you apply for this role?’) before arranging a more formal face-to-face interview. One-way video interviews are useful for pre-screening multiple candidates during the selection process.

Two-way Video Interview 

A two-way video interview, or a ‘live’ interview, is where the interviewer and candidate are ‘face-to-face’ and can see each other on a platform such as Microsoft Teams, Skype or Zoom. Two-way interviews are more common than one-way interviews.

In a two-way interview, both the interviewer and interviewee log in to the same video call and the questions are asked and answered on the spot. There’s no chance for the candidate to redo their answers and it often requires them to think on their feet, just as they would if the interview was in person.

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Our Interview Skills Training for Managers has been designed to help managers increase their confidence when hiring by detailing the recruitment process from start to finish.

Virtual Interview Tips for Employers

There are many rules that apply to virtual interviews the same as face-to-face, for example, you still need to dress professionally and prepare your questions in advance. With a video interview, however, there are various other elements to consider that you may not have thought about before. A few of these are listed below:

1. Pick a quiet, well-lit location
This reduces the chance of distractions and ensures that what your candidate can see behind you looks welcoming and professional. You may have to move furniture around to create a backdrop that looks appealing on screen – aim for somewhere plain and with good lighting, without distracting clutter or people.

2. Prepare the environment
Candidates will be assessing your business from what they can see so, to create a good impression of your business: 

• Avoid empty meeting rooms as they will create an echo. Plants and soft furnishings absorb sound and will stop echoes from happening.
• Inform your colleagues when the interview is going on and where so that they don’t interrupt.
• When you set up the webcam, make sure it’s an arm’s length away from where you’ll be sitting and at eye level. The candidate only needs to see your head and shoulders.

3. Figure out your tech
Before the interview, practise the call with a colleague to make sure everything works. Test your video call software, camera, microphone and background and make adjustments where needed. Avoid using a tablet or phone for the interview if possible as they don’t have the capabilities of a computer or laptop.

4. Turn off distracting or noisy background apps
Whether the computer you’re using for the interview is your personal or work one, make sure that any applications with alert noises are switched off, so they don’t interrupt your virtual interview or cause a distraction.

5. Dress appropriately
Even though the candidate might not be able to see all of you, you should still dress as if the interview were face-to-face. This means dressing appropriately and professionally.

6. Speak clearly
Speak slowly, loudly and clearly when doing a virtual interview as connection problems and background noise can sometimes make communication harder. Try to focus on your screen rather than on your notes, too, so that the candidate can see your facial expressions. It can help to have another person present to take notes so that you’re not trying to multitask.

7. During the interview, sit still
Figure out before the interview if you’re going to sit or stand. Equally, make sure you have everything you need so you’re not reaching around or disappearing off screen. Have the candidate’s job description, your questions and their CV on the table in front of you.

8. Sort out a backup plan
Things do go wrong, so make sure you have the candidate’s phone number to hand during the video chat so that you can call them if you need to.

Conducting interviews through video can be a great change of pace and open up opportunities for all sorts of candidates. As with all interview styles, there are pros and cons, so it’s important to get your video interviews set up and running right to ensure you get the most out of the process.

What to Read Next:

• Making the Right Hire: Interview Assessment Template for Employers
• Interviewing Skills Quiz
• Should You Really “Hire For Attitude, Train For Skill”?
• How to Stand Out in a Virtual Interview: Preparation Tips

The post How to Conduct a Successful Video Interview appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In the past, many people worked for the same employer for their entire career. Nowadays, the situation is very different, with life assurance firm LV reporting that UK workers change jobs on average every five years.

As a result, we all need to develop our knowledge and skills throughout our working lives. Continuous learning has become the norm. Upskilling (refreshing or developing skills to keep up to date with technological and business developments¹) and retraining (the process of learning a new vocation or skillset¹) are both essential elements of a successful career. 

This article examines the importance of transferable skills in today’s rapidly changing jobs market and considers:

• What we mean by transferable skills.
• Real-life examples that illustrate transferable skills in practice.
• Why transferable skills are so crucial for individuals and employers.
• Strategies for developing transferable skills.

What Are Transferable Skills?

Transferable skills are abilities and talents which are relevant to a wide range of different jobs and industries. Given the current pace of change, they are the skills that will be most critical for your future career success. 

Transferable skills can be ‘hard’ skills (objective abilities that can be taught and measured – for example, data analysis²), or ‘soft’ skills (sometimes referred to as ‘interpersonal’ or ‘people’ skills, these are subjective and harder to measure – for example, teamwork²). 

According to the Niagara Institute, the top transferable skills which appear consistently in studies and articles are:

• Adaptability and resilience.
• Critical thinking.
• Initiative.
• Resourcefulness.
• Creativity and innovation.
• Leadership.
• Emotional intelligence.
• Communication.
• Teamwork and collaboration.

It can sometimes be difficult to think of real-life examples that demonstrate our transferable skills, as we often use these skills without realising it. For example, putting yourself in the customer’s shoes when dealing with a complaint is an example of showing empathy, which is a type of emotional intelligence. Similarly, understanding your own emotional response to situations and considering how your behaviour affects others is an example of self-awareness, another form of emotional intelligence.

Transferable skills can be developed in other ways, such as at school, college, or university, through voluntary work and placements, and even in social settings – for example, helping to organise events and playing an active role in a community group.

More real-life examples of transferable skills include:

• Adaptability and resilience – how do you adjust your plans when circumstances beyond your control lead to delays – for example, being unable to get hold of goods and materials?
• Critical thinking – how do you approach problems in your day-to-day work – for example, deciding on the most suitable parts to use when fixing a plumbing issue?
• Initiative – have you ever resolved a problem before you’ve been asked to do so? Initiative is about independently assessing the situation and coming up with solutions. 
• Resourcefulness – this is similar to initiative – for example, are there times when you’ve been short-staffed and had to think on your feet to find ways to maintain high levels of customer service?
• Creativity and innovation – have you ever suggested changes to an existing process which have led to improvements for the business and its customers? 
• Leadership – if you’re not in a role where you lead or manage a team, are there other activities which you organise – for example, team celebrations, company Christmas parties, and fundraising events?
• Communication – can you think of a situation when you used ‘active listening’ skills to identify a customer’s wants and needs – for example, providing high-quality care to service users in a health and social care setting?
• Teamwork and collaboration – can you identify a time when you stepped in and helped a colleague who was struggling to do something?

