opportunity : Diversity Positive Recruitment :
Introduction

Tips and Tools

Example position description – Scientist Web sites recommended for CGIAR recruitment Internet research tools Print media position announcement – Scientist Web site position announcement – Scientist Sample candidate assessment form Briefing selection committees Practical assessment tasks Checking references Diversity-positive salary setting

This section deals with the following key issues:

• why diversity-positive recruitment is so important for CGIAR Centers;
• what is meant by diversity-positive recruitment;
• who will benefit from these guidelines;
• pre-recruitment issues;
• all forms of recruitment: international, regional and national;
• what these guidelines provide (including sections on model policy,
  sample practices, and tips and tools);
• what these guidelines don’t provide;
• terminology
• summary of key messages

The Gender and Diversity Program recognizes that existing recruitment practices often do not cover the scope of issues that need to be dealt with in today's Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Thus, we have developed these diversity-positive guidelines as a guide for CGIAR Centers of the CGIAR system to integrate with their existing practices.

While the focus of these guidelines is diversity-positive recruitment, much of the information presented in this section is essentially “good practice” for all recruitment. It is included because, unless good practice is observed, the specific diversity-positive elements will have little chance of success. Good practice is an essential platform for diversity-positive recruitment.

These proposed guidelines include a model policy ready to be adapted or adopted by the Centers as well as related check lists, sample practices, tips and tools plus associated alerts and cautions that flag hot issues for added attention. All are linked to make it easy for you to tap into our best recommendations for any particular step in the recruitment process you are dealing with at any particular time.

Many Centers have shared some of their best practices with G&D to help us develop these guidelines. This Inclusive Workplace e-Resource Center is designed to serve as a platform for ongoing exchange and improvement.

Why is diversity-positive recruitment so important for CGIAR Centers?
1 Staff diversity can help any organization become more dynamic, more innovative and more responsive to the needs of the communities it works with. Thus, diversity-positive recruitment practices and skills are essential to the success of CGIAR Centers.

2 CGIAR Centers are committed to attracting the world’s best women and men. Consequently, the Centers must compete with many other organizations for those talented people. Top-notch applicants are looking for more than well-paid and meaningful jobs. They are looking for an employment environment that addresses their concerns about their quality of life and that of their families.

3 CGIAR Centers also are committed to encouraging the recruitment of under-represented groups. In order to facilitate such recruitment, the Centers must be aware of and use the best possible recruitment techniques.

What is meant by diversity-positive recruitment?
Diversity-positive recruitment focuses on four strategies:

• ensure that vacancies are defined comprehensively by identifying the total competency set required to carry out the work effectively, thus creating the conditions that facilitate the fair consideration of a genuine diversity of candidates;
• ensure that recruitment efforts tap the relevant global, regional and/or national pools of qualified candidates and make special efforts to reach women and other groups currently under-represented in the Center;
• ensure parity and transparency in all selection processes, as well as a keen awareness that every new staff hire conveys a visible message about the Center’s organizational culture, goals and future;
• develop the CGIAR Centers’ external reputations, positioning them as “employers of choice” – employers who welcome and value staff diversity and are sensitive to a diversity of needs including, for example, those coming from different cultures, with or without children, with or without professional spouses/partners, and/or those with same-sex partners.
  

Fundamental approach to recruitment
4 A Center’s fundamental approach to all aspects of recruitment should be to position itself as the employer of first choice. Centers face tremendous challenges in recruitment: other leading science organizations compete for the same talented people, Centers work mainly in developing countries and they work with/through partner organizations rather than with resources entirely under the Centers’ control. Conversely, the fact that Centers work in the fight against hunger and poverty can be a major attraction to many potential applicants. These factors have enormous bearing on the approach to recruitment.

5 In addition, the CGIAR Centers face a variety of other staffing challenges because they:

• require staff with highly specialized expertise in science and management;
• are essentially technical organizations, meaning the people involved in the selection processes typically find it easier to define and assess technical knowledge and skills rather than the “soft” skills (interpersonal skills, communication skills, etc.) that are just as essential for work in a development-focused, multi-cultural environment;
• depend on recruiting and retaining a significant proportion of expatriates among their core staff, i.e. those who provide leadership in science and complementary activities;
• are often located at remote stations in developing countries away from professional and family facilities that would be taken for granted in developed countries.

