Staff Hiring Committees

Background

The Faculty of Mathematics is committed to equitable practices in recruitment and selection. The goal of equitable and inclusive hiring is to remove and reduce biases and barriers in the recruitment process that may disadvantage or discriminate against qualified candidates from equity-deserving groups.

One practice that is known to improve the quality of hiring is the use of a hiring committee. Being intentional with the composition of a hiring committee can be an effective way to reduce bias, as having multiple perspectives involved in the process can mitigate the limitations of individual interviews.

The use of hiring committees is a long-standing practice for faculty members, however it has not previously been required as part of the staff hiring process. The Faculty of Mathematics has worked with Human Resources to develop a set of standards to be used for Staff Hiring Committees within the Faculty.

Implementation

The Hiring Manager is defined to be the person to whom the staff member will formally report. For each staff appointment with duration greater than four months, the Hiring Manager shall establish a Hiring Committee. This applies to the hiring of regular full-time and regular part-time staff, as well as hires of Temporary Appointment staff with appointments exceeding four months. This does not necessarily apply to the hiring of casual staff or co-op students, although the same principles may be applied at the discretion of the Hiring Manager.

The Hiring Committee shall participate in short-listing and interviewing candidates for the position and shall provide advice to the Hiring Manager concerning the selection procedure and suitability of the various candidates. The final hiring decision is made by the Hiring Manager in conjunction with Human Resources.

Composition of the Hiring Committee

The Hiring Manager is responsible for assembling the Hiring Committee. The Hiring Committee should consist of a minimum of three members (including the Hiring Manager) and should be as diverse as possible with respect to age, gender, and ethnicity. Among the members of the Hiring Committee,

at least one member of the Hiring Committee should have two or more years of experience performing (or supervising) the day-to-day functions of the position, and should be familiar with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required;
at least one member should represent the client service perspective, which may be inside or outside of the hiring unit;
at least one member should represent the broad institutional framework and, if applicable, the legislative framework associated with the position accountabilities;
at least one member should be familiar enough with Equity and Inclusion principles to ensure these principles are followed in the selection process; and
at least one member should be outside the hiring unit (for a large department or School it may be appropriate to select a member within the same unit but outside the reporting chain of the Hiring Manager).

Any individual member may satisfy more than one of the above requirements. The Hiring Manager may invite a member of Human Resources Talent Acquisition Team to join the Hiring Committee as an additional member.

Exclusions from the Hiring Committee

The Hiring Committee should not include any of the following:

The outgoing incumbent in the role;
A member of staff who will ultimately be line-managed by the role;
The current supervisor of any candidate (except the Hiring Manager); or
Anyone with a personal or professional conflict of interest with any candidate

Any of these people may assist the Hiring Manager in the identification of selection criteria before the candidates are known, but they should not be part of the formal selection process nor should they be privy to the identities of the candidates.

Equity and Inclusion Training

Committee members are encouraged to complete the Equitable Recruitment and Selection training provided by the office of Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion. The current training module was initially designed for faculty hiring committees, but the same principles can be applied for staff recruits.

Examples

Below is a list of typical roles, and examples of how the committee may be constructed. These are examples only and may be varied according to the background of the individuals selected for the Hiring Committee.

Non-supervisory administrative role

Example Hiring Committee of size 3+1:

Hiring Manager – will understand the institutional policy perspective
Chair, Associate Chair or faculty member from the department - representing the client perspective
Equivalent position in another department or supervisor of an equivalent position in another department – familiar with day-to-day operations of the job
Additional member: HR Talent Acquisition specialist - has completed the Equitable Recruitment and Selection training.

Financial Support role

Example Hiring Committee of size 4:

Hiring Manager; has completed the Equitable Recruitment and Selection training.
Chair, Associate Chair or faculty member from the department - representing the client perspective
Equivalent position in another department or supervisor of an equivalent position in another department – familiar with day-to-day operations of the job; is outside the reporting chain of the Hiring Manager
Financial Analyst/Officer or Administrative Officer – will understand the institutional policy perspective

Supervisory role

Example Hiring Committee of size 5:

Hiring Manager
Chair, Associate Chair or faculty member from the department - representing the client perspective; outside the reporting chain
Staff member from a similar department – represent the client perspective of what is needed in a manager from the employee perspective
Equivalent position in another department– familiar with day-to-day operations of the job; outside reporting chain
Administrative Manager, Administrative Officer, or Executive Officer – will understand the institutional policy perspective; outside reporting chain; has completed the Equitable Recruitment and Selection training.

Teaching/Instructional role

Example Hiring Committee of size 4-5:

Hiring Manager; has completed the Equitable Recruitment and Selection training.
Associate Chair, Associate Dean, Teaching Fellow - representing the student perspective
One or more faculty members from the department – representing client perspective; performs a similar job
Staff member holding a similar position in another department

Technical/IT role

Example Hiring Committee of size 5-6:

Hiring Manager; has completed the Equitable Recruitment and Selection training.
Chair or faculty member representing the client perspective
Staff member representing the client perspective
Equivalent position in another department or supervisor of an equivalent position in another department – familiar with day-to-day operations of the job; is outside the reporting chain of the Hiring Manager
Technical expert
Someone who understands the institutional policy perspective – e.g. Associate Dean, Senior IT Manager

Advancement role