Why Are Transferable Skills Important?

Job vacancies in the UK are at record levels, with the number of vacancies exceeding one million for the first time since records began in 2001. It can be tempting to think that transferable skills are somehow less valuable than technical skills; however, research shows that transferable skills are increasingly attractive to employers and highly sought after. 

For employers, transferable skills signal that someone is more likely to make a positive contribution from day one, as they can put their skills to use across a range of job roles and industries. For example, communication skills developed through dealing with customers in a hospitality environment can be applied to a different sector, such as working with children and young people in an education setting. 

Employers will still need to provide job-specific training and support – however, individuals can draw on their prior experiences when they encounter unfamiliar situations and apply transferable skills to deal with challenges they face. This is good for the individual’s own professional development and is also beneficial for employers, as it can improve productivity and reduce training costs.

According to a 2019 UK government survey, employers spend an average of £2,540 annually on a new trainee, compared with an average of £1,530 on an existing employee. With the survey also showing that lack of funds is a significant barrier to providing more training, it’s no surprise to learn that transferable skills are in demand. 

The reality is that everyone benefits from developing transferable skills. In the current climate, there are signs that employers are becoming more flexible and adaptable when recruiting staff. Considering an individual’s transferable skills during the selection process is one example of this and striving to find the ‘perfect fit’ may not always be realistic, or necessary.

However, even though vacancies are at an all-time high, there is still stiff competition for some roles. Highlighting your transferable skills during the application process, and providing real-life examples that show where you have demonstrated these skills, will help you to stand out from the crowd. It could even mean the difference between securing your dream job or missing out. 

Research also reveals that technical skills are becoming obsolete increasingly quickly with the ‘half-life’ or longevity of skills falling to around five years. Developing transferable skills such as adaptability and resilience will foster the mindset and attitudes that will enable you to acquire and master new skills throughout your career, regardless of job role or industry. As skills needs continue to evolve and change, the importance of transferable skills should not be underestimated.  

How Do I Develop Transferable Skills?

The good news is there are a whole host of ways to develop your transferable skills. These include learning ‘on the job’, formal education programmes, and online, face to face, or blended training courses. 

Need Training?

We offer a range of online Personal Development Courses, including transferable skills such as Communication Skills and Leadership and Management.

Self-assessments and checklists are a great way to reflect on your strengths and identify areas for development. You could also try writing a Professional Development Plan to help you set goals and objectives. Giving yourself targets to work towards keeps you motivated and helps you to recognise and celebrate your achievements along the way. 

Here are more practical suggestions to help you develop specific transferable skills:

• Adaptability and resilience – work on your mental fitness. When things don’t go according to plan, it’s human nature to feel disappointment. Techniques like mindfulness and positive affirmations can help you to maintain a sense of perspective and bounce back quickly from challenges. Our article on Resilience in the Workplace is a good starting point if you want to learn more about this. 

• Initiative – focus on solutions. When you’re faced with a problem or an unfamiliar situation, first try to think of different ways to resolve this yourself, weighing up the pros and cons of each option. Then, present these to your manager and decide together on the best course of action.

• Leadership – go above and beyond. Ask your manager to give you extra responsibility, such as the opportunity to manage a particular project or piece of work.

• Teamwork and collaboration – seek out opportunities beyond your own team. Volunteer for projects and tasks which require you to work with colleagues from other teams and departments. This will also help to improve your communication skills. 

If you’re looking to progress to a new role, or change careers altogether, remember to include transferable skills on your CV. Give concrete examples of when and how you’ve used particular skills, focusing on how this helped you to achieve successful outcomes. If you’re writing a CV for the first time, our article contains lots of useful advice and tips.

Transferable skills continue to develop throughout our lives and careers, so it can be helpful to build up a portfolio of evidence from which you can select the examples that are best suited to the role you’re applying for. 

Transferable skills are vital in today’s fast-changing jobs market. Hopefully this article has clarified some of the main transferable skills that employers are looking for, and helped you to understand how to demonstrate your own transferable skills when applying for jobs.

Further Resources

• Communication Skills Online Training Course
• Leadership and Management Online Training Course
• Resilience Training Online Course
• What Excel Skills are Employers Looking For?
• What is the Importance of Digital Skills in the Workplace?
• What Does it Mean to be a T-Shaped Employee?
• A Personal Development Plan (PDP) Guide & Template

References

1. Educating for the modern world – Learning for life https://www.cbi.org.uk/media/5723/learning-for-life-report.pdf
2. Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills: What’s the Difference? https://www.thebalancecareers.com/hard-skills-vs-soft-skills-2063780

The post Transferable Skills: What Are They and Why Are They Important? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

The hospitality industry comes with a fair set of challenges and your interviewer will be looking to find out how you would handle this in a time sensitive and, often, high pressure environment. Our hospitality experts have used their decades of experience, on both sides of the interview process, to give you an idea of what you might be asked and what to demonstrate in your answer.

This guide is primarily designed for those being interviewed. However, the suggested questions will also be useful to employers and show what to look out for in an answer.

Use the links below to find the interview tips most relevant to your hospitality role:

Interview Questions for Bar Staff
Interview Questions for Waiters and Waitresses
Interview Questions for Chefs
Interview Questions for Hosts

Let us know how your interview goes and feel free to suggest questions and answers from yours!

Interview Questions for Hosts

A host is the first face the guests see when they enter a restaurant. They need impeccable organisation skills and a warm demeanour as this will be the customer’s first impression of the restaurant itself.

Question: Could you tell me about a time when a booking arrived, their table was not ready and there were no available tables to use?

Answer: In this scenario, there are a few best practice ways to respond and keep guests feeling happy. Some good reactions are to:

• Explain the situation and be honest. If the table before were late arriving they should have been told that the table would be required at 8pm.
• Offer some complimentary drinks and sit them in a waiting area or bar.
• Whilst they are waiting they should be offered menus to look at so that they do not have to wait again when they get to their table. And if everyone has decided, their order can be taken whilst they are waiting.
• Discount may be applied at the end of their meal if it’s required (but, hopefully, your hospitality as a host will have rectified the issue by now).

Question: Can you describe how you prepare for an evening as a host?