6 Despite these challenges, Centers offer unique attractions. Foremost is the potential for staff members to make important, personal contributions to overcoming hunger and poverty and thus enhancing the quality of life for countless people around the world. All Centers are values driven and, consequently, are magnets for people sharing those values.

Meeting Center goals for gender and diversity
7 There are significant internal challenges to Centers’ potential effectiveness. For example, the 2003 CGIAR staff survey showed that Centers typically:

• do not have enough women in senior management positions;
• do not have enough women in scientist positions or in professional support science positions; and
• do not have an appropriate proportion of women or men scientists from developing countries.

8 As a consequence, each Center has developed its own set of goals for gender and diversity staffing for the next 1, 3 and 5 years (from 2004). These goals identify each Center’s priority areas for enhancing gender and diversity representation and related initiatives. The goals typically include recruitment initiatives.

The emergence of OneStaff
9 The OneStaff concept is being progressively introduced by at least four Centers and is being considered by several others. This is a significant development. The OneStaff concept promotes initiatives that minimize the difference in employment conditions and practices within the international, regional and national recruitment categories as a way of optimizing diversity-positive practices.

Organizational sharing
10 All the points mentioned above indicate the need to have the best possible diversity-positive recruitment practices. Many Centers already have good practices and have shared some of their best practices with G&D during the development of these guidelines. This part of the e-Resource Center is designed to enable further sharing across all Centers to help stimulate innovation within each Center. The e-Resource Center provides a platform for ongoing improvement and invites all Centers to continue providing their suggestions.

The challenge of “soft” funding
11 One of the greatest threats to the CGIAR’s ability to improve gender and diversity staffing is its increasing reliance on “soft” funding. In some cases, the conditions of this funding require the scientist either to initiate a new project or expand an existing one immediately.

12 This may mean urgent recruitment of new staff, bypassing the normal open, competitive recruitment procedures. The new staff members are hired as “consultants”, typically with no consideration of issues such as gender and diversity balance. This, in turn, means the need for even more emphasis on good, diversity-positive recruitment procedures when undertaking conventional recruitment.

Who will benefit from these guidelines?
13 The following guidelines are addressed to all people across the CGIAR Centers who, in one way or another, are involved in recruiting and selecting staff. The guidelines will assist recruiters in every stage of the process, from organizing the search committee and writing the vacancy announcement to giving a warm welcome to new staff members and introducing them to the Center.

14 The guidelines span the full range of recruitments, from local to expatriate, and cover all positions except Director General. While most of the principles also apply to Director General appointments, G&D has published guidelines specifically focused on these senior positions.

15 The first section of “Sample Practices” explains the role of HR in facilitating the recruitment process.

Pre-recruitment issues
16 These guidelines concentrate on the process once the decision to proceed with open recruitment has been made. However, it also is important to look at the process that should occur prior to this decision. New staffing needs should not immediately lead to recruitment action. After all, they also can provide opportunities for Centers to meet other gender and diversity staffing priorities. Foremost of these are:

• furthering the career of a current staff member, or
• providing employment for a spouse or partner of a staff member.

17 Centers should review whether either of these priorities is applicable before initiating the open, competitive recruitment process. If, for example, a Center decides that a number of its current staff would (or could) be qualified to meet a new staffing need, it could launch an internal competitive process to select from within that group. This approach is particularly relevant if the new role would provide:

• a career development opportunity;
• a promotion opportunity; and/or
• an opportunity to move to an area of more secure employment.

18 Open (external) recruitment then would be used to fill the vacancy created by moving a current staff member into a new position.

Focusing on all types of recruitment
19 In the past, G&D guidelines for recruitment such as G&D Working Paper 36 focused on internationally recruited staff. These are typically the most complex recruitments in terms of:

• finding the right person with the right skills, not only for the position being filled but also for its geographic location, and
• trying to increase the proportion of women and/or nationals from developing countries in senior positions.

