WayUp's Focus on Diversity in Hiring

Initially designed as a resource for college students seeking employment and internships, WayUp has evolved its core mission. The platform now increasingly concentrates on assisting employers in their pursuit of a more diverse candidate base.

Recently, WayUp launched a new feature intended to provide employers with clear insights into potential shortcomings within their diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Addressing Common Misconceptions

Liz Wessel, co-founder and CEO, clarified a frequent assumption made by companies struggling to achieve diversity goals. Often, recruiters and leadership believe the issue stems from a lack of diverse applicants at the initial stages of the recruitment process.

This perspective was highlighted by controversial statements made by Wells Fargo CEO Charles Schlarf last year, who suggested a limited pool of qualified diverse candidates hindered the company’s progress.

Data-Driven Insights with the New Dashboard

Wessel argues that a deeper analysis of the data often reveals a more nuanced reality. The problem isn't always a lack of initial diverse outreach.

WayUp’s newly introduced dashboard empowers employers to monitor this critical aspect of their hiring process. It visually represents the demographic composition – specifically race and gender – of the candidate pool at each stage of the recruitment funnel.

Identifying Bottlenecks in the Process

For instance, Wessel noted that companies recruiting for technical positions frequently find a relatively diverse applicant pool during initial contact.

This diversity often persists through the first round of interviews, but a significant shift occurs after the implementation of technical assessments or programming tests, resulting in a candidate pool that is disproportionately white and male.

Wessel drew a parallel to standardized tests like the SAT, explaining that “many technical assessments have high correlation to socioeconomics status.”

Taking Action Based on Data

Armed with this information, recruiters can make informed decisions. Some may opt to eliminate these assessments altogether.

Alternatively, they might retain the tests but, crucially, understand precisely where disparities are emerging within their hiring process.

Why This Feature is Unique

Following a demonstration of the dashboard, a question arose regarding the absence of similar features on other hiring platforms.

In a subsequent communication, Wessel explained that many platforms underestimate the complexity of achieving true diversity, believing it can be solved simply by attracting a diverse initial applicant pool.

Furthermore, she emphasized that WayUp is “one of the only sourcing/job platforms that I know of that has candidates self-report their race/ethnicity, gender and veteran status (in an EEOC/OFCCP compliant way).”

She concluded by stating that WayUp’s focus is on creating a platform that ensures equity throughout the entire hiring process, optimizing for employers seeking a diverse workforce, rather than applying temporary solutions by solely increasing diversity at the top of the funnel.