Leveraging AI to Hire for Diversity

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is topping the priority list for many organizations today — and artificial intelligence (AI) can play an invaluable role in supporting DE&I efforts throughout the hiring process and candidate journey.

Speaking at Phenom’s virtual event AI & the Evolved Recruiter, Maggie Allen and Sumita Mehta of Phenom clarified how organizations can use AI-powered technology to cultivate a more inclusive workplace. Get highlights from their session below!

Watch their full session "Leveraging AI to Hire for Diversity" here — and unlock access to all on-demand event content!

AI Will Not Solve DE&I

AI is not an all-encompassing solution for DE&I-related issues. Despite our best efforts, humans will continuously introduce natural biases into the hiring process – and into the data feeds that train AI systems.

“D&I is an awareness and transparency problem,” Allen said, an underlying condition to be acknowledged and then targeted with strategic mitigation efforts that focus on:

Discovering more diverse talent
Limiting bias as much as possible
Ensuring that unconscious bias isn’t preventing the organization from hiring more diverse talent
Engaging employees to celebrate differences

Supporting goals like these is where AI is best put to work.

AI is a Valuable Assistant in Improving DE&I

“AI increases awareness and transparency, illuminates opportunities, and aligns teams on common goals,” Mehta says. It excels as an assistant, working in the background to help recruiters support organizational D&I goals.

Identify gaps. AI can be used to perform a workforce analysis to identify gaps that humans may naturally overlook, or not realize how wide the gaps are.
Recommend the types of candidates that will help achieve hiring goals. Once the team is aware of existing gaps, AI can help analyze the talent pipeline to report on progress toward bridging those gaps.
Recommend actions that will help recruiters source, screen and hire ideal candidates.

“You can use AI almost as a flashlight to light up different opportunities throughout the talent journey to improve the hiring process,” Mehta said.

How AI Elevates DE&I for Job Candidates

AI can help candidates have a more inclusive experience with your organization from the very beginning. Here are a few ways that recruiters and talent managers can leverage AI-driven tools to infuse D&I throughout the candidate journey.

Sourcing for Diversity

The candidate journey starts with discovery, Mehta pointed out, which is why recruiters seeking to improve D&I should experiment with new job boards.

AI can be incredibly effective at analyzing the effectiveness of job boards and determining how they’re contributing to specific hiring goals.

Delivering Personalized Content to Candidates

Once a candidate lands on your site, AI can serve up dynamic, targeted content to help job seekers discover relevant job descriptions and opportunities.

Developing Inclusive Job Descriptions

The Phenom TXM platform is introducing a feature that helps recruitment teams craft inclusive job descriptions. The tool uses AI to detect, for example, gender-biased language. It also boosts accessibility, which opens the door to a vastly untapped talent pool.

AI Tools that Support DE&I Goals

Allen and Mehta discussed other AI-driven tools that can help organizations reduce bias in hiring and promote a culture of acceptance:

AI-Powered Scoring System

AI helps to reduce unconscious bias by scoring candidates only on skills and experience. If you’re using a Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) system, this can filter candidates to spotlight the most qualified, best-fit candidates for the position.

Employee Experience Portal

An employee experience portal running on AI can link employees up with employee resource groups, diversity programs, recommended jobs, and learning opportunities to encourage cultural acceptance.

Of course, this only scratches the surface. There are many more ways AI and technology can shine a light on diversity and inclusion, all with a focus on awareness and transparency. Remember that AI is acting as an assistant. There’s a natural bias that humans introduce in the hiring process — despite our best efforts — and AI can work to fill that gap.