Where Inclusion Lives (And Dies) In Recruitment – A Four-step Framework To Fix The Gap

DEI doesn’t fail because of bad intentions. Most companies genuinely care about it and see it as a core business value. But good intentions don’t always translate into practical actions. Most often, inclusion fails not because people are actively working against it, but because it falls through the structural gaps in your recruitment process. It’s a systemic issue, not a cynical one.  

Candidates (particularly early career talent) are informed. They are also screening you, looking beyond DEI statements for real, consistent signals of inclusion. They judge your company by the experience you offer and the signals you display. And if those signals aren’t visible, or disappear during the hiring process, your applicants might well disappear too.  

This simple, four-step inclusion framework was part of a recent webinar Reach ATS hosted with Mark Mclane, Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing at M&G (Click here to watch webinar ). It works as a simple diagnostic tool to help you review your hiring process, spot gaps where inclusion might be failing, and supports a more robust, process-wide approach to DEI. It’s all about small, committed steps that lead to big change.  

Step One: SIGNS   

Why signals are important and what candidates see before they even apply.  

Early brand signals can make or break trust. The candidate journey doesn’t start at the point of application; it starts with your ad, and the places talent visit before they apply. These early signals, before any of your team is even involved, are where trust is built or shattered. Candidates are actively looking for evidence that your workplace is safe and inclusive – but are your signs telling the right story?  

Here’s what to look for:  

Job Ads 

Is the language you’re using gender-coded? Is it written in plain English, or full of inaccessible jargon? What choices have you made around salary transparency? Remember, complexity and vagueness are immediate warning signs.   

Looking for a micro-win? Run your job description through a gender bias checker. Aim for plain, human language.  

Careers pages 

If your organisation isn’t diverse yet, then be open and honest about it. You may well have spent a fortune on beautiful glossy images for your website, but if they don’t reflect the people already working at your organisation, then your diversity is performative. Use specific employee stories to give applicants an insight into the real people working for you. Genuine insights, real images and honesty about your current employee make up grow trust far more quickly.  

DEI statements 

Vague phrases such as “we are committed to equality” are meaningless. Yes, they sound great, and the intention is probably well meant, but instead of platitudes, signal your commitment. Offer specific, measurable goals (e.g. we aim to close our gender pay gap by X% in 2026) and follow up. Hold yourselves to account.  

Accessibility 

How easy is it for candidates to find information on adjustment routes? Is the information buried in an application? Is it tucked away in the depths of your career pages? Make sure the information is prioritised and simple to find. If you want everyone to feel welcome, don’t hide the signs.  

Looking for a micro-win? Check if your application works for screen readers. There is a wealth of free tools out there (Microsoft Office and most web browsers can do this for you).   

Social proof 

Candidates aren’t just looking at your career’s pages. They’re looking for signs on other platforms too. Check the intention shown on your own website is backed by evidence elsewhere.  

If you’re sharing employee stories online, do they sound genuine? Are you showing a wide range of roles, backgrounds and experiences? Make sure they reflect what it’s actually like to work for your business.  

Review sites, like Glassdoor are another way candidates screen employers. You might be promoting employee wellness, and work/life balance, but if reviews mention long-hours and burnout then the reviews will win every time.  

Finally, LinkedIn. Look beyond your company profile, because your candidates will. A savvy applicant will be seeking out your employee’s profiles, looking to find themselves. If all they see is the same, homogenous stories, the signals will send them elsewhere.  

Above all it’s important to remember that these signals are promises. And candidates (and new hires) will remember when promises are broken

Step 2: SCREENS 

Where bias quietly creeps in.  

No matter how good our intentions and plans, our assessments and shortlisting often unintentionally undermine our DEI goals. 

As with step one, a lot of this tends to happen early on in the hiring process. If you’re not seeing the level of applications you expect, it’s worth checking these early stages extra carefully. Many standard screening methods accidentally filter out great talent because they haven’t followed a familiar or prescribed path:  

Unintentional bias traps might include:  

Application forms – does your system automatically reject candidates with a career gap? This penalises parents, carers or people who took time out for health reasons. When your system is too rigid, it introduces bias before a human ever sees the application.  

Looking for a micro-win? If you’re using an HRIS or ATS for your recruitment, check what automatic rejection rules you’re running.  

Overly complex or lengthy screening tests. A fair screening process is about testing the skills needed for the job – not a checking a candidate’s stamina or access to uninterrupted time! Whilst very useful, lengthy screening procedures can exclude neurodivergent candidates or put those juggling multiple responsibilities at a disadvantage.  