Answer: All businesses are different, and every host has their own way of doing things. Generally, though, good hosts will mention things like:

• Having an up to date table plan – either a handwritten or electronic one. Bonus points if you mentioned how you’d make quick adjustments.
• Knowing what’s on the menu.
• Organising a break plan for staff.
• Stockpiling pens and pads.
• Making sure menus are clean and correct.
• Communicating any special table requests well in advance to waiting staff and kitchen.
• Making sure that allergen information is to hand.
• Ensuring entry points are clean and inviting.

You could mention times in your life where organisation has been helpful to consolidate your answer with experience.

Question: Two starters are ready to go. You’ve got a Vegetable Soup and Moules Mariniere. What items should also be on the table to eat the dishes correctly?

Answer: Any host worth their table salt should know you’d need to bring a soup spoon, an extra dish for mussel shells, and a finger bowl filled with lemon and hot water. The interviewer may ask this question about a variety of dishes that require extras so it’s a good idea to look at their menu and think about this in advance.

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Tips for a Hospitality Interview

During the interview, take a step back and remember to take a breath. It’s fine to be nervous – if anything, it shows you care about the role.

It’s better to answer the questions with anecdotes or stories as it shows you’re using your experience to make informed decisions about what you would do. Even if you’re new to the role, think about other roles or experiences you’ve had where you’ve had to use similar skills and use that as an example.

Doing this shows you’re genuine and able to adapt to a new environment, both of which are important in a busy restaurant, bar or pub.

Overall, try and enjoy the interview experience. Even if it doesn’t go as you’d hoped, it’s still a really valuable experience. You can draw on what happened in the interview and use it to improve for next time.

Good luck!

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Further Resources

• Preserving the Art of Hospitality in a Post-Brexit World
• How to Handle Customer Complaints in Hospitality
• Restaurant Hospitality Quiz
• Interview Questions for Waiting Staff
• Cellar Cleaning and Maintenance Schedule for Busy Pubs and Bars
• Interview Questions for Bartenders
• Online Food Hygiene Training

The post Interview Questions for Hospitality Staff appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

• What is Unconscious Bias in Recruitment?
• Am I Being Bullied at Work? 12 Signs of Bullying in the Workplace
• Unconscious Bias Online Training

The post Unconscious Bias Quiz appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In particular, you should understand what separates contractors and employees from one another. Many businesses rely on contractors to carry out one-off or infrequent tasks, and although they don’t work for you full time, you still have legal duties to fulfil if you plan to hire them.

This article defines the key differences between contractors and employees. It explains which you may need for certain roles and provides an overview of how to properly comply with the law when you do choose to hire contractors.

What’s the Difference Between Contractors & Employees?

Contractors and employees differ in numerous ways. Employees have permanent positions in a business, meaning they have certain employment rights, the company sets their tasks, and they primarily work for you. A contractor, on the other hand, typically works on a temporary basis and has fewer rights, but they have greater control over their work: they control the time, place, nature, and cost, and can work for numerous businesses at once.

More specifically, the main differences that separate contractors from employees are set out in the table below.

As this table shows, a company’s responsibilities regarding employees and contractors do differ in many ways. However, many of your legal duties still apply, such as health and safety. Therefore, if you plan to hire contractors, you must properly communicate and coordinate with them about safety measures.

Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)

Self-employed contractors and subcontractors who carry out construction work must take note of CIS. It requires contractors to register for the scheme and deduct money from subcontractors’ payments, so they can pass it on to HMRC. Subcontractors must also register.

For more information, visit the government website.

Zero Hour Workers

It’s important to not confuse contractors with zero hour workers, which refers to a casual agreement between employers and people who carry out work for them. In a zero hour contract, the employer does not guarantee the person a set number of hours. Rather, they offer work as and when it’s available. The zero hour worker can either accept or reject these offers as often as they want. They can also have more than one zero hour contract at once if they choose.

If they accept work, they are entitled to at least the National Minimum Wage. They will also accrue certain rights, such as holidays and rest breaks, depending on how much work they carry out over time. However, they are always entitled to other statutory employment rights, such as protection from discrimination. Also, unlike contractors, they must carry out the work themselves, so cannot send someone to do it for them.

You can find out more with our Definitive Guide to the Zero Hour Contract and on the government website.

Do I Need A Contractor?

Hiring contractors is ideal for occasional, short-term tasks, such as maintenance work on a building or equipment. It’s also useful for when you need a set amount of work carrying out and you won’t have more available once it’s complete, such as creating a new website. Furthermore, certain work must be carried out by people with appropriate licensing. For example, gas engineers must be Gas Safe registered to legally work on gas appliances.

Examples of jobs that suit contractor work include:

• Building and construction.
• Roofing and plumbing.
• Decorating and remodelling.
• Electrical engineering.
• Bookkeeping and accounting.
• Machinery inspection and maintenance.
• Architectural work.
• IT work, such as hardware or software troubleshooting.
• Freelance work, such as copywriting or building a website.
• Translation work.
• Gardening.

This is far from an exhaustive list. However, it gives you an idea of the types of jobs that suit contractual work more than full-time employment, as you usually only require them intermittently.

It’s also worth remembering that contractors are usually specialists in their field of work and may have many years of experience. This means that hiring them for specific, intermittent work is ideal. They can easily get on with the work and you can feel confident that they’ll complete it correctly.

That doesn’t mean you should just leave them to it without any input, however. You still have a duty to manage their safety while they’re on your premises, as they may not be aware of the risks that are specific to your premises.

Need a Course?

Our Managing Contractors Training explains exactly what your business and contractors are required to do regarding health and safety procedures. It discusses how to consider the risks associated with contractors’ work and create an appropriate plan to control them.

Tips for Managing Contractors on Site

Contractors have a certain level of responsibility for their own health and safety while they work for you. For example, they must control the risks they create when carrying out the work and must ensure they receive the right training to do so safely. However, your organisation still has essential legal duties that it must fulfil to manage contractors’ health and safety. This is because the contractors won’t be aware of the specific hazards in your workplace and the safety procedures that they need to follow. Similarly, you likely don’t know what exactly their work entails, what hazards it may generate, and how you may need to adjust your safety measures accordingly.

This is why it’s so important to properly communicate and coordinate with them about the work. It takes both of your input to fully control the risks.