These appointments often involve the recruitment of expatriates with all of its implicit challenges.

20 International/expatriate appointments fall into a high-risk category because of cost and consequences of failure. For example:

• the positions typically require significant project or even organizational leadership, meaning that their personal job performance may affect more than their own effectiveness; it may affect the achievement of their staff as well as relationships with partners and donors;
• many appointees are expatriates whose effectiveness depends on their ability (and their family’s ability) to adapt to their new duty stations;
• international/expatriate appointees are relatively costly in terms of salaries and benefits, and
• if the appointment is a failure and the appointee leaves the Center within, say, a year of commencement, it represents a significant financial and operational loss.

Coverage of the new guidelines
21 For the reasons outlined above, past guidelines have focused on international/expatriate appointments. However, the basic principles of these new guidelines apply to all appointments, irrespective of the scope of recruitment. It does not make sense to apply best practice only to international appointments when nationally recruited staff makes up about 80 percent of the CGIAR Center workforce.

22 Whereas one of the foci of international recruitment is professionals from developing countries, the corresponding focus for national recruitment is staff from a diversity of ethnicities: races, communities, castes, etc.

23 Some features of the guidelines would normally apply only to international or regional expatriate appointments. Where possible, the limited application of those items is clearly identified. Similarly, those features that would normally apply only to nationally recruited staff are also identified as such.

Lateral thinking
24 Some recruitment issues, which traditionally have been regarded as relevant only to international/expatriate recruitments, also may need to be considered in the context of national recruitments. For example, if a Center appoints a male technician who lives several hundred kilometres from his new duty station, it is important to provide as much information as possible to his wife or partner about such things as housing, schools or job opportunities at that station.

What do these guidelines provide?
Model Policy
25 The Model Policy provides a suggested policy statement that could be included in the Center’s Personnel Policy Manual (PPM). Most Centers already have a statement in their PPM of the principles underpinning their approach to recruitment. However, the Model Policy provides a reference for reviewing the adequacy of existing policy statements.

Checklist
26 The Checklist section summarizes the key issues of the entire recruitment process. Each Checklist item is hot-linked to the corresponding section within a relevant sample practice.

Sample Practices
27 The Sample Practices sections provide:
a) guidelines for the role of HR in recruitment activities;
b) guidelines for each of the key steps in the diversity-positive recruitment process:

• defining positions
• planning the recruitment
• sourcing: casting the net widely
• position announcements
• screening and short-listing
• interviews
• selection decisions
• post-interview processes
• orientation for new staff

c) guidelines for other issues affecting more than one step in the recruitment process:

• managing applications from other Centers
• managing internal applications

Tips and Tools
28 The Tips and Tools sections provide more detailed information to support advice contained in the Sample Practices. They include, e.g. examples of resources available to assist people engaged in recruitment activities and examples of good practices implemented by Centers.

Alerts
29 Some of the key issues from each section are presented in boxes for added emphasis. Depending on the nature of the content, these boxes are titled:

Good Practice

Diversity Alert!

Caution

What these guidelines do not provide
30 These guidelines do not pretend to be a comprehensive description of the entire recruitment process. It would be foolish to suggest that there is “one best way” to design a recruitment system. Each of the 15 Centers has its own tried and tested way to issue vacancy announcements, receive applications, handle the selection processes (formal interview committee, informal interviewers, seminars/presentations, practical assessments) and so on.

31 Rather, these guidelines comprise a comprehensive set of suggestions to enhance diversity-positive recruitment processes for Centers to merge with their established systems, thus creating a more effective recruitment process.

Terminology
32 As these guidelines were being developed, it became apparent that there is some confusing overlap in terminology. Terms such as “search committee”, “selection committee” and “interviewing panel” mean different things to different Centers and in different circumstances.

