Learning path · I'm hiring or designing a role

Inclusive hiring and selection

You are responsible for a hiring process and want it to find capable people the current process may be screening out.

By the end, you will have an inclusive hiring plan for a specific position: job-related requirements with alternatives, accessible outreach, a structured rubric and interviews, accommodation offered to everyone, a bias check built into deliberation, and a plan to review stage-by-stage outcomes with your HR partner.

Hiring, advancement, pay, and retention

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Your path

Six steps to work through in order

Test what the work requiresUse Ask to work through the requirements, the rubric, and the outreach plan for this position. Answers will say what they are based on and what needs your HR partner.Ask a question
Consider community contextIf relevantIf outreach names particular Minnesota communities, read the relevant brief for how to reach people and what not to assume.Explore Minnesota Communities
Choose practical resourcesUse the eight-stage lifecycle, the job-relatedness check, and the accessible meeting guidance for interviews.Inclusive hiring lifecycle · Is this requirement job related? · Accessible and culturally responsive meetings
Draft your inclusive hiring planComplete the plan for this position. Leave out candidate and employee names. Use the downloaded checklist to write your answers in a tool you normally use. This page does not save them.
Review your workConfirm that each requirement is tied to the work, accommodation is offered to everyone, the rubric is written, the panel is prepared, and outcomes will be reviewed with HR.
Take it to the right peopleBring the plan to your HR partner and hiring panel. DSD staff can also request a consultation to think through a difficult position.Find the right person

Make the work meaningful

What a useful result looks like

Still needs work:

A diversity statement added to an unchanged posting
Removing every qualification without testing what the work requires
A panel chosen for appearance and given no rubric

Ready to use:

Each requirement is tied to the work with an alternative named
The rubric is written and used
Outcomes will be reviewed stage by stage with HR

Privacy: Do not include candidate or employee names. Describe the process, not a person. This page does not save your answers or progress. Notes saved through an earlier version may still be in this browser's site data; this page does not show or delete them.

Published checklist

Inclusive hiring plan

Browse and download only. This published checklist is not a form. Staff notes are not saved here.

Browse and download only. This checklist is published from the knowledge base. Staff notes are not filled in or saved on this page.

Position title and unitIn the published checklist
The position, not a person.
Requirements and what work each one predictsIn the published checklist
One line per requirement: the requirement, the work it predicts, and the credible alternative that shows the same ability.
Where and how you will reach people outside your usual networksIn the published checklist
Include community partners, plain-language posting, visible salary range, and the accommodation statement.
Screening and interview rubricIn the published checklist
The written criteria applied the same way to every candidate. Replace culture fit with specific behaviors the team needs.
Accommodation and access at each stageIn the published checklist
How accommodation is offered to everyone, and how each stage is accessible without disclosure.
Panel, HR partner, and reviewersIn the published checklist
Who is on the panel, how they were prepared, and which partners reviewed the plan.
What you chose not to assumeIn the published checklist
About candidates' paths, communication styles, or what confidence looks like.
Who owns each follow-upIn the published checklist
Including who will review stage-by-stage outcomes with HR.
Outcome review dateIn the published checklist
When you will look at who applied, advanced, and was hired.

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Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.

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Inclusive hiring and selection

You are responsible for a hiring process and want it to find capable people the current process may be screening out.

Six steps to work through in order

Test what the work requiresUse Ask to work through the requirements, the rubric, and the outreach plan for this position. Answers will say what they are based on and what needs your HR partner.Ask a question

Consider community contextIf relevantIf outreach names particular Minnesota communities, read the relevant brief for how to reach people and what not to assume.Explore Minnesota Communities

Choose practical resourcesUse the eight-stage lifecycle, the job-relatedness check, and the accessible meeting guidance for interviews.Inclusive hiring lifecycle · Is this requirement job related? · Accessible and culturally responsive meetings

Draft your inclusive hiring planComplete the plan for this position. Leave out candidate and employee names. Use the downloaded checklist to write your answers in a tool you normally use. This page does not save them.

Review your workConfirm that each requirement is tied to the work, accommodation is offered to everyone, the rubric is written, the panel is prepared, and outcomes will be reviewed with HR.

Take it to the right peopleBring the plan to your HR partner and hiring panel. DSD staff can also request a consultation to think through a difficult position.Find the right person

What a useful result looks like

Still needs work:

A diversity statement added to an unchanged posting

Removing every qualification without testing what the work requires

A panel chosen for appearance and given no rubric