Master’s thesis: Do we need positive action in re­cruit­ment?

Evidence shows that both recruitment discrimination and underrepresentation of certain population groups in organisations’ employee base are significant problems. All job candidates do not have fair opportunities to be hired, even when they have the required competence. Proactive measures  need to be taken to address this problem which has both moral, legal and business implications. The development-oriented research by MBA student Kati Mhone from Laurea University of Applied Sciences investigates positive action –a method stemming from the Non-Discrimination Act (1325/2014)- as a vehicle to promote diversity and equity in recruitment. The study (“Prerequisites, opportunities and limitations of positive action in recruitment: Implications for Hiring Managers and HR Professionals”) identifies the prerequisites, opportunities and limitations of the practice, and provides practical guidance to hiring managers and HR on the application of positive action in recruitment. The results show that positive action to work, it needs to be understood from the broader diversity management perspective.  

Legal foun­da­tions

Positive action is a method that aims to promote equity by giving certain groups preferential treatment or providing them with additional support to overcome existing disadvantage. The application of positive action requires that it has a legitimate purpose, it is planful and proportionate to its goal, applied on a temporary basis, and in recruitment context, preceeded by a fair comparison candidates' competence. However, what these mean in concrete terms is not specified. Perhaps for this reason, the application of positive action in recruitment has been a rather rare practice.

Practical ap­pli­ca­tion

The results illustrate that to meet the legal prerequisites of positive action simply requires adherence to best practice principles in recruitment. This includes using candidate’s competency always as the primary criteria for hiring, as well as creating many different kinds of flexible and inclusive practices in recruitment and across employee lifecycle. Considering this, the “groundwork” preceding the application of positive action benefits all candidates, regardless of who they are. Furthermore, application of HR and research data form a basis for a planful and evidence-based approach when positive action is to be applied. The main issue, however, concerns the availability of HR data due to data protection issues, and this needs to be addressed. 

The research adopts a qualitative case study design, City of Helsinki as the case organization. The data derives from interviews and workshops with Helsinki employees. Service design principles, methods and tools were applied in the research process.

The thesis is available for download at www.theseus.fi.  

Further in­for­ma­tion:

Kati Mhone, kati.mhone@gmail.com