• All breakout activities for today can be found on this page.
• Please keep the tab open for ease.
• Scroll to each new activity when the time comes.
• Please make sure that all voices are heard and select a speaker to share a summary of what has been discussed. 

Breakout Activity One: Recruitment Procedure Audit

1. The person whose first name comes first alphabetically will be the facilitator

2. The facilitator will decide on a speaker who will feedback to the whole group, when we return to the Main Room. There is no pressure to be the speaker, so please choose another colleague, if you prefer not to take on this role.

3. Please make sure that all voices are heard

Team 1:

What do you and your team already do well but could do more consistently?

Is there anything you'd like to do better, for your recruitment process to be more inclusive?

Team 2:

Is the recruitment process fair and objective at all stages?

Are there any specific worries that you have regarding inclusion?

Breakout Activity Two: Preparing and Planning

1. The person born in the earliest month of the year will be the facilitator

2. The facilitator will decide on a speaker who will feedback to the whole group, when we return to the Main Room. There is no pressure to be the speaker, so please choose another colleague, if you prefer not to take on this role.

3. Please make sure that all voices are heard

Working in groups, build a checklist of what you should be doing in preparation to ensure inclusive recruitment. Come up with your Top 10 considerations!

Breakout Activity Three: Job Adverts

1. The person who is the newest member of staff will be the facilitator

2. The facilitator will decide on a speaker who will feedback to the whole group, when we return to the Main Room. There is no pressure to be the speaker, so please choose another colleague, if you prefer not to take on this role.

3. Please make sure that all voices are heard

Working in groups, read a recent job advert and highlight what changes you would make based on the following questions:

1. Is there coded or non-inclusive language?
2. Does it drum up images of an ‘ideal’ candidate?
3. Do we potentially discriminate or disadvantage?
4. What is working well?
5. What is missing?
6. What is not essential?
   

Breakout Activity Four: Common Biases that can be present in Job Interviews

• Discuss the definitions below with your team and write down the type of bias which relates to each definition. Matching a letter (definition) to a number (type of bias)
  
• For example, your first answer is A6: First Impression Bias
• No speaker is needed for this activity.
• If you finish quickly, discuss any examples of these biases you may have witnessed.

Your first answer is A6. First Impression Bias - related to how a candidate presents themselves and behaves in the first few minutes of an interview. It’s one of the primary reasons behind bad hiring decisions. When you initially like someone, you tend to ask easier questions and look for things that confirm your positive impression.

B. It’s natural to feel more at ease with someone who shares similarities with you. These differences exist in how we express our emotions, too. According to a 2019 study by Lucy Zhang Bencharit., the way candidates share their excitement has a profound impact on hiring managers’ decisions. Candidates who shared a similar background with the recruiters—and expressed emotions similarly to them—were hired more often.

C. related to how you perceive candidates’ body language, the way they dress, and diverse non-verbal cues. These can include their ability to maintain eye contact, the strength of their handshake, or their posture, among others. For example, you might feel that a weak handshake is a red flag, but in fact, it doesn’t relate to candidates’ knowledge and experience. 

D. the assumption that someone will perform in a specific way in a job because they belong to a given group. These can be related to the candidate’s nationality, ethnicity, gender, age, among other characteristics. For example, you could assume that a 50-year-old system administrator is not knowledgeable of the latest trends, but their age has, in fact, nothing to do with their skills.

E. when you believe that what the candidate did once would be what they always do in a similar situation. For example, if they were nervous during the interview, you might assume they’re always nervous. 

F. remembering your last candidates better, while not clearly recalling the first interviews you did for a given position. This could mean that the last person you see might feel like a better fit for the job—simply because you remember them better. Take detailed notes and review them often to not fall prey to this bias. 

G. related to the perceived attractiveness of candidates is most often unconscious—but might be particularly strong.

H. means that you’re prone to comparing the last candidate to the one you interviewed before that. You anchor their performance and your expectations to the performance of another interviewee, which means that your judgment is not neutral. If the previous candidate did poorly, the next one might seem a much better fit—even if they’re not actually qualified for the role. 

I. We hear all the time that we should trust our instincts. In the context of hiring, however, this is actually an expression of unconscious bias and shouldn’t be the reason that motivates your hiring choices.

Breakout Activity Five: The Interviewing Process

Individually, you have written a values-based interview question, using our Values.

In small teams, interview one participant using the created questions.

Expand practice by adding supplementary questions to draw more information from the interviewee.

For each question give a score based on the answer provided:

0 = no evidence, 1 = weak evidence, 2 = acceptable, 3 = good evidence 4 = excellent evidence.

What was the purpose of this activity?

What would be the next step in the process?