Diversity

We are getting into hiring mode again. The whole reason behind our decision to set up a new office was because we wanted to have more space to get more people in.

Looking back at my team one thing that is pretty obvious is that we lack diversity in certain dimensions. I mean, we come from different back grounds and are of different ages, have studied in different schools and universities and have different martial statuses. But there are a lot of common factors.

To start with, we are all guys. I had no qualms of hiring a female developers. I think, they make pretty good developers, on par with the males. Its just a pity that we don’t find that many ambitious females in development jobs these days. But the fact that we ended up with a all male team was purely due to the fact that at that point of time, the best candidates we had were males.

Secondly, we are all from the same ethnicity and religion. This once again was pure coincidence. I never discriminated against any candidate.

So now that I am going through the hiring process again, I some resumes from female candidates. And I see some more resumes from candidates of different ethnicities and religions. I am short listing them based on the merit of their resumes. I have so far short listed females as well as candidates from different ethnicities and religions. But proportionate to the total number, they are less. Hence, mathematically, they stand a lesser chance of getting in.

I have read a few articles lately about the diversity of teams and how that affects the quality of the team simply due to the fact that a diverse team has a richer outlook on issues. But, what I am not sure about is, should we bend the recruitment criteria simply because we want to add diversity in the team. Specially, when the recruitment criteria is purely based on merit (skills/experience/expertise/cultural fit)? I am open to any ideas.