“I had already done several temporary employment agencies, but each time I was stamped into the ground, so to speak,” says Fien Detavenier (22), who, as a graduate of marketing, went looking for a first job. “Each time, the focus was on the skills or experience that I lacked. In an agency they literally said: ‘Sorry, but without relevant experience you should not immediately hope for a job in this sector.’”
That changed when she started applying for Accent. The talent placement company has started a new way of recruiting since September. Candidates no longer have to send a resume, photo or cover letter for their application. Name or initials, contact details and a questionnaire to find out the personal values of the candidates will suffice. “A relief,” says Detavenier. “I was quickly allowed an interview, and for the first time the focus was not on what I had already done. It was mainly about what I wanted to do.” Detavenier got the job of junior consultant.
According to CEO Anouk Lagae, Accent was struggling with something that many companies in Belgium struggle with: too little diversity among employees. “When we were looking for new people, we often found candidates through word of mouth, friends of our employees. That worked, but in the long run you notice that you mainly attract profiles that are very similar to the people we already had. That had to change.”
Study after study shows that many population groups do not leave on an equal footing when looking for a job. In Antwerp, for example, candidates with a non-Flemish-sounding name receive 17 percent fewer positive responses to applications than candidates with a Flemish-sounding name, a 2021 Ghent University study showed. an invitation for an interview.
“Compared to previous studies, there is a noticeable improvement,” says economist Stijn Baert (UGent), who carried out the study. “But having a different ethnicity still appears to be a disadvantage on the labor market.”
It is striking in Antwerp and Ghent that the ethnic minority groups that are best represented locally seem to suffer the most. In Antwerp these are people of Moroccan origin, while in Ghent with a Turkish name you have the least chance of an invitation.
Other population groups are also disadvantaged when applying for jobs. For example, the study in Ghent from 2021 shows that people who indicated on their resume that they are a trans person were invited for an interview 29 percent less often than cisgender people (people who identify with their biological sex). Older candidates received a quarter fewer invitations than candidates six to twelve years younger. “It seems that older workers are being discriminated against on the basis of perceptions about older people, such as that they are less productive, less flexible or less adept with technology,” says Baert.
Can a new recruitment procedure lead to less discrimination? The first results at Accent suggest yes. Since the new way of recruiting was introduced, the company receives more than 500 applications per month – twice as many as before. “We also receive noticeably more applications from people who felt less inclined to do so, such as people with a headscarf, older profiles or people with a lower or no diploma,” says Anouk Lagae.
For example, Lani Hoste, who stopped her legal practice studies, saw the opportunity to start as a job consultant at Accent through the new procedure. “I had already done quite a few student and interim jobs,” says Hoste. “But I didn’t dare to hope for a permanent job, because other job applications immediately led to skepticism when I told them that I didn’t have a diploma. If Accent had not encouraged me to apply, I would never have dared to take that step.”
Stijn Baert calls the recruitment procedure at Accent ‘hopeful’. “This company sends a clear signal to recruit in a fairer way.” However, the idea of letting people apply without sending a resume, for example, is not immediately applicable in every sector. For many jobs, a specific diploma or experience in the sector is indispensable. “Moreover, there is of course the risk that the discrimination will simply shift to the next round, where implicit prejudices can just as well play a role.”
Lagae also knows that a new recruitment procedure alone is not enough, it is the entire corporate culture that must be critically examined. “A year ago, for example, we decided to allow headscarves at work. And on our regular cava evenings at work, we now also provide non-alcoholic drinks and halal food, so that an entire group is not left out. The point is that diversity is part of your company culture, otherwise all those new employees will not stay for long.”