Therefore, you should keep the following in mind when managing contractors:

• Under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, employers of workplaces must manage health and safety risks on their premises. This includes those posed to contractors. They must provide them with health and safety information about their premises and coordinate with them to implement appropriate measures.
• You must establish a safe system of work together with contractors. Doing so ensures everyone knows exactly what needs doing and how to effectively manage any risks involved.
• Check that they have the appropriate training and licencing where needed to carry out their work safely and legally.
• You need to share information about health and safety risks. For example, you should exchange health and safety policies and the key findings of your risk assessments. You should also notify them of any major hazards and safety procedures in your workplace. This includes PPE-mandatory areas and any parts of the building that have asbestos.
• Inform them of your emergency procedures, such as what to do during a fire, and give them a site induction.
• Create a permit to work for certain high-risk work. This ensures everyone thoroughly considers risks, follows safety procedures, and hands over work where needed.
• Assign a site contact who can oversee the contractors and keep in touch with them. Contractors should know to contact this person if they have any issues or need to stop the work. Likewise, the site contact should order work to stop if there are major health and safety concerns.

Whatever type of work you need contractors for, you must not overlook your legal duties. This is crucial to keep all contractors and employees safe, and to ensure that work is completely safely and smoothly. This, in turn, keeps your business productive and successful.

What to Read Next:

• Online Health & Safety Training Courses
• Fire Risk Assessment Template
• Toolbox Talks: Guidance and Resources

The post What are the Differences Between Contractors and Employees? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

However, a study commissioned by Cascade HR revealed that employee engagement was the biggest HR challenge of 2018. This was closely followed by staff retention, absence management, recruitment, and succession planning.

To help you in these challenging times, we offer you some tips and employee engagement strategies to turn it around.

Why is Employee Engagement so Important?

Nobody can deny the importance of employee engagement. Whilst it’s a big concern for HR departments nationally, it also affects entire companies and all staff members. Therefore, nailing employee engagement isn’t just desirable, it’s essential.

Furthermore, as employees feel more engaged, the other large HR concerns will reduce as a result. If employees feel more engaged, they will be less likely to look for other jobs, which in turn helps you to retain staff. Additionally, people will be less prone to absenteeism (reducing the challenge of absence management) and you won’t have to recruit as often.

Further reasons why employee engagement is important include:

• The lower the engagement, the lower the level of morale.
• Employees are less likely to take time off due to feeling disengaged.
• Staff are more likely to stay in their jobs, which reduces recruitment costs. For more on this topic, take a look at Causes of Employee Turnover and Strategies to Reduce it. 
• Disengaged staff may lose interest in their job and so produce work of a lower quality.

10 of Our Favourite Employee Engagement Ideas

Employees ultimately feel engaged when the goals of the company and their ambitions are the same. Workplaces wouldn’t be able to operate without their employees, so nailing engagement really should be your top priority. Here, we offer a range of employee engagement strategies for you to try.

1. Provide Opportunities for Development

Employees will feel disengaged if you don’t offer opportunities for them to progress. No matter your industry, everybody wants the opportunity to grow in their career and feel like they’re fulfilling their potential. Failing to accommodate this may make employees think you don’t care about their development and that they’ll be stuck at the same level forever, so will begin to look elsewhere.

To combat this, you must invest in your employees. Allow training requests and push employee training. Ask all your staff to complete a professional development plan which gives them the opportunity to work on new skills and challenges for their personal development. Map out career plans and job profiles so employees know how they can progress and what they need to do to get there. Training staff doesn’t have to be costly or time consuming. For more information, visit our article discussing the benefits of online training for your employees and business.

Need a Course?

Take a look at our online training course library, where you’ll find everything from to Communication Skills Training to Leadership and Management Training.

2. Adopt Transparent Leadership

Employees often struggle to trust business owners and managers, especially if things are often kept secret and communication is limited. As a result, you should communicate openly with all your employees and ensure they’re not left in the dark about certain developments. Provide job security and always deliver on your promises.

3. Ensure a Good Work-Life Balance

Maintaining an equal work-life balance is essential in all work environments. If employees feel under great amounts of pressure with workloads and deadlines, it contributes to employee burnout, staff being signed off work, and people leaving their job.

To improve work-life balance, you should:

• Ensure all employees take their full lunch breaks and have a comfy place to do this.
• Make sure nobody takes work home with them.
• Offer the opportunity to work remotely.
• Allow flexible working and schedules.
• Discuss the individual needs of each employee with them and give them the chance to communicate what would work best for them.

4. Offer Personal Incentives

To increase employee engagement, you shouldn’t just offer more incentives and benefits. Instead, offer ones that are personal and customised. Incentives should suit the specific needs and values of each specific employee, so ask them what benefits they’d like most from your business and work on arranging them.

For example, a young employee may want more holiday days. As such, you could offer the opportunity to earn more days by meeting certain work standards.

5. Invest in Health and Wellness

When staff feel stressed at work they’re more likely to feel disengaged. Focus on improving employee wellbeing and consider even implementing your own workplace wellbeing programme. This will show your workforce that you take their health and wellbeing seriously and you can create a programme that’s relevant to your specific work environment. It’s also a way of aligning your values more closely with those of your employees.

6. Create a Better Work Environment

Motivation and production are reduced when environments are dark and dingy. On the other hand, when people are comfortable in their surroundings, their work improves and they feel more satisfied. Making your workplace look nicer doesn’t need to break the bank, either. Some suggestions for creating a better work environment are:

• Ensure the paint on the walls looks fresh and not tired.
• Let in lots of natural light and keep artificial lighting to a minimum (where possible).
• Maintain a cool airflow and good levels of ventilation.
• If you work in an office, embrace an open office environment. Move away from cubicles and allow a space that facilitates discussion and collaboration.
• Allow employees to personalise their work area (where appropriate).
• Personalise the workplace with plants, photos from Christmas parties gone by, etc.

7. Celebrate Your Employees and Their Achievements

Nobody wants to feel that their hard work isn’t recognised or appreciated. You should always aim to give back to your employees – after all, you wouldn’t have a company without them. When a member of staff goes above and beyond you should reward them. For example, treat them to a free lunch or an extra half day of holiday.

As well as this, you should celebrate your employees in general, not just their professional achievements. For example, when it’s somebody’s birthday, get everyone to sign a card and bring in a cake for the day. You should also get to know your employees individually – what do they enjoy and what are their hobbies? Recognise your staff as people – not just workers – and watch engagement improve.