33 To minimize confusion, the following terminology has been used throughout these guidelines.
Search committee – refers to the group responsible only for search arrangements, typically for senior management and leadership positions. Search committee members are responsible for identifying and/or courting potential candidates, identifying sources who could suggest candidates and/or identifying appropriate sourcing strategies for such positions (e.g. hiring recruitment consultants). Some members of the search committee may also serve on the selection committee.

Selection committee – describes the group generally responsible for the entire recruitment process including planning search arrangements, conducting interviews as a group, collecting and assessing other selection inputs (e.g. from seminars, practical assessments), facilitating familiarization activities and, ultimately, recommending the choice of the preferred candidate to the approving authority.

Informal interviewers – refers to people other than those on the selection committee, who interact with and provide their personal assessment of candidates to the selection committee. This group may include colleagues from within the recruiting group, interested parties from other groups, etc.

The term “interviewing panel” has been avoided throughout these guidelines.

SUMMARY OF KEY MESSAGES
This Checklist section of the guidelines presents the key messages from each stage of the recruitment process. It starts with “Defining positions” and concludes with “Managing internal applications”. The first practice is not included in the Checklist because it covers the role of HR across the entire recruitment process, including pre-recruitment activities.

Defining positions
When defining positions to prepare for recruitment:

• don’t attempt to draft a position announcement before a precise position definition has been agreed upon
• define the position by setting out its role, responsibilities and functions, the competency requirements (knowledge, personal qualities, skills and abilities), and the minimum academic qualifications and minimum experience required
• avoid over-reliance on qualifications and experience by defining the full set of competencies; this is critical to diversity-positive recruitment
• avoid overstating the required length of experience; position announcements should state minimum experience consistent with acquiring the required competencies
• define competencies to optimize the Center’s ability to attract a diverse range of qualified candidates by focusing on the key requirements of the position and avoiding issues that are irrelevant and discriminatory
• avoid drawing unsustainable inferences from academic training
• avoid making assumptions based on length of experience

Planning the recruitment
This is the stage where most of the successful tactics for diversified recruitment are identified and implemented:

• consider strategic issues as well as the immediate requirements of the position
• choose the members of the selection committee carefully so that the selection process will be effective from a diversity perspective
• ensure committee members understand the concept of “institutional temptation for self-reproduction in hiring”
• recognize the risk of overusing the limited number of senior women on selection committees
• consider the opportunities for developing a broader cadre of people who become skilled in interview techniques for future recruitments
• be conscious of the passive-market candidates and consider a range of strategies to catch their interest as well as active job seekers
• cast the dissemination net widely by: considering channels such as journals, newspapers, universities and institutes, Internet sites, listserves, professional associations; and ensuring that every position announcement is placed on the Center’s intranet
• consider the extent to which the Center should court potential candidates either directly or through professional networks
• ensure that the budget for the recruitment includes realistic costs for advertising and travel costs for candidates and, if appropriate, their spouses/partners
• set a realistic timetable for the recruitment process

understanding sourcing
Sourcing refers to researching and searching for suitable candidates to fill vacant positions. With diversity-positive sourcing, be aware that:

• sourcing can be undertaken on a global, regional or national basis
• diversity-positive sourcing of qualified candidates requires both traditional and non-traditional sourcing channels
• traditional methods such as classified advertisements now net fewer returns; the Internet brims with opportunity and potential
• in order to meet some of their gender and diversity goals, particularly for women in professional science support functions, Centers may need to develop more innovative sourcing strategies for national recruitment than in the past
• Centers may need to develop more innovative sourcing strategies to broaden, for example, ethnic diversity among national recruitments
• the traditional concept of “national” sourcing may no longer be strictly national

Good sourcing strategies
Well thought out sourcing strategies will serve to:

• increase the Center’s visibility
• court sources
• utilize the Internet for widespread posting of position announcements and for finding the hard-to-find potential candidates
• advertise in the print media
• consider hiring recruiting firms for more senior positions
• evaluate sourcing strategies

Diversity-positive aspects of position announcements
When position announcements are diversity positive, they:

