Set Up for Success: Equitable Hiring and Onboarding Processes for Nonprofits
There’s an aspect of workplace transition that organizations tend to overlook in the chaos of one leader leaving and the hiring process of finding someone to take their place–onboarding. The search for a new leader or team member is not over once they’ve accepted the offer and signed on with your organization. Proper onboarding is a mark of a strong company culture that backs up its vision and values in actual practice–keeping you connected with the new hire and prioritizing their success and trust building.
“Fruitful organizations pay attention to your season of entry. They don’t push you through a careless hiring and orientation process. They initiate you into the culture.” – Jaiya John
Creating an Equitable Job Description
Before we dig into the orientation and onboarding process, we need to understand the importance of creating an equitable job description to set up your hiring process in line with your values.
In her article “DEI Hiring: How to Create Inclusive Job Descriptions,” Melissa DellaBartolomea shares advice for hiring committees to inject anti-bias and equity into the job posting. Specifically, she encourages organizations to understand that “everyday” language choices may exclude certain groups and may act as a form of discrimination.
She writes, “By incorporating diversity and inclusion best practices in your hiring process, your company is doing two things: Encouraging a full range of diverse and talented candidates to apply for open positions, [and] reaffirming your organization’s commitment to building an inclusive workplace.”
Exclusive language is often more subtle than you might expect and can evoke gender bias, ageism, cultural and racial bias, and ableism–which means you’re losing out on talented applicants who self-select out of your hiring pool.
Gender Coding—the decision to rely on words, phrases, or traits that have historically been associated with either the male or female gender—can result in a false impression about who the ideal candidate for the position may be.
A study published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that if a job description is coded too heavily to either gender, it is more likely to result in the exclusion of certain applicants—regardless of the actual skills or qualifications those candidates may have. – Melissa DellaBartolomea, DEI Hiring: How to Create Inclusive Job Descriptions
Tools like Totaljobs’ Gender-Bias Decoder can help you balance or minimize gender coding in your job descriptions by identifying gendered words in your copy, but these tools are just a starting point. It’s important to continue training everyone in the organization on deconstructing bias at all stages of the hiring process and daily activities.
To check for age and experience bias, scan your job descriptions and job postings for terms like “digital native” or referencing social media prowess that speak directly to the under-30 applicants who grew up using technology. A simple swap to focus on the skills themselves can usually resolve this issue.
Cultural and racial bias may become apparent when referencing dress codes–especially around hats, head coverings, or “professional appearance,” which has been shown to exclude natural African hair textures.
We’ve all seen the phrase “must be able to lift 50 pounds” on job descriptions, but it disqualifies most disabled applicants. Consider this swap of language: “the person in this role frequently is required to move equipment weighing up to 50 pounds.” Instead of listing that the job involves “Walking throughout the building,” change it to “Moves throughout the building.” Small swaps like this may not seem to be very significant, but for a disabled candidate they show a dedication to inclusion rather than the assumption that the right person for the job is completely able-bodied.
When it comes to compensation, clearly state the salary or range in your job posting as well as a list of benefits. Highlighting the benefits offered to your team “can play a significant role in determining the diversity of your candidates,” writes DellaBartolomea.
Job postings should also speak to your organization’s mission, vision, and values to provide context on your company culture.
Best Practices for Equitable Interviews
Interviewing regularly rewards people who can think on the fly and handle out-there questions designed to test critical thinking in the moment–but these tactics can really throw off an otherwise prepared and qualified candidate who isn’t as adept at thinking on their feet.
To keep the interview process equitable for all candidates, I recommend creating a hiring matrix–an idea I’ve borrowed from Brooke Richie Babbage–to identify the main competencies you’re looking for. Once you’ve identified the traits in your matrix, craft questions that will help you seek out those competencies in each candidate.
Send those questions to each candidate ahead of time, and stick to only those questions in the interview. Track each candidate’s responses in your matrix. This will allow you to reduce bias in your hiring decisions because everyone gets the same questions and they will all be judged on responses that they had time to prepare, thus removing the variables of the off-the-cuff types of questions that tend to throw people off.
If a candidate will not be invited for an interview, let them know promptly. Same for a second interview.
Also, be clear and upfront about the hiring timeline and when they can expect to hear from you.
The First Ninety Days
Once you get to the stage where you’ve hired someone and you are approaching their first day, they are likely feeling a few mixed emotions from excitement to nervousness. This is your chance to ease those nerves and leave a lasting good impression.
Onboarding goes beyond simply providing a list of things for their first day. Great onboarding offers crucial support as your new hire navigates new waters, and the first thirty to ninety days are crucial for relationship building and development.