8. Establish a Great Company Culture

Company culture is especially important in all workplaces – nobody wants to work in an environment where people don’t get on, feel unmotivated, and where morale is low. All staff want to feel comfortable and happy in the work environment they’re in.

Establishing a good company culture doesn’t have to be a big challenge. You could:

• Encourage team building activities. Make sure that everyone can get involved in them so nobody feels excluded.
• Celebrate successes, such as a great piece of work or a record month for sales.
• Create a nice work environment.
• Support a great charity cause or encourage volunteering opportunities.

It’s also important to remember that part of having a good company culture is maintaining it. Speak to your employees about what they think is working and how they think you could improve.

9. Have Values

You should establish clear company values and communicate these to all employees so they know what they’re working towards. You should also let teams choose their own set of values so employees feel a sense of responsibility and that they’ve chosen their own goals.

10. Show Respect

Everybody wants to feel respected, especially in an environment where they spend 8 hours a day. You should always respect your employees and what they value. Encourage diversity and individuality and plan social events that cater to the needs of each individual and doesn’t exclude anyone. You should also have a clear procedure in place to deal with employees who disrespect others.

This article has explained the importance of employee engagement and offered a range of employee engagement ideas. Follow this guide to ensure your staff feel happy and valued at work and watch engagement improve.

What to Read Next:

• How to Increase Productivity in the Workplace
• How To Deal with Anxiety at Work
• How to Announce Employee Promotions
• Employee Turnover in Hospitality: Causes and Retention Strategies

The post 10 Employee Engagement Strategies for 2019 appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

The contents of this article are: 

• What is Unconscious Bias?
• Types of Unconscious Bias
• How to Overcome Unconscious Bias

What is Unconscious Bias?

Unconscious or implicit bias refers to when you form a quick opinion about a situation or person without being consciously aware of it. Our brains form biases by using knowledge about social situations, attitudes, cultures, stereotypes, emotional reactions, and more. We learn these through experiences and exposure to media throughout our life.

In recruitment, unconscious bias can significantly skew your judgement. While it is important to use your experience to assess applicants, it’s a problem when you’re influenced too heavily by your assumptions, expectations, and preferences.

Need Unconscious Bias Training?

Our Unconscious Bias Training will give you the skills that you need to recognise your own prejudgements and learn how to manage them. By the end of the training, you will be confident in identifying and overcoming your own implicit biases.

Even if our mind frames a bias positively, it can still lead to unfair favouring. For example, if you prefer a candidate who went to University because you associate it with intelligence, it’s still a harmful unconscious bias. A background of higher education doesn’t automatically mean they are more intelligent than other candidates.

Reining in your biases makes recruitment tough for sure. First impressions and gut feelings count for so much during interviews. But preventing unconscious bias is vital, as it can lead to unfair, inaccurate judgements, overlooked talent, or at worst discrimination.

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Types of Unconscious Bias

Below are 9 common examples of unconscious bias in the workplace, particularly in recruitment. By improving your awareness of the various types, you’ll become more self-aware of your personal biases. You’ll strengthen your ability to make fairer, more informed decisions during recruitment that ensure you hire the best people for your business.

Affinity Bias | Attribution Bias | Beauty Bias | Conformity Bias | Confirmation Bias

Contrast Effect | Gender Bias | Halo Effect | Horns Effect

Use these links to jump to a certain section of the article.

Affinity bias

Affinity bias refers to when you unconsciously prefer people who share qualities with you or someone you like. It occurs because your brain sees them as familiar and relatable, and we all want to be around people we can relate to.

For example, if an applicant went to the same school as you or they share similar hobbies, you’re more likely to prefer them over other candidates.

Recruiting people with similar qualities is a no brainer. For the best culture fit, businesses should aim to recruit likeminded people. But you’re not looking for a new best friend. Affinity bias can cloud your judgement of which candidates are most appealing to the whole business. It may cause you to hire fewer diverse personalities, which means less creative views and approaches to work.

Plus, it’s simply unfair. While an applicant may not be like you, they could be just as talented and friendly as those that are.

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Attribution bias

Attribution bias refers to how you perceive your actions and those of others. It stems from our brain’s flawed ability to assess the reasons for certain behaviours – particularly those that lead to success and failure.

We generally attribute our own accomplishments to our skill and personality, and our failures to external factors – to hindrances that we believe are beyond our control. We are less likely to blame and find fault in ourselves.

However, this perception often reverses when we view other people. When they do something successfully, we’re more likely to consider them lucky or benefited by someone else, and more likely to attribute their errors to poor capabilities or personal qualities.

In recruitment, this can skew your view of a candidate’s performance. It can make you focus too hard on their faults, minimise their accomplishments, and potentially disregard a talented candidate.

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Beauty bias

We all unconsciously notice people’s appearances and associate it with their personality. Appearances are important, particularly in a workplace setting, as they reflect on professionalism and self-awareness. However, many of us judge others too harshly based on their physical attractiveness.

It’s unfair to think that a person doesn’t make ‘enough’ of an effort with their appearance, or that they put in ‘too much’ effort. This can lead to assumptions about their personality and skills. You can’t assume that a person who dresses professionally and tidies their hair is an all-around organised person. The opposite could easily be true.

Other times, you may unconsciously dislike certain features in a person. Maybe you think they’re too short, that they have poor posture, or they don’t have an expressive face. These may stem from a subconscious, stereotypical view of what a successful or friendly person looks like.

These assumptions may cause you to unfairly favour ‘attractive’ people during recruitment, despite the fact that we should embrace physical diversity and never judge a book by its cover.

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Conformity bias

Conformity bias happens when your views are swayed too much by those of other people. It occurs because we all seek acceptance from others – we want to hold opinions and views that our community accepts.

In recruitment, conformity bias is common. When a majority of the group shares an opinion about a candidate, you usually decide to agree with them even if your original opinion differed.

Chances are, if most people feel strongly about a candidate, it’s because they all noticed something similar. A unanimous view is less likely to come from a place of bias. However, you shouldn’t let it prevent you from voicing your opinions and views. Your opinions may draw attention to facts about a candidate that others didn’t spot.

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Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias refers to how people primarily search for bits of evidence that back up their opinions, rather than looking at the whole picture. It leads to selective observation, meaning you overlook other information and instead focus on things that fit your view. You may even reject new information that contradicts your initial evidence.

