589: How to Create Inclusive Hiring Practices, with Ruchika Tulshyan

Ruchika Tulshyan: Inclusion on Purpose

Ruchika Tulshyan is the founder of Candour, a global inclusion strategy firm. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review. As a keynote speaker, Ruchika has addressed organizations like NASA, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the United States Congress.

Ruchika is the author of The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality in the Workplace, and most recently, Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work*. She is on the Thinkers50 Radar list and named as one of Hive Learning’s Most Influential D&I Professionals for the past two years.

In this conversation, Ruchika and I discuss how leaders can adapt their hiring practices to attract more diverse candidates — and ultimately support inclusion inside their organizations. We discuss the importance of what to both include and avoid in job postings. Plus, we examine how well-intended interview practices can sometimes have unintended results on supporting diversity and inclusion.

Key Points

• Make the hiring process transparent from start to finish.
• Include an authentic equal opportunity statement.
• Refrain from using certain words in job listings. Examples include: rockstar, ninja, hacker, guru, manage, build, aggressive, fearless, independent, analytic, and assertive.
• Emphasize skills and experience over professional degrees.
• Avoid panel interviews and refrain from asking questions or having conversations about culture fit.

Resources Mentioned

• Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work* by Ruchika Tulshyan

Interview Notes

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Related Episodes

• How to Get the Ideal Team Player, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 301)
• How to Be More Inclusive, with Stefanie Johnson (episode 508)
• Start Finding Overlooked Talent, with Johnny Taylor, Jr. (episode 544)

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