
Hiring via referrals isn't great for diversity - JumpCrisscross
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-23/hiring-an-employee-s-buddy-is-fueling-a-major-workplace-crisis?cmpid=BBD122316_BIZ
======
cperciva
_A McKinsey report from 2015 found that among 366 companies, those with gender
diversity outperform those without it by 15 percent; those with ethnic
diversity outperform those without it by 35 percent._

The problem with analyses like this is that they're observational studies
rather than interventional studies. Knowing that successful companies are more
likely to have gender and ethnic diversity does not necessarily indicate that
increasing gender and ethnic diversity will make companies more successful.

There are many things which we consider to be inherently Good Things but are
completely disregarded by most of the world's population, simply because they
can't afford to be concerned about such things; in a sense, being concerned
with diversity is a sign of privilege, and in some cases is a even used as a
economic signalling mechanism. If your company is only barely staying afloat,
you're far less likely to spend time and money promoting diversity.

Differences in priorities extend all the way down the socioeconomic ladder. In
many of the world's slums, an asbestos roof is a sign of success and something
which people work hard towards obtaining. Don't they know that asbestos can
kill them? Of course they do -- but having an asbestos roof makes their home
quieter when it rains, cooler when it's sunny, and they'd have to be extremely
lucky to live long enough to get lung cancer from it anyway. In the Western
world of course the notion of people willingly exposing themselves to asbestos
is horrifying; but it makes sense in their context.

I hope we can all strive to remember that people may have different priorities
based on their backgrounds, and especially their socioeconomic backgrounds.
Coming from my privileged position, I think diversity is great; but if a small
business in rural Wyoming ends up hiring 100% white heterosexual males because
those are the people the business owner knows and he can't afford to spend
time looking beyond his circle of acquaintances... well, it's unfortunate, but
it doesn't make him racist, sexist, or homophobic.

------
hamburglar1
Is it possible that successful companies devote more resources to increase
diversity? Implying that companies are more diverse because they are
successful. What tests have been done to tease out which is the causal factor?

~~~
ChicagoBoy11
I think ou are onto something - business is difficult and even simply
surviving is a challenge facing most enterprises. Thinking about diversity
seems like a first-world problem and only really on the radar of companies who
have a strong foothols in the market already.

------
edem
TL;DR: People tend to refer buddies from the same gender/race. To alleviate
this problem instead of ditching referrals altogether add a referral cash
bonus (only?) for diversity referrals.

~~~
automatwon
Thanks, that was a good summary.

If you're someone of a less represented class, and you tend to refer your
buddies from the same gender/race, you're going to get better bonuses than
your overly represented peers. Does this constitute reverse discrimination?

~~~
67726e
Discriminating based on race is racist. End of story. This would never make it
past your legal department.

~~~
guntars
You say it like it's a bad thing.

[http://lesswrong.com/lw/e95/the_noncentral_fallacy_the_worst...](http://lesswrong.com/lw/e95/the_noncentral_fallacy_the_worst_argument_in_the/)

~~~
hawkice
Legal risk sounds like a bad thing. That being said, it doesn't put
discrimination in the hiring process per se, only the referral process, which
may not be protected by federal law. I am not a lawyer.

------
tyingq
I thought I remembered a similar phenomenon where you tend to hire or refer
people that don't represent a strong competitive threat to your career. That
is, hiring people that you think are smart, but not quite as smart as
yourself. Can't find a good reference to any actual study or data though.

~~~
mwfunk
That's the "A's hire A's, B's hire C's" concept. A sign of a bad manager is
that they never recruit people that they feel are equal to or greater than
themselves in any way. The outcome is that that manager holds back the entire
organization to secure their own power, and dilutes the talent of the group
for personal gain.

Sadly, the President-Elect appears to share this philosophy:

[http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/04/21/life-
lesso...](http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/04/21/life-lessons-with-
donald-never-hire-people-who-are-smarter-than-you-n2151620)

------
mdekkers
Whenever I am involved in hiring, I look at boring stuff, such as ability to
do the job at hand, team fit, alignment of ideas, etc. I look for the best
possible person for the job and enterprise at that specific moment in time. I
don't look at or consider gender, race, religion, or anything else.

Diversity in the workplace is not my problem. Finding the right person for the
job is. I have hired people of all genders, sexualities, races, as well as
physical abilities. These things just shouldn't feature in a hiring process
either way. I will hire the best candidate for the job, every time.

