5The Cost of ‐Isms and Phobias on Hiring
Does your latest job advertisement or website's career page say something like, ‘We are committed to Equal Opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community’? Is that a true reflection of your company's hiring process?
Founder of the charity Radical Recruit Emma Freivogel raised this while asking people to look around their office to identify a representative from all sections of the community. She challenges the intent of this statement.1 Does it mean single parents, ex‐offenders, people without degree education, domestic violence survivors, disabled people, people of colour, transgender people, victims of modern‐day slavery, over fifties, fat people, people with experience of the care system or young people? She witnesses the cost of ‐isms daily as someone committed to helping those furthest away from the labour market to become recruitment‐ready, and she has earned the right to call out managers and leaders when she sees hypocrisy.
She is not alone. Today, countless people share on social media and review sites their experiences of discrimination, which is when one person or group of people is treated less fairly or less well than other people or groups, or bias, which is the tendency to prefer one person or thing to another and to favour that person or thing.2 , 3 These online insights into the experiences of an employee or candidate can make future hiring difficult.
‐isms and phobias are discriminatory ...
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