Dive Brief

• SAP has introduced a new tool to help recruiters eliminate bias in the hiring process, according to a company blog. SAP SuccessFactors' Recruiting Management solution assists employers in creating competitive, effective job descriptions that flag language reflective of gender bias.
• The new job analyzer function uses SAP's Leonardo machine learning platform, which allows managers and recruiters to target language and phrases that could be construed by applicants as to favor one gender over another.
• The tool merges with SAP’s SuccessFactors HCM Suite and will be available in beta during Q4 2017. SAP is also expanding its Business Beyond Bias focus in an effort to eliminate bias on a variety of other bases, like age, ethnicity, and more.

Dive Insight

By now, the practice of eliminating keywords — even entire names — from resumes is not unheard of in the HR space. The aim of such efforts is to combat unconscious biases that tend to exclude, while theoretically opening organizations to a wider, more diverse range of applicants.

In a previous conversation, Textio CEO Kieran Snyder spoke with HR Dive about how AI is helping recruiters eliminate bias from the hiring process. Textio's augmented writing platform helps recruiters hone job postings, targeting how people will respond and why. By eliminating trigger words and phrases, companies could see increases in the number of candidates and in particular, women, who apply.

Many common terms intrinsic to the hiring process like competitive, or aggressive signal candidates that the position is male-oriented. Other terms, like compassionate or collaborative skew female. To remove gender bias, replacing these keywords with more gender-neutral terms is necessary. Terminology that skews younger, like "digital native," should also be eliminated as companies open their processes to diversity across age groups and other spectrums. And don't forget about the role that data plays in fulfilling diversity goals.