The goal of every trucking company should be to recruit and hire the best employees for each open position.
However, it can be a struggle to maintain recruiting processes that are fair, inclusive, and legal. Organizations might not even realize there are areas where unconscious biases and other factors lead to a less-than-level playing field.
So, how do you ensure a fair recruitment and selection process? Below are some ideas.
Why Does Fairness Matter in Recruitment and Selection?
First of all, let’s address why fairness is crucial during the recruiting process. It’s about more than just ensuring candidates feel good about your practices — although that matters a lot, too.
Staying unprejudiced and sincere throughout the process is good for your company. After all, the best candidates will leave (or not choose you in the first place) if they suspect unfair recruitment and hiring processes.
You’ll also set yourself apart by establishing solid policies that help level the playing field as much as possible. Plus, you’ll protect your name, avoiding discrimination or harassment claims from applicants or candidates who sensed they were mistreated.
How Do You Ensure a Fair Recruitment Process?
So, with the above in mind, let’s look at ways to keep your recruiting methods fair for all parties.
Create Diversity-Focused Policies
Take a look at your current workplace policies. Do they:
- Treat all employees with respect?
- Encompass inclusivity and equal opportunities?
- Ensure everyone has access to support and reasonable adjustments?
- Set up the company to prevent discrimination and other inappropriate behavior?
All employees and hiring managers should know about this policy and use it when recruiting and hiring new staff.
Check the Inclusivity of Your Job Posting Language
Did you know that the language you use in your job postings can impact how likely specific candidates are to apply? Without intentional language, you can easily slip in words that applicants subconsciously see as male- or female-slanted.
Here are some tips from Glassdoor on removing gender bias from job ads:
- Keep job description titles straightforward — such as “OTR Truck Driver” or “CDL A Truck Driver” — avoiding words that could be perceived as more masculine.
- Avoid using “he” or “she” pronouns when describing the job duties. Instead, say “you” or “the [job title]” will be responsible for…
- Watch for words that might discourage a specific demographic, such as women, from applying. Tools like Gender Decoder can help identify this type of language in your job ads.
- Limit or reconsider which items in the job description are requirements. According to a Hewlett-Packard internal report, women are less likely to apply for a job unless they meet the requirements by 100%.
- Let candidates know that you’re committed to creating an equal and diverse workplace.
Many people unconsciously think of truck driving as a male-dominant profession — but women are interested in the career (and make fantastic truck drivers) too. Avoiding male-focused language will help remove this stigma and encourage all genders to apply.
Remain Aware of Unconscious Biases
According to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Office of Diversity and Outreach, unconscious biases are “social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness.”
Everyone has these unconscious biases towards others. What matters is being aware of them and doing your best to avoid letting them into the recruiting and hiring process.
Having diverse individuals on your hiring panels can also help prevent unconscious biases during the truck driver recruitment process. Also, train recruiters on unconscious biases so that they understand their own and how they might influence the decision-making process.
Create a Standardized List of Questions for All Interviewees
Without a set list of questions, it’s easy for interviewers to go “off script” and accidentally ask something that the candidate might feel is inappropriate. To avoid this, maintain a list of the same interview questions to ask every truck driver candidate.
Basically, it’s best to use a standardized list of questions during each interview.
Maintain Fair and Honest Recruiting Processes
Use these tips to maintain proper methods during every step of the recruitment process.
Proper recruiting practices will help your organization find the best candidates for the job, regardless of race, gender, or other demographics. Fair processes also give everyone a fair shake and help diversify the industry, which benefits everyone overall.