Refreshing our Recruitment

In our latest blog, Nicki Couzens, the Active Partnerships National Organisation’s (APNO) Strategic Lead for EED&I has reflected on our recruitment processes following the recent appointment of a large number of new team members at APNO.

Refreshing our Recruitment

A few weeks ago, I shared a LinkedIn post about my personal reflections on how the Active Partnerships National Organisation has challenged itself to reform its approach to recruitment, aiming to create a more equitable and positive process.

Josh Lenthalls recent post had resonated with me as I reflected on many of the insights and changes we’ve implemented after discussions internally, as well as with partners such as Active Oxfordshire and other stakeholders within and outside the sector.

We have recently recruited to seven roles using our new process (although we continue to adapt it as we learn more), so it seemed a good time to evaluate its effectiveness, identify trends, and address challenges.

Is it working?

We revised our recruitment process to better reflect our organisational culture and embed our principles of Equity, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI). Our goal was to eliminate barriers for applicants and remove biases during shortlisting. This approach is also part of our commitment to becoming anti racist.

Have applicants reflected the diversity of the population?

Some people declined to answer some monitoring questions but there were some interesting observations when the data was analysed and compared with the 2021 census.

• Ethnicity: The percentage of applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds matched census figures.
• Sexuality: Candidates identifying as LGB* exceeded general population statistics.
• Gender: More women than men applied overall, although application rates varied by role type, with operational and welfare roles attracting more women, and strategic roles (except welfare) and both multi-sport roles more men.
• Disability: The percentage of applicants from disabled people was less than the percentage for the general population
• Socioeconomic Status: A lower percentage of applications were received from individuals from deprived households compared to census data.

Shortlisting

Analysis of the shortlisting process showed a diverse range of candidates in terms of ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation were invited to interview, indicating that the system is helping mitigate bias.

Candidate Experience

The Applied online platform that we have been using allows candidates to rate and comment on the application process. Ratings from applicants across the seven roles we’ve recruited to averaged at least 8/10 with several candidates rating it 10/10.

Feedback highlighted people generally welcomed the innovative approach, thought it was a fair, easy to use, and the amount of work to complete the application felt proportionate for first stage. However, some candidates felt it didn’t allow them to fully showcase their strengths and would have liked to have been able to unload a CV or covering letter.

A quote from an unsuccessful candidate who had been interviewed reflects this experience:

 “I thought your talent search was impressive: effective, smooth, fast and definitely fair. Granting me (an immigrant with most of my work experience being outside of the UK, with a foreign accent, from the BAME community) an equal opportunity, proves the process was unbiased.  Kudos & thank you.”

So, what does this mean?

Our new recruitment approach is encouraging applications from a more diverse range of candidates, but there’s more work to do, particularly in attracting applications from disabled people and those from deprived households. Key observations include:

• The process is providing a good positive experience for people applying
• Bias is being removed from shortlisting
• We need to continue to make all roles appealing to a broader audience. This includes ensuring we use clear, appropriate language, making sure job roles and specifications are clear and proportionate, and that roles are advertised in a variety of places
• We need to continue to learn from others, to adapt and improve our process

A more detailed breakdown of the statistics is provided below.

Gender

More women than men (44% v 39%) applied, with significant variation across the different role types. 58% of people interviewed were women.

Operation and welfare roles attracted more women, while strategic roles (expect welfare) and the multi-sport roles were more male dominated.

These results may be due to several factors including the benefits of flexible and remote working attracting more women to apply. All future job packs should use gender neutral language and list only essential skills to ensure that people can easily identify if a job is right for them.

Ethnicity

18% of candidates were from an ethnically diverse background and 15% of people interviewed were ethnically diverse (81.7% identified themselves as white in 2021 census)

Disability

7% of candidates indicated they had a disability and 15% of people interviewed had a disability , compared to just under 20% in the 2021 census.

• We need to use appropriate language in job descriptions, e.g. certain words such as fast-paced and dynamic can discourage disabled people from applying. We need to ensure clear communication of our inclusivity values.
• When interviewing we need to ensure that we give reasonable adjustments and consideration is given to the location and type of interview e.g. face to face or online. We already send all questions prior to interviews, along with details about the interview panel and how the interview will be conducted.

Sexuality

• 17% of candidates identified as LGB* and 15% of people interviewed identified as LGB* (3.2% 2021 census)

Socioeconomic Status

• Nearly half of all applicants reported neither parent had attended university and 18% were eligible for free school meals. However, 34% declined to answer this question. This is a lower percentage than in the census data which indicates 52%of households are deprived (by at least one measure of employment, education, health & overcrowding). Among interviewees, 46% of people interviewed did not have university educated parents and 10% were eligible for free school meals when in education.

We are always open to ideas and suggestions on how we can improve our recruitment, so please get in touch if you have advice and best practice to share.

*LGB – the recruitment system used doesn’t currently reflect the options of LGBTQ+. We are aware that this is an issue and are trying to find a solution.