Valuing Both Diversity and Merit in Hiring

In hiring discussions, diversity and merit are sometimes seen as mutually exclusive. Some fear that cultivating a diverse workforce may result in bringing unqualified candidates on board while reducing employment opportunities for other groups of individuals. Others say that leaning too heavily on merit risks excluding members of historically underrepresented groups.

However, organizations can create inclusive environments that also attract top talent and uphold fairness and excellence.

To do this, HR professionals must expand their definition of merit, seek to address systemic barriers, and uphold inclusive hiring practices.

Recognize Underutilized Groups  

One important strategy is to explore untapped talent pools. In SHRM’s "2024 Talent Trends report", 77% of organizations said they had difficulty finding candidates for full-time roles in the previous year. This perceived lack of qualified candidates is often referred to as the “skills-mismatch crisis.” By broadening their definition of merit, HR professionals can minimize recruiting issues and juxtapose diversity and fairness in turn.

Skills-Based Hiring: Honoring Nontraditional Career Paths

In 2022, less than half (46.5%) of working-age adults in the U.S. had a bachelor's and/or associate degree. However, job candidates without formal degrees often possess valuable skills gained through hands-on experience, apprenticeships, or freelancing.  

Skills-based hiring considers these candidates alongside those with traditional academic credentials and is an effective way to uphold diversity and merit. Because the rate of college education varies among demographic groups, employers’ unwillingness to hire qualified candidates without degrees affects certain populations more than others. For example, only about 36% of working-age Black Americans have a bachelor's and/or associate degree, well below the national average.  

“As the skills-mismatch crisis persists, excluding candidates without higher education, thereby ignoring their meaningful experience, is no longer an option,” said Jim Link, SHRM-SCP, CHRO at SHRM. “Valuing skills alongside credentials in determining merit opens doors for underrepresented demographics who historically have less access to higher education, all while hiring the best candidate for the job.”  

Skills-Based Hiring Considerations:

    Provide Accessible Experiences. Many organizations limit internship or apprenticeship programs to college students, especially those in a certain major or academic year. By offering career development opportunities to all applicants, organizations can develop larger talent pools of people who are just starting out in their careers.  

“All emerging professionals deserve the means to gain valuable hands-on experience, and limiting internship opportunities to students creates additional roadblocks for workers who have taken a different path in their careers,” Link said. “By considering all applicants, including those who are not enrolled in a degree program, HR professionals can create environments that inspire diversity and develop a larger pool of candidates for entry-level roles.”

    Try Evaluation-Based Candidacy. A candidate’s resume may not always reveal their true potential. Introducing structured evaluations and skills assessments to the talent acquisition process can provide an impartial way to identify top talent. This approach evaluates candidates based on their demonstrated abilities rather than traditional markers such as educational attainment, allowing highly qualified candidates without traditional degrees a better way to demonstrate their merit.  

“Leveraging skills evaluations is key in identifying the most qualified candidates, allowing applicants to demonstrate their capabilities by displaying their talents,” Link said. Furthermore, prioritizing the results of these assessments in evaluating candidacy lowers the barrier to entering the workforce for highly qualified candidates who lack degrees.”

    Consider Second-Chance Hiring. In 2023, nearly 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. had a criminal record, according to the National Employment Law Project. Second-chance hiring — in which recruiters consider qualified individuals with criminal records — dismantles barriers to the workplace while cultivating a larger pool of candidates.  

Recruiters should also note intersectionality in how they consider these candidates. For example, in 2021, Black Americans were imprisoned at five times the rate of their white counterparts — and over nine times the rate of white Americans in seven states, including New Jersey and California. This means that employers’ rejection of all previously incarcerated candidates has a larger impact on historically underrepresented groups.  

You may also want to reconsider how to evaluate candidates whose job performance has been spotty throughout their careers. Willingness to acknowledge failure as part of the learning process makes workplaces more inclusive without compromising on merit.

“Job candidates are more than their worst mistakes,” Link noted. “Upholding opportunity in the workplace means being willing to accept the most qualified candidate for a role may be formerly incarcerated or recovering from a recent termination.”  

    Respect All Socioeconomic Backgrounds. Socioeconomic barriers can inadvertently filter out talented individuals. Practices such as requiring credit screenings or ruling out candidates with histories of financial hardship can unnecessarily eliminate talented applicants and compromise both merit and diversity. Instead, HR should evaluate the relevance of such practices to the role in question and focus on the candidate’s skills and potential.  

