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Dr. Eden-Reneé Hayes of Pluralism Solutions discusses inclusive hiring practices to achieve greater organizational diversity during her keynote speech at the Massachusetts Municipal Human Resources Fall Conference on Sept. 18 in Springfield.
Equity in the recruitment process, de-escalating tense and confrontational interactions, and employee morale were the key topics at the annual Massachusetts Municipal Human Resources Fall Conference on Sept. 18 and 19 in Springfield.
In a keynote address on day one titled “Recruitment Strategies for Greater Diversity,” Dr. Eden-Reneé Hayes of Pluralism Solutions, focused on recruitment planning, the recruiting process, and post-decision procedures.
With more than 15 years of experience in strengthening organizational hiring and staff retention, Hayes emphasized the importance of established best practices in hiring, as well as the role that diversity, equity and inclusion can play in that process.
“When we do something for one group, most of the time it helps every group,” Hayes said. “As long as there are humans, there’s a need for DEI.”
Hayes recommended widening the recruitment net by increasing presence in the public eye, whether that be a table at a farmer’s market, a presence by municipal officials at community events, or placing advertisements in community gathering spots.
When crafting position announcements, human resources professionals should be aware of the language they’re using and how it can subconsciously encourage or discourage potential applicants. When crafting job descriptions, Hayes suggested using gender decoders, which analyze text for gender-coded language and make suggestions to appeal to a broader audience.
“We don’t want people to discount themselves before they apply,” Hayes said. “We won’t know they exist.”
Hayes cautioned against what she refers to as psychological pitfalls in decision-making processes — when someone subconsciously rationalizes a decision based on relatively arbitrary criteria. Examples include prioritizing a candidate who is very similar to the employee being replaced, pre-ranking candidates before a decision is made, shifting evaluation criteria to disqualify a particular candidate, and evaluating candidates for culture fit rather than contributions they may make to the culture.
Such errors, she said, are “not going to help us keep moving forward.”
Hayes recommended an approach that covets candidates, to “give them the impression that we want them here.”
“It’s really doing our best job to be kind and cordial,” Hayes said. “We want to be thinking about, ‘How is it that I can invite this person in?’”
In the afternoon, training specialist and strategic coach Jerry Posner led a workshop on cooling hostility and strategies for moving conversations forward.
Emotions, Posner said, are “contagious,” and de-escalating tense interactions requires internal calm and clarity.
“Whoever has the strongest emotion will be the most contagious,” he said.
To counteract hostility, Posner said, communicate with empathy and compassion, use a lower vocal pitch, and understand that you may not be the reason that someone is upset.
“Before you take it too personally,” he said, “consider how much of this is about you and how much isn’t.”
The conference also included a legislative update from MMA Legislative Director Dave Koffman, an open mic session, group roundtable discussions, and panel discussions focused on employee wellness and morale and on employee resource groups.