Clarifications

ADVOCACY AND ACTION

For the purposes of this Indicator, advocacy efforts and actions could include, but should go beyond, focusing on diversity based on race, ethnicity, and gender. Examples for taking action to support more expansive diversity in an organization’s industry include efforts such as:

• Advocating for industry-wide transparency around hiring, compensation, and employee retention data;
• Refraining from participating in or funding public events that are not openly inclusive;
• Partnering with state and local agencies and workforce development boards as well as nonprofit community organizations and service providers that focus on efforts to place and support neurodivergent employees, older employees, and those returning to the workforce after a career break, among others;
• Participating in the vetting processes associated with posting openings on intentional recruitment platforms (e.g., Black Remote She);
• Creating internship and mentorship programs focused specifically on providing job opportunities for underrepresented and underestimated groups in the organization’s industry;
• Establishing partnerships with schools or community groups to introduce these careers and spark interest at an earlier age; and/or
• Partnering with foundations and/or nonprofits to fund scholarship programs intentionally created for people from underrepresented and underestimated groups.
  

Organizations may identify different actions that are equally applicable. Living Future encourages organizations to select and implement actions that are most meaningful and impactful based on their own context.

Documentation of Advocacy Efforts and Actions

Advocacy efforts and actions should be selected and implemented with intention and aligned with an organization’s commitment to work toward greater diversity in the industry. Living Future recommends that organizations consider a wide range of options and select the ones that seem most impactful and aligned with the organization’s mission. In documenting advocacy efforts and actions, organizations must address the following areas:

• What is the goal of your advocacy efforts?
• What advocacy efforts or actions did you consider? Why did you choose the efforts or actions you ultimately implemented?
• What is the impact of your efforts or actions? How are you measuring your impact?
• What are you looking forward to doing differently or building upon in the future?
  

APPLICABILITY

Indicator metrics apply to all of the following groups (see definitions in General Clarifications):

• Employees
• Contractors
• Interns
• Board members
  

HISTORICALLY MARGINALIZED AND UNDERESTIMATED GROUPS

For the purposes of this Just, historically marginalized and underestimated groups could include (but are not limited to) people who experience discrimination or disadvantage based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disabilities, physical appearance, parental/caregiver status, religion, education, socioeconomic background, military service/history, nation of origin, preferred language, accent or dialect, or prior justice system involvement. Additional categories of diversity may be considered if they are approved by Living Future in advance.

PUBLIC POSTING OF RECRUITMENT PROCESS

For the purposes of Just, making the recruitment process publicly available refers to sharing the actual steps a candidate will go through as part of the recruitment process (i.e., not just making the job posting publicly available). This could mean including a summary of the recruitment process as part of the publicly posted job announcement, having a section on the careers webpage that outlines the recruitment process, and more. See the Government of Alberta, SmartRecruiters, and Kinetic West for examples.

RECRUITMENT POLICY

In addition to the policy components stipulated in the metrics, Living Future encourages the policy to include a commitment to ensure equal employment opportunity for and intentional recruitment of people who are members of groups that have been subject to discrimination, disadvantage, or underestimation. Additionally, while an equal employment opportunity statement may be part of this policy, the full policy must include all identified elements (see General Clarifications).

RECRUITMENT PRACTICES

The Just program focuses on equitable recruitment practices as a means to intentionally reach and engage a diverse pool of applicants, including those from historically marginalized and underestimated groups, in order to identify top talent and find the strongest candidates for the job.

For the purposes of Just, the recruitment process includes three phases: 1) developing position descriptions, 2) searching for candidates, and 3) evaluating candidates.⁸-⁹ The following list represents examples of equitable practices in each phase of the process.¹⁰ Organizations may identify different practices that are equally applicable. Living Future encourages organizations to select and implement practices that are most meaningful and impactful based on their own context.

1. Developing Position Descriptions
   • Where possible, emphasize relevant and transferable skills and both paid and unpaid experience over professional degrees.
   • Use inclusive language throughout the position description (e.g., non-gender-specific language).
   • Avoid unnecessary qualifications (e.g., educational degrees by default).
   • Include an authentic equal opportunity statement that has been shared with decision-makers.
2. Searching for Candidates
   • Make the hiring process transparent and clearly inform candidates about what to expect in the process.
   • Train or orient internal hiring managers, decision-makers, and/or external recruiting partners about the hiring process and job requirements.
   • Include an internal job posting and recruitment process to encourage professional growth of existing employees.
   • Request candidate referrals from a diverse network of contacts.
   • Advertise the position to professional groups and networks for people with diverse identities such as BIPOC¹¹; the LGBTQIA+¹² community; working parents; people with prior justice system involvement; and more.
   • Engage with and support organizations that are intentional about nurturing and developing professionals from underrepresented and underestimated communities (e.g., NOMA and Society of Women Engineers).
3. Evaluating Candidates
   • Create a pre-interview hiring scorecard, especially if multiple team members are reviewing applications and making decisions on interviewees.
   • Remove identifying information, such as name and institution, during application review.
   • Create structured interviews with the same questions for each interviewee asked in the same order every time.
   • Use an interview scorecard or rubric.
   • Refrain from asking questions or having conversations about culture fit based on individual characteristics (e.g., alma mater, personality, etc.).
   • Begin group discussions by asking, “Where could there be bias in this process or decision?”

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⁸ Tulshyan, R. (2022). Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work. MIT Press.

⁹ UW Career and Internship Center. (n.d.). Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit. University of Washington. Retrieved October 31, 2023, from https://careers.uw.edu/channels/diversity-inclusion-toolkit/.

¹⁰ Ibid Tulshyan and UW Career and Internship Center.

¹¹ BIPOC is an abbreviation for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. This term is primarily used in the U.S., but other countries may have terms for similar groups of diverse individuals, such as Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) used in the U.K.

¹² LGBTQIA+ is an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, and other sexual and gender minorities.