{"id":48548,"date":"2023-10-20T15:59:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/telstra-pledges-to-make-job-interview-shortlists-include-at-least-50-women-lessons-for-your-startup-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:59:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:59:18","slug":"telstra-pledges-to-make-job-interview-shortlists-include-at-least-50-women-lessons-for-your-startup-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/telstra-pledges-to-make-job-interview-shortlists-include-at-least-50-women-lessons-for-your-startup-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Telstra pledges to make job interview shortlists include at least 50% women: Lessons for your startup – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Telstra\u2019s move to introduce a requirement that women make up at least 50% of recruitment and interview shortlists has prompted HR experts to encourage SMEs to think about ways they too can shake up their hiring processes.<\/p>\n

In an announcement to coincide with International Women\u2019s Day, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn unveiled a plan to build the telco\u2019s \u201cfemale talent pipeline\u201d by requiring that interview shortlists for roles be made up of at least 50% women candidates, or 25% for roles in which there\u2019s a known gender imbalance in available candidates in the job market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe simply must work harder to create new opportunities for women to participate including accommodating diverse needs, working preferences and creating new career paths for both men and women to re-enter the workforce,\u201d Penn said in a blog post yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver many years and through a range of initiatives we have tried to improve the gender balance of our team which today sits at 69.9 percent male.\u201d<\/p>\n

The policy would mean that if a job at Telstra was advertised and the candidate shortlist did not include at least 50% women within three weeks of advertising, the recruitment team would have to consider re-advertising the job before interviews could begin. Penn says at present, the average Telstra position shortlist is made up of one third female and two thirds male candidates.<\/p>\n

Think about bias across the board<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ben Watts, general manager at wattsnext HR, says that while Telstra\u2019s move is impressive, it\u2019s more important for SMEs to educate their employees on discrimination and bias in recruitment overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the controversy [around gender] in the small business space isn\u2019t as big of a deal as in corporates,\u201d Watts says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there seems to be a more natural mix of males and females and diversity of all people.\u201d<\/p>\n

While aiming for a 50-50 split of genders for job interviews might not be feasible or appropriate for smaller businesses, Watts says it\u2019s still important for recruiters to think about the impact of bias on hiring, especially given discrimination claims are a serious issue for smaller businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do a lot of work with small business on this because discrimination is huge, and it\u2019s not just about males and females. There are a lot of areas of discrimination, there\u2019s even been issues previously where [we\u2019ve heard of] people saying, \u2018that person\u2019s too overweight for a role\u2019 \u2013 and that\u2019s an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Watts says being too rigid in your hiring practices could cause problems later, because you always want to find the best person for the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d try not to get too rigid with it \u2013 it could lead with not getting the best person for the role,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Lindsay McMillan, director at workplace think tank Reventure, says one simple way to boost diversity in hiring is to broaden the scope of the people in your business making the decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think SMEs should consider an open and genuine desire to recruit women where at all possible, and I think women should be on the interview panels,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

However, often SMEs are time-pressed and may not consider who ends up sitting on recruitment teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the conversation is usually, \u2018we need someone to fill the IT area, can we get someone as quickly as possible\u2019,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

If possible, it\u2019s also a good idea to involve staff from different sections within your business when hiring new staff, McMillan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this example of a major corporate in the US who fell onto something,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who were coming in for interviews sat in the reception before the interview, and they had this highly relational receptionist who started to engage with the respective candidates about their interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the course of time, she was eventually included in the interviewing panel, and she was able to talk to them in a casual environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some companies have a way to go when it comes to improving the gender diversity of their workforce, McMillan says he sees a genuine interest in the small business community to work on this issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a slow process, but I think the more there\u2019s a genuine desire to have more women in the workforce,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on SmartCompany. <\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, LinkedIn and iTunes. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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