Fair and Equitable Hiring

A series of projects focused on fair and equitable hiring have been put in place to ensure that we recruit qualified people based on merit. • Fair hiring policy and equitable hiring opportunities workshop: The policy and workshop allow managers who hire staff to learn how to avoid bias and subjectivity in hiring, how to attract a diverse pool of qualified candidates for vacant positions, and how to ensure that excellent candidates are kept by breaking down barriers to their retention. • Strategic expansion of human resources and interview and assessment processes and models: A dedicated workforce planning team has been established to ensure compliance with best practices. The team continues to develop a series of interview guides, assessment tools and methods to ensure that all candidates are assessed fairly. Job postings and recruitment promotion tools reflect the fair hiring policy. • Diversified recruitment strategies: The hospital has strategically incorporated the use of a variety of job sites and recruitment methods to remove barriers to recruiting and attracting qualified candidates from various pools of job seekers. We have also used specific publication in periodicals and among community groups, and jobs are now advertised in various Chinese, Vietnamese, Tamil and Korean newspapers. We also reach out to different ethnic community groups and faith-based groups to promote community-based mental health services and to attract suitable candidates. • Accommodation: Dedicated telephone line and email address were introduced in early 2010 to provide information to applicants who require accommodation during the hiring process. • Internationally educated professionals hiring strategy: The internationally educated professionals hiring committee is focused on expanding programmes at Mount Sinai Hospital, which can provide support to internationally educated employees and volunteers. Mount Sinai Hospital is an active member of a variety of community-based diversity organizations, such as the Toronto Regional Immigrant Employment Counsel (TRIEC), the Job Opportunity Information Network and the Career Edge Organization. Employees have mentored several internationally educated professionals through TRIEC. One of the most recent mentoring experiences involved the recruitment of the mentee to the hospital workforce planning team.