How to avoid discrimination in the workplace

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29 Oct 2020

Harvard BusinessResearch: To Reduce Gender Bias, Anonymize Job Applications report (Johnson & Kirk, 2020) shows that as the existence of gender, race, disability and other biases becomes more widely acknowledged, many organizations are “blinding” their talent selection systems. Whether in a hiring process or an application for funding or other opportunities, there was an assumption  that anonymizing details about the applicant — removing their name, for example — lead to the selection of more candidates from underrepresented groups.

The recently published research confirms that anonymizing can mitigate gender bias in the review of scientific research applications. Specifically, they found that when indications of candidates’ gender (such as their first name) were removed from applications for time on the Hubble Space Telescope, women were selected at a higher rate than when their gender was obvious.

Based on that report, Michelin Mexico has implemented inclusive resumes that allows interviewers to have no preferences or discrimination. The interviews are based on the skills and abilities of people to fill a position

Michelin Mexico is proud to share that they have completed a recruitment of a person with a disability through this program. The manager’s feedback quotes “After reviewing the skills, competencies and experience of the candidate, I considered that she was the perfect fit for the position. I was surprised when I met her in person and discovered her disability.

Today she has acclimatised to the team (and viceversa), her position and the company in a very positive way”.

To this day,  we have 12 people with disabilities in our workforce at Michelin Mexico and we will continue this initiative to promote the recruitment of more diverse talent.