How Automation And No-Code Platforms Can Help Solve Recruitment Bias 

By Shihab Muhammed

Recruiters can often hold unconscious biases that prevent otherwise ideal candidates from being hired, despite best intentions. When white workers occupy 85 percent of top executive roles, it’s clear there is a diversity problem at hand.

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It’s not just race that presents a gap in workplace equality regarding starting salaries and job opportunities. Women and LGBTQ groups also lack representation and face biases from recruiters, with 46 percent of LGBTQ workers reporting facing discrimination in the workplace due to their gender identity.

However, companies are proven to thrive from utilizing a diverse talent pool for their workplace. A Forbes Insights report cites diversity as a critical factor in securing a business’ success in staying ahead of the competition and capturing new clients, especially in today’s global market.

Using tech to change hiring culture

You can’t fix a problem until you acknowledge it, and recruiters are becoming more aware of the problem. Automated, no-code platforms that can integrate with employee administration software, like Bamboo HR and Slack, enable recruiters to access new hires without prejudice. These platforms streamline and anonymize the hiring process, with the ultimate goal of removing gender, social and economic influencing factors from their decisions.

The pandemic forced more people to work from home than ever before, and with an increase in remote working came the need for remote hiring too. One benefit of this has been an accelerated familiarity with online processes for hiring and training new candidates, with virtual onboarding marked as critical for company development in 2021.

Tech-enabled D&I

A multiplicity of voices helps companies discover new ideas and solutions and encourages out-of-the-box thinking. Many companies now make diversity and inclusion (D&I) part of their business plan.

Using a remote recruiting and employee management platform means companies can easily track and receive feedback on employee lifecycles from pre-hire to exit interviews. Initial recruitment inquiries can be obtained via an automated chatbot, integrated through no-code software to a company’s website, and help screen candidates based on the qualitative input of their responses made into quantitative data sets.

Companies can use tech to reach a wider audience of applicants. Real-time responsive chatbots foster a sense of personal connection candidates are looking for and can also be used in conjunction with online surveys to form a virtual interviewing process without the influence of personal bias from the recruiter.

After Black Lives Matter dominated headlines in 2020 and 2021, recruiters can help address pressing issues such as structural racism by making small changes to their hiring process. Removing personal details and anonymizing applications through tech automation helps ensure candidates are assessed on the quality of their application.

Using automated tech and no-code platform software to reach a more diverse talent pool allows you to prioritize skills over identity politics, improving a company’s chance of creating the best possible team.

Shihab Muhammed is founder and CEO of SurveySparrow, a Palo-Alto-based conversational experience management platform. An engineer turned entrepreneur, he previously worked at Freshworks and Zoho.

Illustration: Dom Guzman