• actively encourage women and/or people of diverse ethnicities to apply in a thoughtfully worded statement
• use key words such as “development”, “applied” and “interdisciplinary” that will attract specific target groups (such as women)
• avoid unsound and implicitly discriminatory practice: don’t request information about the candidate’s current salary, salary history or salary expectations
  Special considerations for expatriate recruitments:
• mention facilities and services in the local area
• mention opportunities for spouse/partner employment (where these exist) and encourage candidates to e-mail/fax for more information
• make it clear if job sharing or joint appointments are a possibility
• indicate the kinds of family-friendly benefits that come with the job

Drafting an effective position announcement
Position announcements will be most effective if they:

• have a strategy; work out what to put in media announcements versus Web site announcements
• present information in the correct order in position announcements

1. focus on the reader’s interests, i.e. summarize the job first
2. describe the Center and its work; make the Center sound lively and people focused
3. describe what the Center offers to expatriate recruits (e.g. welcomes dual career couples, offers job-sharing possibilities) and an overview of benefits
4. summarize the responsibilities of the position
5. summarize the entire set of competencies required for the position
6. be clear about the level of academic training required and about the extent and nature of experience required; don’t overstate either
7. summarize key issues about living at the duty station: population, climate, Center facilities, schools and medical facilities, etc.
8. draw potential candidates’ attention to the Center Web site to enable them to find more information about the Center, the job, life at the duty station and how to apply
9. make it mandatory that applicants supply not only their c.v. but a statement explaining how they see themselves meeting the competency requirements

Screening and short-listing
When screening and short-listing, it is important to:

• make decisions based on the full set of selection criteria – not just those relating to technical expertise and length/type of experience
• decide which members of the selection committee will undertake the screening/ short-listing, and how they will decide the final short list of candidates for interview
• guard against gender and diversity discrimination during screening and short-listing
• guard against simplistic first-screen criteria (e.g. qualifications, length of experience, number of publications), because these may discriminate against both men and women scientists from developing countries
• decide in advance on a realistic minimum length of experience and avoid screening out those with the least experience who nevertheless meet the minimum requirement
• avoid stereotypic assumptions about who can work where (e.g. in a particular country or location), who can(not) undertake particular types of work (e.g. security or mechanical services, or handling large animals)
• avoid falling into the trap of drawing inferences (e.g. about management skills) that may not be sustainable
• consider developing a screening schedule that provides a set of “indicators” for each criterion, thus optimizing the consistency between assessors
• beware of compromising candidates’ privacy (and job security): confine screening/short-listing to the candidate’s application; do not make enquiries through personal networks
• know what to do if the short list does not include women or developing country candidates

Preparing for interviews
In order to assure interviews will be diversity positive:

• design the entire selection process (interview, practical test, seminar, meetings with informal interviewers) to focus on the full set of competencies for the position
• beware of “institutional temptation for self-reproduction in hiring”
• remember that selection committees ideally should include both men and women who represent a range of ethnic backgrounds
• organize for the selection committee to meet prior to the interviews in order to: agree on the interview plan (and core questions); be briefed/coached by HR; and decide on all other issues relevant to the total interview process
  Special considerations for expatriate recruitments:
• explain the entire selection process to candidates prior to the interview, e.g. interview, seminar, one-on-one meetings with “informal interviewers”, and/or practical assessment
• explain who (other than selection committee members) will contribute to the final decision
• provide all candidates with a comprehensive brief about life at the duty station prior to interview
• encourage the spouse/partner of an expatriate candidate to accompany the candidate on the visit to the duty station

Conducting interviews
In order to assure that interviews are conducted in a diversity-positive way:

• require all candidates to answer the same core set of questions
• ask specific, problem-solving questions; try to avoid hypothetical questions or, at least, use them sparingly
• try to concentrate on questions that require the candidate to use her/his past performance/achievement to demonstrate whether she/he meets a particular competency requirement
  Special considerations for expatriate recruitments:
• encourage candidates to rest properly before their interview (and related activities)
• consider the viability of a video conference
• if the spouse/partner of expatriate candidates accompanies the candidate, schedule substantial time to discuss lifestyle issues with the candidate and her/his spouse/partner

