Introduction: The Perfect Hire Myth
I have written many job descriptions and advertisements. I have also likely interviewed several hundred people, maybe more, searching for the “perfect hire. “Someone who fits my mental image. Great skills, just the right experience, good attitude, young enough to grow with my organization, someone looking to work for us for the next twenty years, someone with great chemistry with the rest of my team, and someone who would be happy to work for the amount of money I wanted to spend.
People like this are rare, and increasingly almost imaginary today. It’s not that we are not good employers; the problem is that the right people may not be looking when you are hiring, and your framework may not reflect reality. Labour shortages, burnout, high turnover, rising costs, lack of transportation, housing costs, and a host of other issues, all outside your ability to control, are major factors.
As employers, we have to look for people whom we have not considered before as a source of employees. People who live in our communities with disabilities. We need to explore inclusive hiring practices.
Inclusive hiring is not about lowering standards.
It’s about recognizing that the old standards no longer reflect the workforce that exists today or our expectations. It’s also about looking at the real duties and abilities we want to find and realizing there is more than one way to meet those needs.
This article is not a checklist for inclusive hiring, but a framework for asking better questions about who can meet your standards and how.
The Cost of Chasing Perfect – What the Ideal Candidate Filter Actually Does.
As employers, we need to look at what we deem to be requirements and question whether or not our rigidity is necessary today.
Commonly held traditional rigid requirements include the hours to be worked, working on-site versus working remotely, using a “one-size” fits all interview process, assumptions about education versus practical experience, only hiring people with continuous employment histories, and using “culture fit” as a proxy for only hiring the same neurotypical people.
These rigidities, unconsciously or not, filter out people who live with disabilities, people who live with being neurodiverse, people who have been caregivers, people who manage health realities different than your own; people who may all have skills and abilities your organization is seeking and who are eager to work.
The principal lesson for all of us is that the tighter our definition of “perfect,” the smaller and less realistic the talent pool becomes.
Systemic Bias and Invisible Discrimination – Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough
Every organization that hires people in Canada is required to have written policies to prevent discrimination on the basis of age, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and a whole host of other reasons; however, even the most ardent defender against discrimination will agree that it still happens. Most discrimination today is not malicious; however, it is deeply embedded in our systems, biases, misconceptions, and historical assumptions, and our lack of education and awareness. Many marginalized groups are affected, none more so than those of us who live with disabilities.
Common examples include, “They won’t be able to keep up,” “Attendance might be an issue,” “This role isn’t flexible,” “We need someone who can hit the ground running,” “We don’t have time to “babysit” or “hold their hand,” and there is also a real fear of a human rights complaint if the person doesn’t work out and has to be fired. As a result of these and similar misconceptions, bias often shows up as risk avoidance, not rejection, but it is discrimination, nonetheless.
I work with a young college graduate who is an aspiring recreational therapist. She is very active and has skied, kayaks, and is incredibly determined. She has many great skills and abilities and would be a great addition to almost any team; however, she lives with cerebral palsy, and far too often, people will not give her a chance to show what she can do because all they see is her wheelchair.
Changing Expectations – Not Standards – The shift employers need to make.
As employers, we need to clearly define our standards – what does the job actually require; and take a fresh and open-minded approach to our expectations about how we assume those requirements must be met.
By asking, to meet our standards, do our expectations have to be met by someone working full-time hours; do we have to have fixed start times; do we have to communicate exclusively by verbal methods, or can we explore alternatives? To meet our standards, could we explore online remote possibilities or some type of hybrid working environment? We have to ask, do traditional format interviews truly help us find the skills, experiences, and attributes we seek, or do they only help us to hire those people who can excel at interviews, but who may not be the best person for the job? Although all Canadian organizations must have diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, their hiring practices may not really appreciate the nuances of neurodiversity.
We can easily shift our expectations to how we achieve our standards, for example, moving away from “open availability” to “predictable availability;” from rigidly enforcing “strong verbal communicator” to someone who is a “clear and reliable communicator,” and from an internal bias of someone having “no gaps in employment” to someone who has the “skills and readiness we require today.”
Inclusive hiring does not change the destination; it changes the path we allow people to take to get there.
Availability, Loyalty, and Retention – What Employers Often Get Wrong.
I always believed that I had an open mind and that I was well-versed on being an inclusive employer and like most people, I soon realized the more I learned about people living with disabilities, how little I actually knew.
There is no “standard” or “typical” person who lives with disabilities; every person’s barriers are unique, as are the skills and experiences they have that can help any organization. What we can learn are the ways of interacting more effectively based on learning the strengths and weaknesses of each type of barrier and how they bring skills that often people who are neurotypical may not have.
The reality is that there are many advantages to hiring someone who lives with disabilities. Many are actively seeking positions offering stability, routine, and respect. When they can find employers offering those basic qualities, they can thrive; additionally, by explicitly focusing on clear expectations, mutual flexibility, and a workspace where accommodations are the norm, the result is often long-term retention and lower turnover.
The Reality of Accommodations – Less Complicated Than You Think.
As with most things we haven’t tried before or learned about, we need to understand the value those actions will deliver and making accommodation is one of those things. Contrary to common misconceptions, the majority of accommodations can be low-cost, simple, and may already be happening informally.
These accommodations can include clear and concise written instructions, schedules that allow flexibility, prioritization of tasks, workplaces that avoid over-stimulation, the ability to complete one task before starting another, minimizing interruptions, and allowing a worker to work online some of the time. The anchor point for accommodation is that they are not exceptions; they are a conversation about how best to serve your organization and the people you have doing the work. Accommodation also usually will benefit more than just one person.
A prime example is allowing a person with neurodiversity to only respond to emails at set times throughout the day. For a person living with ASD (autism), this allows them to focus and accomplish their tasks without delays.
Transportation and Poverty in a High-Cost Region – Context Matters.
I live and work in the Grey/Bruce region of Ontario; like many other rural/urban areas, we have a huge geographic area with a small population. Public transit and opportunities that exist in large urban areas simply do not exist here. We have the second-highest cost of living, according to statistics collected by our local labour board, and the lowest per capita income. There are many jobs available, but only if a person can get there, and many of these jobs are minimum wage, substantially below the living wage for this region.
Our transportation barriers are structural, as is the lack of political will to address mixed-density affordable housing. The attitude of “Not in my backyard” is widely prevalent throughout our region, as is the unwillingness to adapt costs and pay structures to reflect what it actually costs to live and work here, not just for people living with disabilities, but for everyone.
Employers don’t need to necessarily fix all of these issues; however, they need to understand their impact and consider how they can minimize those impacts to help them achieve their goals.
So… Who Are You Missing? – A Closing Reflection for Employers.
The next time you are considering posting a job, I would like you to consider your current hiring methods and ask yourself three questions:
- Who never makes it past your posting of an opportunity?
- Who doesn’t apply because they assume they won’t belong?
- Who could succeed if expectations shifted slightly?
Inclusive hiring isn’t about giving someone a chance. It’s about realizing they should have had one all along.
Next Steps – Call to Action.
According to recent surveys, almost 25% of our population identifies as living with some form of disability, some of which are major and visible, many of which are virtually invisible. As employers and communities, we need to recognize and take action to recognize employment is a right, and importantly to realize these are people who want to work, who have skills, and need us to give them a chance to show what they can do, not because they need special treatment, but because they can do the work as good or better than anyone else.
There are organizations and associations throughout most regions that can help with education, training, and support. Sometimes government assistance is available to aid with training for both applicants who live with barriers, employers, and their existing workers. Awareness, recognition, education, and action are in all of our best interests.
Good luck,