According to a memo obtained by The New York Times, Wells Fargo is trying to revive its hiring practices, which it paused earlier this year.
Known as the “diverse slate” policy, the bank’s practice requires that half of the candidates interviewed for a particular job be female or non-white. It also calls for the panel of people interviewing candidates for a particular job to be “diverse.” In other words, they shouldn’t all be white men. According to a memo sent to bank managers on Monday, starting August 19, new features will be added to prevent abuse and the practice will be reintroduced for certain jobs.
In a memo, the bank acknowledged that the guidelines could be improved. According to the memo, one issue executives found was that “our guidelines and processes may be overly prescriptive.”
The biggest changes are enhanced training for managers and a simplified approval process for exemptions to various slate requirements.
It also changes the job vacancies that need to be met. An earlier version of the policy required that all jobs with salaries above her $100,000 be hired only after interviews with various candidates had taken place.
“Instead of the previous remuneration-based criteria, in-scope roles will now be based on job level rather than remuneration,” the memo said. It is not specified which job level is the requirement.
Wells Fargo suspended this policy on June 6th. This follows a Times report that a former employee in the bank’s wealth management department complained that his boss was coercing him into interviewing him for jobs promised to others just to meet. is. Diverse hiring requirements. In all, 12 current and former employees told The Times that they participated in fake interviews or were aware of the practice.
The Times reported on June 9 that federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York are investigating whether Wells Fargo violated the civil rights of job seekers.
When it suspended the policy, bank leaders promised to spend the next few weeks talking to employees to find ways to improve the program.
“Overwhelmingly, we hear the need to improve the candidate and manager experience and the need for stronger, longer-term commitment and investment to help employees develop their skills and grow their careers. ‘ said the memo.
In a statement emailed to news outlets on Wednesday announcing the policy’s reinstatement, Wells Fargo’s head of human resources, Bei Lin, said the bank has taken its policy along with that of other banks and large corporations. By comparison, and as a concept, demanding a “diverse slate” of job seekers was “common and good practice.”