For example, let’s say a candidate arrives 10 minutes late. You assume that they lack organisational skills, so throughout the interview you selectively focus on anything that backs up this idea. For instance, you focus on the fact that their CV lacks examples of self-managed projects.

Most people subconsciously slip into confirmation bias because they seek confirmation that their initial assessment of a person is correct. We even do it to back up other unconscious biases, so it’s important to keep it in check. Otherwise, you may unfairly decide to not hire a candidate based on your faulty assessment.

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Contrast effect

This type of bias occurs when you assess two or more similar things and compare them with one another, rather than looking at each based on their own merits.

The contrast effect is common in recruitment. When you receive dozens of similar CVs, it’s useful to compare applications to narrow down your choices.

However, the contrast effect can make you judge too harshly and set your standards too high. It can make you overlook the fact that you’re looking for people who can fit the role. You’re not assessing who can submit the most flawless CV or make it through the interview without a stutter.

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Gender bias

Gender bias is simply a preference for one gender over the other. It often stems from our deep-seated beliefs about gender roles and stereotypes.

In recruitment, gender bias can cause you to unconsciously lean towards a candidate based on their gender and the qualities you associate with it. For example, you may subconsciously think a man better fits a physically demanding job.

In particular, gender bias occurs because we favour people that we can relate to, especially those of the same gender. We often connect with them easier because of shared gender-specific physical and emotional experiences.

Even from the moment your job advert goes live, you may inadvertently favour one gender over the other. Certain terminology appeals more to men than women and vice versa.

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Halo effect

The halo effect occurs when we focus on one particularly great feature about a person. You view everything about the person in a positive, ‘halo’ light, which makes you think they’re more perfect than they are. Similar to affinity and confirmation bias, this makes us overlook other information. It skews our opinion of other aspects, including negative ones.

In recruitment, you need to prevent the the halo effect from blinding you. Otherwise, you may hire a candidate that, once the halo glow wears off, is actually not as fit for the role as you thought.

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Horns effect

The horns effect is the opposite of the halo effect: you focus on one particularly negative feature about a person, which clouds your view of their other qualities.

For example, if a person uses a particular turn of phrase you dislike, you may suddenly dislike everything else they say.
In recruitment, you need to avoid concentrating on aspects you personally dislike. One mistake or flaw does not represent them as a whole.

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How to Overcome Unconscious Bias

Now that you understand the meaning of unconscious bias and recognise the various types, you’ll start noticing when you slip into these mind sets.

However, people find it difficult to go against their subconscious values and opinions. Completely rerouting your biases is a much greater challenge than simply noticing them.

Use the following strategies to counter your unconscious biases:

• Take your time during decision-making processes. Making the right pick is more important than making a fast pick to save money and time, so you should avoid snap judgements or opinions. Instead, make sure you fully assess each candidate’s capabilities and keep an open mind. Remember: the things you value in a person may differ from those of someone else in the business.
• Think about each person as an individual. You should avoid comparing one candidate to another and should judge each based on their own merit instead. To prevent selective observation, look at them from all sides and justify your assessments with varied evidence.
• Include a variety of people in recruitment processes. Other people’s views and input help you spot and address your own preconceptions, which in turn helps reduce recruitment bias.
• Change your outlook to prevent attribution bias. Everyone should aim to assess others more positively – to give credit where it’s due and not magnify shortcomings.
• Be honest with yourself. It’s okay to have biases – we all do. It doesn’t make you any less of a person. What’s important is that you control them and actively look for ways to expand and revise your views. Be open to change.
• Improve everyone’s awareness of equality and diversity. You can take training courses that teach people the benefits of a multicultural workplace. It helps you recognise any biases you hold that go against building an equal, diverse team.
• Write down your opinions and impressions of applicants. Doing so helps you compare and collate ideas with others in the group, as well as question your own biases and the opinions of others. This reduces conformity bias and helps you gain a well-rounded view of candidates, which in turn allows you to reach a fairer, unanimous decision.

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What to Read Next:

• How To Deal With Anxiety at Work
• How to Start a Presentation For An Interview
• Unconscious Bias Quiz
• Unconscious Bias Training Course

The post What is Unconscious Bias in Recruitment? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

Previous employers tend to give two types of references: a factual reference or a full reference.

Factual references are short and only include key information, such as the candidate’s name, dates of employment, and job title. These are actually the most common type of reference because they are seen as safer. They also work well for big companies who may not have time to write full references.

Full references offer a description of skills, capabilities, and accomplishments. They could be negative, neutral, or good. It’s a common myth that references can’t be bad! Many companies just avoid giving bad references because they fear legal action. The law on references states only that information must be accurate.

Contact referees after you’ve shortlisted candidates but before you interview. Then you can clarify any issues that arose during the reference check in the interview. Candidates should supply you with two references (one from their current employer, another from their last). Alternatively, if they have worked in a role with children and young people before but they don’t now, they should give you referee contact details for that role.

What to Ask in a Reference Check

Never accept a reference that has come directly from the candidate because it may be forged. Instead, contact the referees to check that the information the candidate gave you is accurate and to find out their opinion.

When you request a reference, provide a few questions to help the referee give you useful details. It’s always a good idea to ask questions. It’s up to the referee whether they answer in full and refusing to give a reference isn’t always a sign that the candidate was bad, it could be a time restraint. Although, you would hope that old employers would make time for truly exceptional employees.

Provide each referee with the job description and person specification so that they can tailor the information they give you to the role. These are a few general questions that are good to ask, alongside these, try to tailor your questions to important aspects of the role. For instance, is team work essential? If it is, ask the referee for information on how they worked in a team.

1. How long did the candidate work for your organisation?
2. What was the nature of the candidate’s role in your organisation?
3. What was the candidate’s salary?
4. Did they receive bonuses or overtime payments in addition to this?
5. Where was the candidate employed before joining your organisation?
6. Could you comment on the employee’s absence history?
7. Did the candidate have any weaknesses?
8. How does the candidate compare to their colleagues?
9. Did the candidate deliver urgent tasks on time?
10. Would you rehire the candidate?

Need a Course?

Our Safer Recruitment Training Course will teach you about how to create an effective applicant information pack, how to successfully interview candidates, and how to carry out pre-appointment checks (including DBS checks) before a candidate is appointed.

Example of a Good Reference

A good reference explains why the candidate is qualified, is specific for the position, and has examples that demonstrate why the candidate is brilliant. The following example is a good reference for an English teaching position at a high school.