CV First Shortlisting. Relying on CVs invites bias based on names, education, location or perceived socio-economic background. This is why more and more organisations use their ATS to enable structured blind screening. Essential for all applicants, but particularly early career applicants who may not have as many experiences to “offset” bias, removing key personal details helps level the playing field.  

Looking for a micro-win? Check your hiring software’s capabilities, what blind shortlisting options does it offer? Can it also redact CVs? This extra level of anonymisation can make a real difference.  

Interview panels and scoring. How diverse is your interview panel? And when was the last time your panellists had interview training? Keeping hiring teams abreast of interview styles and compliance is really important. Remember, without a structured scoring rubric based on pre-defined competencies, personal preference (bias) always wins over objective criteria.  

Screens shape who gets through, not who could succeed. By ensuring your screening process is fair and accessible for all, you’re not only signalling your desire to foster a culture of inclusion, but you’re ensuring you don’t rule out good talent with bad systems.  

Step 3: STORIES 

How you explain your decisions and show transparency 

How you tell your story is everything. You might have the best signals and screens ever invented, but if you don’t communicate transparently both why and how decisions are made, candidates will fill the silence with their own assumptions. Nature abhors a vacuum.  

How feedback is given or not given is a huge part of your inclusion story and will shape your employer reputation long after the hiring process ends. Inclusive communication is fundamentally about transparency and respect. If candidates see you are acting transparently, they’ll also feel they’re being treated fairly. 

So how do we write a fair story?  

Explain the how. Ensure your interviewers are explaining how decisions will be made before an interview starts. For example, “we will be scoring your answers against five competencies, and the final decision will be based purely on scores, regardless of background”. This simple act of explanation promotes transparency which in turn creates a perception of fairness.  

Give feedback that feels human. An automated rejection feels like indifference. By contrast, a respectful rejection that offers genuine insight shapes your reputation long after the process ends.  

Communicate your offer clearly and fairly. If different candidates receive offers based on different criteria with no explanation, it immediately suggests a lack of equity. Be open, be honest, be clear.  

Consider your tone of voice. Are your communications cold, business-like and hurried, or are they warm, respectful and human. Look to your brand tone of voice, follow your corporate guidelines, but always ensure that you are bringing humanity to the table.  

The way you tell your story demonstrates to your candidates that your structure (step one) and your values (step two) are truly connected. People don’t just experience hiring, they experience the story you tell about it. And if that story feels, respectful, human and transparent, then that’s how they’ll perceive their treatment too.  

Step Four: SYSTEMS 

Why you need a long-term feedback loop. 

Inclusion doesn’t stop once the offer letter arrives. It is a continuous cycle. Systems are where Talent Acquisition connects to the wider business (HR/People Ops and core DEI strategy) to ensure inclusion is improving, not quietly failing.  

Inclusion needs to be measured across the hiring lifecycle. If you don’t track it, you simply can’t improve it. If your hiring process isn’t set up to capture and act on this data, DEI will remain reliant on one good recruiter, rather than becoming systemic.  

Areas to check:  

Onboarding: Inclusive systems ensure the first week experience (onboarding structure, IT set up, welcome touchpoints, etc.) is intentionally supportive and set up for everyone to succeed.   

Hiring manager accountability: Are hiring managers held accountable for inclusive practices? If a manager consistently loses diverse candidates late in the process, your system should flag this for intervention and training. Use the data in your ATS to spot drop-off patterns.  

Exit interviews: The story of why someone leaves is as important as the story of why they apply. This is critical information for fixing future hiring and improving retention rates and helps reinforce the entire recruitment process.  

Connect your data: Recruitment data is like gold dust: drop off rates, time to hire for specific demographics… Feed it back into your DEI and talent attraction strategies and make sure your talent attraction team is working closely with the HR team handling exit interviews. If they’re not connected, your system is essentially blind to its own failures.  

One good recruiter does not an inclusive process make. Consistent feedback and connected data build systemic inclusion.  

Conclusion: Inclusive hiring is operational excellence 

DEI doesn’t fail because of cynicism; it drops off at the points where nobody is looking. This four-step framework helps you shine a light on those structural weaknesses. A strong hiring process is more than just about feeling good – it directly improves candidate attraction, hiring performance, retention rates and company culture. This isn’t about activism; it’s about operational excellence. Inclusive hiring isn’t a moral add-on, it’s business critical.  

Need help spotting your inclusion gaps?   

If you’d like to hear more about how companies of all sizes can bring inclusivity into the heart of hiring, why not watch our recent webinar with Mark McLane, Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing, M&G.  [Click here to watch webinar].

Ready to fix your gaps? If you’d like to see how Reach ATS could help inform your inclusive hiring with powerful data analysis and gap-proof systems, then book a demo today [link]