“Some recruiters view financial stress as an indicator of poor responsibility. However, this is simply a generalization that doesn’t speak to a candidate’s skills or merit,” Link said. “HR professionals shouldn’t draw inaccurate conclusions about what kind of extenuating circumstances an applicant may have experienced in their personal life. Life’s unpredictability shouldn’t compromise a candidate’s talent.”

Strengthen Outreach Efforts  

A candidate search that prioritizes both diversity and merit requires that HR professionals re-evaluate how they communicate with prospective talent.

Revisit Public Messaging. Developing an inclusive definition of merit is vital, but these efforts will fall short if they aren’t made clear to job seekers. Ensure that outreach materials reflect this commitment and welcome candidates from untapped talent pools. Career pages, job advertisements, and employer branding should clearly indicate that all candidates are invited to apply. For example, messaging could highlight a commitment to valuing nontraditional career paths or second-chance hiring, helping to attract candidates from all walks of life.

“Audit your job listings and emphasize your willingness to consider experienced, qualified individuals regardless of education, criminal, or financial history,” Link said. “Making this commitment is the first step, but the impact is lost if talented applicants from underutilized pools of talent don’t feel welcome.”

Partner with a Variety of Institutions. When developing a candidate pool for early-career roles, many organizations participate in networking events or job fairs at colleges and universities. While they may often focus on elite universities or high-profile institutions, relying exclusively on these schools limits a company’s reach and restricts opportunity to individuals who have the financial and academic means to attend critically acclaimed institutions.  

Instead, employers should partner with a diverse array of schools, including regional public universities, community colleges, and nonacademic institutions such as nonprofit training programs. These partnerships can help build a robust and diverse talent pipeline, providing students of all backgrounds and walks of life a bridge to opportunity while fulfilling a company’s need to connect with talented early-career professionals.  

“HR professionals are sure to connect with talented, qualified students by working with the biggest names in education, including Ivy League universities,” Link noted. “However, students who attend institutions focused on making higher education more accessible, such as regional public universities, deserve the same opportunity to network with hiring organizations face to face.”

Leverage the SHRM BEAM Framework to Fairly Assess Candidates  

To uphold merit while fostering diversity, businesses must create objective and inclusive evaluation frameworks, eliminate biases, and evaluate candidates holistically.  

Focus on Resume Content, Not Gaps or Short Experiences

Traditional resume expectations don’t always reflect reality. The SHRM Belonging Enhanced by Access through Merit (BEAM) Framework recommends focusing on resume content rather than penalizing candidates for employment gaps or short job tenures. A candidate’s resume speaks volumes to their merit, but discrediting an applicant due to these biases is a barrier to maintaining an inclusive workplace culture — and to hiring the most qualified candidate.  

Viewing career gaps as a detriment to someone’s candidacy may also have more significant effects on certain groups than others. For example, caregiving obligations are a common reason for taking a career break, and 2 in 3 family caregivers are women.  

“An applicant’s career gap may be attributed to any number of reasons unrelated to their ability to perform their job,” Link said. “They may have put their career on pause due to care expectations or health issues, or they could have been laid off due to reasons beyond their control.”

“Similarly, a brief job tenure may be related to poor organizational culture, workplace concerns, or a desire to alter one’s career path. Life happens, and these circumstances shouldn’t prevent an HR professional from hiring a candidate who is otherwise the most qualified applicant.”

Use AI to Curb Bias

HR professionals can thoughtfully adopt AI tools to help reduce hiring biases. AI-powered resume-screening systems can identify candidates based on objective qualifications and skills, without being influenced by unconscious biases related to names, backgrounds, or other factors. However, companies must carefully ensure the algorithms used are designed and monitored to avoid perpetuating existing biases in data.  

Recruiters can use AI to identify which resumes are the most relevant to the applicable job description. This can aid in selecting applicants who are most suitable for moving forward in the hiring process, while reducing the chance that unconscious bias will discredit qualified candidates from underrepresented groups.  

Sample AI Command: “Conduct a qualification analysis of the attached resume based on the competencies required in the attached job description.”

“Conscious or not, bias persists in the talent acquisition process, and it circumvents efforts to ensure a diverse workplace,” Link said. “By using properly trained AI tools to review candidate information, HR professionals can identify the most qualified individuals while removing any chance an applicant is discredited due to being a member of a historically underrepresented group or underutilized pool of talent.”