Most of all, good references tend to be enthusiastic and that’s the most important factor to look for.

What About a Bad Reference?

Although many people think you can’t give a bad reference, this isn’t the case. It’s more that employers don’t like giving bad references because it could lead to legal action.

If you think it’s important to provide an accurate (in other words, bad) reference you should stick to objective facts and ensure that you are providing data without your opinion. For example, ‘Deanna worked with Alwoodley Youth Hockey Team between January 2015 and November 2015. She left to go to University.’

Another kind of bad reference is one that provides no examples of their behaviour. If all the information is something you can find out by looking at the candidate’s CV, then you have a bad reference on your hand.

That doesn’t mean that the candidate is a risky hire, instead, it could simply be that the referee isn’t a great writer or hasn’t written many references. But it might also be because the author has no clue who this person is or just isn’t all that enthused about the candidate and that’s a warning sign.

What to Read Next:

• What is Safer Recruitment?
• Safeguarding Interview Questions for School Teachers
• Safer Recruitment Training

The post How to Check References for Safer Recruitment appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

That’s why you should use tested selection methods and a structured interview assessment template. They help you organise your thoughts and easily review applicants.

Use the following links to jump to different sections of the article:

• • Selection Methods for Hiring
  • Structured Interviews
  • Culture Fit Tests
  • Presentations and Technical Tests
  • Free Interview Assessment Template
  • Evaluating Interview Performance

We’ve included an interview assessment template for you to download below. The information in this article will help you get the most out of your free template.

Interview Assessment Template (Free PDF Download)

Selection Methods for Hiring

A structured selection process makes you feel more confident in your final choice and guarantees that you hire the right people.

According to a study by CV Library, respondents said the following were the biggest risks of a poor recruitment strategy:

• High staff turnover (44%).
• Financial loss (22%).
• Decreased productivity (16%).
• Low morale (8%).
• Poor employer branding (7%).

Interview techniques and processes help you assess a person’s skills and personality, as well as the areas they’re most intelligent in (psychologists divide intelligence into 9 different types). However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach, so you need to select a combination of methods that best suit your needs.

Below are 3 examples of selection methods that combine well.

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Structured Interviews

Of all the hiring methods available, structured interviews are the most consistently effective. To assess candidates, you use tested interview questions in a structured order, which improves accuracy and fairness. You also prevent your interview process from going off on a tangent or, at worst, discriminating candidates.

Need a Course?

Our Interview Skills Training for Managers has been designed to help managers increase their confidence when hiring by detailing the recruitment process from start to finish.

A well-structured interview follows five steps:

• Introduction – start with a friendly chat to put the candidate at ease. If you have something in common or you noticed an interesting fact on their CV, talk about it. A relaxed candidate is more likely to open up and reveal their true qualities during the interview.
• Assessment – first, explain the structure of the interview so the person knows what to expect. Then, begin assessing the candidate. Refer to their CV and use suitable questions for the type of job you’re recruiting for – search online for the best picks. Make sure you write down all their answers and fill in your interview assessment template as you go.
• Discussion – tell the applicant more details about the job and discuss what skills they need to fit the position. This prompts the candidate to envision themselves in the role and how they’d apply their capabilities, which gives you an idea of whether they’re really suitable.
• Questions – invite the candidate to ask questions. If they do, they most likely did their research beforehand, meaning they’re genuinely interested in the role and have great initiative.
• Conclusion – thank the person and let them know when you’ll get in touch about the position. If you usually have second interviews, state that you may invite them back for one.

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Culture Fit Tests

Company culture is the vibe that determines whether or not employees feel comfortable in their own skin and get on with others in the workplace. You need to maintain your culture if you want happy, hard-working teams.

To do so, make sure you measure a person’s personality during interviews.

Always keep in mind that skills can be taught, but you can rarely change a personality.

When Impact Recruitment asked businesses on Twitter about recruiting for skill versus attitude, 73% said they would choose attitude over skills if they had to pick one.

If you come across highly-talented people, but they possess attributes that make them unpleasant to socialise or work with, they aren’t a worthwhile investment – they’re unlikely to get on with others and adapt to change.

On the other hand, if a person lacks skills but has a positive frame of mind, determination, and a willingness to learn, they can work hard to better themselves and develop new abilities. This makes them an incredible asset.

Examples of culture fit questions include:

• What does your ideal weekend look like?
• Would you rather be liked or be right?
• Do you prefer to spend time alone or with others?
• How do you feel about becoming friends with people at work?
• Tell me about a time you tried something new, even though there was no certainty of success.
• How did you handle a difficult time in your life?
• How do you give and receive feedback, both in and out of work?
• What’s one of your pet peeves?

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Presentations and Technical Tests

It’s easy to big up abilities on paper, so you may want candidates to prepare a presentation or take a technical test – or both. These help you accurately measure their skills and see how they perform under real pressure.

Presentations

Give people five to ten minutes to talk about themselves. Good candidates usually provide a good balance of work-related and personal facts, and don’t give overly rehearsed answers.

Presentations are effective because they reveal what the applicant values enough to include. For example, if they spend the whole time bragging, it may be an immediate red flag that they’re not a good culture fit or team player.

Technical tests

Make sure you set up tests that properly reflect the position and you invite candidates to a second interview to take them. Throwing candidates into a test after a potentially lengthy set of questions isn’t fair. Plus, you should first assess their answers from their initial interview to decide whether inviting them for a test is worth your time.

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Free Interview Assessment Template

To get the most out of applicants’ responses, you should use an interview assessment template. It is particularly useful if you interview more than one candidate on the same day, as thoughts can muddle and overlap if you leave them unrecorded for too long.

Assessment templates help you score answers with your immediate, most accurate, unbiased thoughts.

Interview Assessment Template (Free PDF Download)

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Evaluating Interview Performance

To fully examine how well the candidate performed, use specific evaluation questions to assess the scores and notes you included on your assessment template, as well as the answers you wrote down.

Useful evaluation questions include:

• How prepared was the candidate? Did they do their research? Did answers seem rehearsed?
• What was their attitude like? Were they respectful, friendly, genuine, professional, etc.?
• Were their answers relevant? How useful and believable were their examples?
• How did they answer difficult questions? Did they do their best to respond? Did they skip any questions or give unrelated answers to try dodge them?
• Are they a good culture fit? Which answers revealed they are or aren’t?
• Did they ask good questions? What did their questions tell you about their values? Did they express real interest in the role?
• Did they show they have relevant experience and skills? How did they perform in a technical test? Did they respond to questions about the job with relevant examples?