Selection decisions
In order to make diversity-positive selection decisions:

• guard against assumptions, stereotypes and prejudices that may inadvertently (and subconsciously) play a role
• consciously surrender the three commonly held assumptions about diversity-positive recruitment: that merit must be sacrificed to gain diversity; that any selection process should be gender- and culture-blind; and that final selection is made from a pool of equally qualified candidates
• understand what “merit” means: assess candidates against the totality of selection criteria for the vacancy including competencies as well as academic training
• aim to be gender- and culture-aware, work consciously to avoid assumptions, stereotypes or generalizations; accept that “difference” may feel uncomfortable
• consider the strategic staffing issues associated with each appointment
• minimize the introduction of bias between or after interviews, among selection committee members and from informal interviewers
• check references after the interview, primarily to confirm the committee’s perceptions of the candidate; and/or to alert the committee to new information about weaknesses that was not apparent at interview
• decide on an “order of merit” among candidates, then decide in the direction of diversity whenever it’s a close call

Post-interview processes
The post-interview process must consider the needs of both the successful and unsuccessful candidates.

For successful candidates:
• be as open and flexible as possible when dealing with special needs that the person may have regarding family or personal issues
• ensure that the initial salary offer is based on a rational, consistent and non-discriminatory system for determining commencement salaries
• telephone the successful candidate to advise that she/he is the preferred candidate, negotiate salary, negotiate any non-standard employment conditions and ascertain when she/he would be able to take up duty
• assuming the first stage is resolved satisfactorily, confirm offer/arrangements in writing and provide any additional information necessary to facilitate taking up the position
  For unsuccessful candidates:
• make sure all candidates leave the Center feeling the selection process was fair and friendly
• send all candidates a letter of appreciation for having applied for the position and convey regrets that they have not been successful
• consider inviting unsuccessful candidates to become part of the Center’s database on applicants for future reference
• invite women scientists to register their information on the database of the Gender & Diversity Program (www.genderdiversity.org)

Orientation of new staff
When planning new staff orientation, it is important to:

• apply the elements of good-practice orientation for all Center appointees
• apply the elements of good-practice orientation of expatriates (including spouse and family) to the duty station

Managing applications from other Centers
For appropriate management of applications from other Centers, it is important to:

• acknowledge all applications from CGIAR candidates
• deal sensitively with candidates who are not short-listed for interview
• encourage candidates who will be interviewed to advise their supervisors
• make sure that candidates from other Centers receive just as comprehensive a briefing about the recruiting Center as non-CGIAR candidates
• deal sensitively with unsuccessful candidates

Managing internal applications
When applications come from internal candidates:

• acknowledge all internal applications
• deal sensitively with candidates who are not short-listed for interview
• encourage candidates who will be interviewed to advise their supervisors
• make sure that internal candidates receive just as comprehensive a briefing about the position as non-CGIAR candidates
• deal sensitively with unsuccessful candidates

Acknowledgements
The Inclusive Workplace e-Resource Center is based on G&D’s benchmarking of the CGIAR Centers and other international organizations. In this section on diversity positive recruitment, a number of CGIAR Centers shared with us their ideas and existing policy material dealing with recruitment and related processes which helped us refine the guidelines presented here.

We particularly thank CIAT and IRRI for their memos for briefing selection committees; CIFOR for use of its Candidate Assessment Form; ILRI for the source information for the example position description, sample print media and web site position announcements; and Dr Meryl Williams, former Director-General of WorldFish, for the material on stereotypic and alternative assumptions about job candidates.

We also incorporated material from G&D Working Paper No. 36: “Diversity-Positive Recruitment” by Vicki Wilde and Patrick Shields.

This project could never have been realized without G&D’s creative teamwork, bringing together the diverse talents of Fabiola Amariles, Bob Moore, Pauline Bomett, and Antonia Okono along with myself for content, and Nancy Hart, Joanne Morgante and Roberto Magini for editing, design and programming. I sincerely thank each for their knowledge, artistry and sincere dedication to inclusion.

Vicki Wilde
Leader
CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program

© CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program 2006