I had a lot of big ideas for my second series of the year. I considered taking on interviewing. Not how to improve it, but to ask the bigger question: is talking to people the best way to assess talent? I considered writing about talent mobility. Why do we let people quit instead of building talent ladders? But then a wave of instructions that told federal workplaces to kill diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to focus on “merit based hiring” started to pour out via Executive Orders. This was not featured in any of the trend webinars. *Just saying.*
Initially, the loaded definition of merit made me feel stuck. As much as these announcements made me feel powerless, it was also a wake up call. We have power. When you work in HR or recruiting, you can create the system. We write the policy. We dictate the hiring process. That’s why I deleted everything I wrote and created this series. From my POV, our bare minimum responsibilities as people who work in talent – federal hiring or not – are two fold: first, understand what we’re working with. What do these merit based hiring executive orders actually say?
The second thing is harder. We have to break the “we’ve always done it that way” system to build equity into the processes we use for hiring. We can not rely on policy or trends to dictate behavior and priorities. Don’t wait for another 2020 George Floyd uprising to insist that equity matters to your team. We need to do the work now so no matter what you call it – DEI, inclusion, merit based hiring, or skills based hiring – you’ll know you’re creating infrastructure where more equitable outcomes are possible.
Executive Order on Merit Based Federal Hiring
So what do the federal merit based Executive Orders entail? As of writing this, two executive orders have come out. The first one is called Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit Based Hiring. My interpretation (I am not a lawyer!) is that they want all federal contractors and employees to disregard any effort at making sure their slate or employee population is representative of people from many different backgrounds. It also orders them to delete the words diversity, equity, and inclusion from everything. Note: While all of this is being challenged in court, that means if you hire federal contractors you’ve already talked to your legal council more times this month than all of last year. Listen to them, not me.
I found the other Executive Order far more interesting. That’s not even code; actually interesting. It is called “Reforming The Federal Hiring Process And Restoring Merit To Government Service” and declares that the federal hiring system is broken which – 100% agreed. If you think Workday is bad, I have one word for you (Two words? Whatever.): USAJobs. The tech is so outdated you think you’re getting scammed and the job postings… You can’t see me but I’m just shaking my head violently. No words. Then, the order takes a really dark turn and uses words like “invented concept of gender identity.” I’m mentally blocking that part out on behalf of the editorial process. It’s for you. *You’re welcome.*
Now we’re at the part where they actually say what they’re going to do to ensure the federal government hires the best people more quickly. Here’s the tl:dr version of their plan:
- Patriots. Lots of coded language here for hiring people who look like them, talk like them, and have the same ideological beliefs as the current administration. This is a more direct way of saying “culture fit.” You know it’s code for bullshit because it’s first on the list where we’re supposed to be talking about merit based hiring.
- Use technical assessments. Everyone gets some kind of assessment that is developed by subject matter experts and allows for candidates to demonstrate job-related skills and knowledge. Based on those first few political nominations, I don’t believe these assessments are too rigorous.
- Set time to hire to 80 days. I know a lot of tech companies that would laugh at 80 days but in the world of federal hiring, that’s really short. I don’t know how they plan to do all those 6 month background checks that quickly…
- Give more candidate updates. Improve communication with candidates to provide updates on application status, timelines, and feedback, including explanations of hiring decisions. They added a “where appropriate” after that which is a perfect example of creating room to bend the rules with words like “merit.”
- Use analytics. Use technology and data for recruiting and hiring folks. Then, use that data to identify issues and make improvements to the hiring process. Clear performance metrics when it comes to hiring. Duh.
Does any of that sound new or particularly advanced to you? Me either.
They gave us an ill-informed, generic playbook of what they think is best in class. We can use this. If your company is seeking guidance on how to shift from DEI-focused initiatives to merit based systems by restructuring hiring processes and evaluation criteria, I believe you can comply while still creating access for more people. Merit based hiring doesn’t have to mean abandoning DEI principles. It’s actually pretty easy to build equity into most of these (minus culture fit).
From DEI to Merit Based Frameworks
Over the next 3 weeks, I’ll do the research to help you deploy this merit based framework in your company with inclusion in mind. Hopefully redirect some right wing Google results so I can teach them equity by accident, too. I’m going to teach you how to play the game using their playbook and data I know drives results. Here’s what we’re going to cover over the next few weeks:
- Let’s talk job posts. Answer 5 questions every time you write a job post to get a more accurate view of what you’re really looking for.
- Assessment. Let’s rethink the idea of those traditional merit-based hiring assessments. There’s a better way to assess culture and skill fit.
- Candidate communications. What does good mean? What emails should you automate in the candidate experience? What emails should never be automated? How can teams build simple infrastructure without expensive tech?
So merit based hiring. Let’s give it a try, equitably.
More in this series:
- Candidate Communication Emails You Can’t Automate
- Your Culture Is Showing: Why I Hate Hiring Assessments
- 5 Questions To Answer In Your Job Post
At Three Ears Media, we train teams to create better content using AI. Whether it’s job posts, candidate communications, or more creative outlets – let us teach your team the prompts to take the average output and transform it into something worth sharing. We offer team training, process consulting, and 1-1 coaching for teams interested in creating high-quality content that drives qualified candidate conversion. Interested in learning more? Book a call with me.
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