Consider the following process:
Before the First Day - Prior to their first day in the office, prepare your new hire by sending an email with everything they need to know. This email should…
Welcome them to the team
Highlight their start time and date clearly
Share what the tentative agenda will be on day one
Remind them of what documents they need to bring (or provide ahead of time) to ensure a smooth first day
Share relevant information about where to park (if in person)
Provide any login details or password access (if remote)
Let them know what the expectations are when it comes to workplace attire
For an added bit of engagement, ask them for a few fun facts about themself that you can later share with existing employees
If you do not use a platform to manage your HR and performance management processes, be sure to manually send your organization’s employee handbook for them to read through. If you don’t yet have an employee handbook, that’s something the Leaving Well team can assist with! Send me an email at Naomi@8thandHome.com for a list of our resources and recommendations.
You’ll also need to prepare the current team for the new hire’s arrival.
Send an email to the team introducing new hires. Share their name, title, department, and the fun facts they’ve previously shared with you.
If you plan any type of welcome event for new hires, be sure to share the details of that event with both the new hire(s) and the existing team.
Prepare the new employee’s desk or office. You’ll need to requisition a computer for the employee loaded with programs that they might need as well as any standard software. Set up their accounts, email, business cards, access cards/keys, etc.
Have the employee’s manager set up a team lunch for the first day to welcome the new person to the team. Reach out beforehand if you have it ordered in or ask where they would like to go.
Have a swag bag waiting for each employee on day one. This can include t-shirts, mugs, pens, candy, etc. It’s little touches like these that make employees feel welcome.
On the First Day
Collect necessary paperwork first thing. This will clear the administrative part out of the way for the fun things happening later in the day. This is when you can also discuss the employee handbook more in depth, talk about safety and security, and go over your code of conduct.
Give an office tour if you are an in person organization. Show them around and introduce them to team members along the way. Show them where the supply closet, bathrooms, and break areas are.
Help employees set up their workstations. Retrieve any other supplies they might need. Assist them in setting up their email, voicemail, signature, etc. If needed, give them an access card, code, or key.
Make sure that the employee has lunch plans (ideally organized in advance). If not, find someone from their team to treat them to lunch.
Review the schedule for the week, pointing out what time to come in every day, when to expect to leave, and any important meetings.
Discuss the probationary period (usually the first 90 days). Share what the expectations will be during that time and explore potential outcomes.
Before they leave for the day, have them meet with their manager for a check-in. They can discuss job duties, the day’s events, what to expect the next day, or ask any other questions.
Onboarding Beyond the First Day
It’s important to spread out the onboarding process to avoid information overload–there are a lot of moving parts in your organization and it’s impossible to learn it all in one day.
Meet the Teams: Schedule meetings with different teams on different days.
IT Support: Schedule any software training that is needed to complete their job. Introduce them to the process for submitting a help ticket for any troubles.
C-Suite Leadership: Set up group meetings with executive leadership. This helps your new hire feel connected and shows that upper management is indeed accessible.
Gamify It: Send them on a scavenger hunt that has them search out other employees’ fun facts. This will get them up and moving around the office, introduce them to new people, and help break the ice.
Survey Says: Conduct an onboarding survey to gauge new employees’ experience. Ask insightful questions about what they found helpful and what they thought could be tweaked.
Team Shadowing: If there wasn’t time in the first week, have the new hire meet with or shadow each person on the team. This will help them build relationships and develop an understanding of each person’s role.
Mentorship: Assign each employee a mentor. This person can be an invaluable resource for a new hire. They can provide help and answer questions that arise throughout their time at the company.
The Probationary Period
Depending on your probationary period, keep in close contact with new hires. It can take months for them to truly be acclimated to their new role. As you continue to onboard your new employee during their first ninety days with the organization, it may be appropriate to schedule additional trainings to fill skill or knowledge gaps.
Ensure new employees are still checking in with their managers and mentors on a regular basis. This is an important aspect of their continual growth and success as an employee in your organization. Managers can provide feedback during the first ninety days and should support the new hire in making sure they have a successful onboarding and probationary period.
If your organization doesn’t have a document that outlines your probation period’s expectations and outcomes, I have a great Expectations document that I’d love to share with you! Email me at Naomi@8thandHome.com to request a copy.
Key Takeaways
When thinking about onboarding new team members, it’s most important to share your company values, culture, and sharing realistic expectations to help them succeed in their new role. I recommend creating a Reading Guide that shares relevant information about your organization and sending that to your new employee for their first day. List your mission and values, and if you are really up for the task, create a set of statements that let your employees know how they will know that the values are being lived out.
- Discover your organization’s natural relationship to change and transition with the Workplace Transition Archetype Assessment.
- Get in touch to book a consultation to strategize your organization’s onboarding procedures.
- Listen to Episode 49 of the Leaving Well Podcast: Onboarding Tips and Tricks