Can’t hire the employee I want

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

I agree with you. Additionally, a PP pointed out that there are likely reasons why you feel more comfortable with the white man who was referred by a friend. I also doubt that these 3 non white male candidates are all entirely unqualified. OP, you say that the role is "mid level" and also "director level," which is it? A person who comes from outside the company, regardless of their previous experience is not going to "hit the ground running" because they need to be caught up to speed on how that company culture operates.

Unfortunately for the 3 diverse candidates, they will not be successful working for you. If they are successful in the role, it will be because they managed to figure it out on their own and with support from other colleagues, and clearly not from their manager who believes that they are not qualified. No matter what OP says about their management style, it is unlikely OP would be able to get over their gut belief that the employee doesn't deserve the role.

The next red flag about OP is that in today's job market, and OP claims this is a large national company - there is no way that there isn't a qualified applicant. Job postings at desirable companies nowadays gets hundred and often thousands of applicants for open roles and there is a glut of talent out there. OP, it seems like you are very narrowly focused on finding a candidate that has the exact experience that either you have, or that you believe is the only way to be successful in the role. Unless we are talking about a super technical role, these candidates can likely do the job, do it well, and bring to the table other experiences and points of view that are absolutely relevant, you just don't know it yet. If you remain closed off to a more expansive view of career paths and progression, it will likely make you a much better manager.

Unfortunately I agree with everything in this post.

[Anonymous]

Hmm. This doesn’t ring true to me. First of all, HR doesn’t “find candidates.” A recruiter does that. If you work for a large publicly traded company, there is no way HR isn’t separate from recruiting. Second, HR typically defers to hiring managers. It is not their job to decide who gets an offer. And third, no publicly traded company is going to have an HR department going on record to say you must hire a “diversity candidate.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard this story a few times from white men north of 55 and it’s never strictly true.

+1 companies discriminate based on age all the time -- "not a good cultural fit".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

I’ve heard similar things being said during layoffs, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a troll to think it’s happening in hiring too.

This is definitely happening. A highly qualified colleague of mine was recently told he can’t be hired for another internal position because they already have too many white males.

Is this documented? And do they have a EOE on their website? If they do, clearly that's BS. Somebody should sue the company.

-signed a nonwhite female.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

I’ve heard similar things being said during layoffs, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a troll to think it’s happening in hiring too.

This is definitely happening. A highly qualified colleague of mine was recently told he can’t be hired for another internal position because they already have too many white males.

Is this documented? And do they have a EOE on their website? If they do, clearly that's BS. Somebody should sue the company.

-signed a nonwhite female.

This is what the guy told the poster. I sincerely doubt it’s what he was told.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

I’ve heard similar things being said during layoffs, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a troll to think it’s happening in hiring too.

You’ve heard of people being told they were laid off because they were white men, or what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

I’ve heard similar things being said during layoffs, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a troll to think it’s happening in hiring too.

You’ve heard of people being told they were laid off because they were white men, or what?

It was more like “we made a list of the lowest performers to cut and then realized that we’d have less diversity so we kept those people and fired some others instead”. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t heard it for myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

Major +1 to the bolded.

How many people have you hired since you started at this company? How many of them have been white men? What do you want to bet they have to take a hard line with you because you NEVER take a chance on someone who isn't just like you?

[Anonymous]

Ask to hire two people. Then your choice and theirs.

[Anonymous]

Even during reagan/bush federal agencies would do this. There was one guy at the state department, hired as an attorney but he was licensed. They overlooked that, then he started taking the bar exam but would fail it. After his 7th time failing he stopped taking it , but continued working the job, everyone looked the other way despite UPL being a crime

[Anonymous]

If companies were willing to train and develop their employees, they wouldn't have this problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

Major +1 to the bolded.

How many people have you hired since you started at this company? How many of them have been white men? What do you want to bet they have to take a hard line with you because you NEVER take a chance on someone who isn't just like you?

I had a similar thought. HR is probably trying to figure out what to do with OP, before someone sues the company over a discriminatory manager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am looking for a mid level employee to join my team. HR couldn’t find anyone internally so we have been looking externally but it has been a big challenge. They found 3 candidates but none have relevant experience and will require significant training to get up to speed, but they each check a DEI box. An internal employee referred a friend who is a white male who I pushed to interview and is extremely qualified for the job. He is my top choice for the job because he is the only candidate with any experience related to this job, and I need someone who can hit the ground running. HR is now telling me I can’t hire this person because they are trying to make the company more inclusive and pretty much that we don’t need more white men.

I am incredibly frustrated because I just want someone who has experience and can do the job well. It’s rare to hire someone at a director level with zero experience just because they check a box. I would happily interview other candidates who are both diverse and have more relevant experience, but they claim they can’t find anyone so I have to pick one of the three.

Are others experiencing this as other companies focus more on DE&I?

Well, I don't have experience with this, but have you considered putting it in writing to HR and going over their head? DEI is a great goal and if all the candidates were equal that's one thing. But if you have a specific justification for hiring the one guy then go to bat. Just know that if you win and he is hired then you broke it, you bought it applies in spades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

I’ve heard similar things being said during layoffs, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a troll to think it’s happening in hiring too.

This is definitely happening. A highly qualified colleague of mine was recently told he can’t be hired for another internal position because they already have too many white males.

I was just asked by a partner organization and co-presenters at a conference to ask my boss (who is Black) to present my project at the conference, instead of me. They said, "our panel is not representative of diverse experiences", meaning too white. So I asked my boss if she could present it. She laughed in my face, then got annoyed and said, why would I present your project for you, you know it, you built it, you measured it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call BS. No HR person in a company that size would EVER say what you claim, and they know darn well what an affirmative action plan is and isn't. I'm guessing there is more to the situation and the problem they are managing is likely you. You say the candidates who were DEI were not qualified -- obviously they disagree.

I’ve heard similar things being said during layoffs, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a troll to think it’s happening in hiring too.

You’ve heard of people being told they were laid off because they were white men, or what?

It was more like “we made a list of the lowest performers to cut and then realized that we’d have less diversity so we kept those people and fired some others instead”. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t heard it for myself.

HR told you this? That they cut you because you’re white? And this has happened more than once? Hmm.