Recruiting Transparency Promise

Heard of pay transparency? How about "recruiting transparency?" Let's ask employers to disclose how they treat applicants during the hiring process.

Photo by Anh Tuan To on Unsplash

Have you noticed that prospective employers sometimes seem to be sending mixed signals?

• Job descriptions that don’t say where the position is located, or companies with vague or contradictory policies about remote work

• Multiple rounds of interview over the course of several months for a job that’s suddenly “closed”

• Uninspiring efforts at salary transparency that fall short of providing useful information

• Recruiters who suddenly disappear in a pale swirl of smoke after a few promising interviews 

• Surprise revelation of a “case study” or panel discussion or any other flaming hoop that must be jumped through

All of this adds up to a process that’s unnecessarily hard on job seekers. Their needs are ignored, their time is wasted, and their impression of companies is hurt — often irrevocably. This is all during a process in which the employer should be courting the employee like a hopeful suitor.

Competition is the market force that drives great innovations. Could we put competition to work for us?

Imagine a CEO making this announcement today: 

“Our goal is to be a truly great employer. To back that up, I’m making a new transparency pledge. We’ll measure and report data that show prospective employees what to expect from us. As we improve, we’ll win the trust and respect of the world’s top talent. The most sought-after workers in the world will choose our company over others when they see us acting with honor, integrity, and respect for our colleagues. We will compete and we will win on the experience we provide employees, including before they are hired. This won’t all happen overnight. Transparency is our best tool to set our intentions and inspire our leaders to make the changes necessary to achieve our goals.”

Here are ten transparency pledges they could make to demonstrate their commitment. Implementing a handful could go a long way towards encouraging talented workers to pick one company over another. Even implementing just one could set a company apart from a crowded field of competitors.

Ten Recruiting Transparency Pledges

1. We will supply all candidates with the diversity data disclosures required law. Furthermore, we will provide candidates with a good faith estimate of diversity data for the team, department, or organization of the role they’re considering. This may include the following, based on employee self-identification:

   1. Race

   2. Gender Identity

   3. Sexual Orientation

   4. Neurodivergent Individuals

   5. People with disabilities

   6. Age

2. We’ll disclose the number of people laid off by our company in the last 12 months. 

3. We will disclose whether we considered any of those laid-off candidates for this role.

4. We will disclose a good faith estimate of the probability that the role will be closed before a hire is made, based on our relevant performance over the prior year. 

5. Prior to any interview, we will disclose the detailed location/remote/work-from-home policies that are specific to the individual position that a candidate is considering. 

6. We will provide each candidate with all of the salary disclosures required by any law. Additionally, we will disclose a single figure representing our good faith estimate of the average total yearly compensation (inclusive of salary, bonuses, and equity) for other positions of similar role, title, level, and responsibilities at our organization.

7. We’ll disclose prior to the first interview any anticipated use of tests, assessments, exercises, or case studies for the role. Candidates will enter our recruiting process fully aware of what will be required to complete it. 

8. We’ll set firm goals for the amount of time that a candidate can be asked to wait before receiving a response after an interview. We’ll record our progress in achieving those goals, and disclose to each candidate our performance against the goals in each quarter. 

9. We’ll disclose to each candidate the number of people that have previously interviewed for the position, excluding any initial screening interview. 

10. We’ll disclose when the role was opened, a good faith estimate of the average number of interviews conducted prior to hiring a candidate, and the average length of time that elapsed between the first interview and an offer. 

Even a bit of transparency would start us off in the right direction. Let me know if you think transparency could be a great tool for encouraging companies to treat job seekers the way they deserve to be treated.