After some interviews, you may feel like the applicant answered everything perfectly, but your gut still says no. Or, oppositely, you liked something about them but can’t quite put your finger on it.

By using these questions, you can pull apart every little detail about the candidate’s performance and figure out what made them inspire you (or put you off). With that in mind, you can hire new staff with confidence.

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What to Read Next:

• How to Prepare for Your First Interview
• Interview Skills Training for Managers
• Tips for First Time Supervisors
• How to Conduct a Successful Video Interview
• Leadership and Management Quiz

The post Making the Right Hire: Interview Assessment Template for Employers appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

It is essential that you do not discriminate against any candidates during recruitment processes and subsequent employment. In fact, you should actively seek to avoid discrimination in recruitment.

Under the Act, you are subject to the following duties:

• You must not discriminate when deciding who to employ.
• You must not discriminate against an employee during their employment with you, such as by preventing them access to a promotion.
• You must not dismiss an employee based on their possession of a protected characteristic.
• You must prevent discrimination, harassment, and victimisation in the workplace.
• You must ensure work roles have equal opportunities for all.

You should strive to achieve equality and diversity in your workplace, and promote this as a means of working together and achieving success.

With the help of this article, you will know how to avoid discrimination in the recruitment process, and how to ensure that your business is complying with The Equality Act.

Need Unconscious Bias Training?

Discriminatory practice in recruitment is often unintentional. Our Unconscious Bias Training explains the reasons behind this and provides the skills and knowledge you need to avoid it.

The Protected Characteristics

The Equality Act outlines nine characteristics that are prohibited from being discriminated against. These are known as ‘protected characteristics’.

The characteristics are:

• Age – This refers to a person of a particular age, such as somebody who is 18 years old, or to a group of people who are in the same age group, such as people who are aged 35 and over.
• Disability – A person is considered disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
• Gender Reassignment – This protected characteristic applies if a person is wanting to undergo, is undergoing, or has undergone a process to reassign their sex.
• Marriage and Civil Partnership – This refers to any person who is married, whether that be to someone of the opposite sex or the same sex, or a civil partner.
• Pregnancy and Maternity – This refers to both when the woman is pregnant, and the period after she has given birth.
• Race – This characteristic covers a person’s skin colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins.
• Religion and Belief – This includes religion and any religious and philosophical beliefs, as well as a lack of belief (known as Atheism).
• Sex – This refers to whether a person is a man or a woman.
• Sexual Orientation – This refers to a person’s sexual orientation towards people of the same sex, people of the opposite sex, or people of either sex.

During the recruitment process, it is integral that you do not discriminate against candidates based on their possession of a protected characteristic.

How to Avoid Discrimination in Recruitment

Sadly, discrimination in recruitment is a very real issue, and it is a legal requirement that you must avoid doing so. Furthermore, if you are accepting of all potential applicants, you will be much more likely to find the best person for the job.

Below is a selection of tips that you should follow to ensure you are avoiding discrimination during your recruitment process.

Decide what skills the applicant needs.

You need to be specific with the skills required for the job, so that any potential applicants can easily understand the skills and duties required. You should remain objective when selecting skills, and ensure they are easy for people from different backgrounds to fulfil. You should explain why each trait is important, and outline which skills are ‘essential’, and which are ‘desirable’.

Create the job advert.

Put simply, discriminatory advertising is against the law. It can carry hefty fines and must be avoided. Therefore, you should not include anything that could be perceived as discriminatory. You must not include language that could be seen as restrictive, such as ‘barmaid’, which suggests you are only considering female applicants. Furthermore, your advert must focus solely on the skills that are needed to perform the job. You are only permitted to mention personal characteristics, such as age, sex, and race, if they are specific requirements for the job.

Genuine Occupational Qualifications (GOQ) were introduced under the Equality Act 2010 and exist for when the nature of a particular job causes a protected characteristic to be the reason for choosing one applicant over another. For example, if the job requires the worker to be in a single-sex environment. Specifying for a protected characteristic must be necessary, not just preferable.

Select a suitable range of candidates.

When you are selecting candidates to interview, only select interviewees from CVs based on the criteria and skills that you have set. You cannot allow personal bias or stereotypes to affect which applicants you shortlist. You need to be consistent in your decision making and cannot let any protected characteristics influence your decisions.

It’s also important for you to diversify in terms of which platforms you select candidates from. This ensures you get a diverse pool of candidates and open up an opportunity for more people to apply in different ways.

Prepare for the interview.

You should carefully plan the interview and the questions you are going to ask, and ensure that your questions cannot be perceived as discriminatory. All applicants should be given an equal chance to explain why they are the best person for the job. You should ask all applicants the same questions for assessing the key criteria; however any subsequent questions following their given answers may vary.

Interview fairly and effectively.

As mentioned, you should ask the same questions when assessing essential criteria. You should not make assumptions about a candidate based on particular behaviours. For example, a candidate may not shake your hand due to respect for their culture. Consider having more than one person conducting the interview to ensure you both reach a fair decision.

Do not ask questions based on protected characteristics.

For example, you cannot ask a candidate about their health or disability until a job offer has been made, and you cannot ask a woman if she intends to have children, even if you think she may be pregnant at the time.

Offer the job objectively.

When deciding who to offer the job to, you must ensure your selection process is non-discriminatory. You should refer to the job description and focus on how the candidates’ skills and abilities match your criteria, and not on personal bias.

Record your decisions.

You should record your decisions about who you hire, and your reasons for doing so. It is always useful to have these recorded, and they can be used for training purchases in future.

Offer feedback.

You should always give clear and well-explained reasons to unsuccessful candidates as to why they were not selected. Make sure your feedback is constructive and provides them with points to work on, and explain how they performed in the interview process.

You should now feel confident in being able to avoid discrimination in recruitment. Always remember to treat everyone fairly, and only judge candidates based on their skills and abilities.

What To Read Next:

• How To Conduct A Video Interview
• Interviewing Skills Quiz
• Unconscious Bias Quiz
• Unconscious Bias Training

The post How to Avoid Discrimination in Recruitment appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.