Tearing Down Systemic Racism: Letter from the Screenable CRO
I share the same emotions as many of you right now — wondering how we found ourselves in 2020 and still fighting the same battles as Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement — filled with anger, mistrust and grief.
I struggle to fathom how the innovation leader of the world, built by the immigrants, can be so easily divided on the issue of valuing human life.
The past two weeks have been sleepless nights spent reading the news and social media posts of what’s going on back home in the US, pondering upon how I can actually make a difference and reflecting on my own experience with the harsh reality of racism since the day my family immigrated to America.
As minorities, we’re in a lose-lose situation where doing nothing will allow oppression to continue, while letting our anger turn protests into riots will only prove them right. It’s absolutely frustrating to feel powerless, especially with an unsympathetic administration.
Somehow, it’s now the woke thing for corporations to produce some sort of hollow “#IStandWith” statement about being “disheartened.”
It’s just as annoying as those pointless 10-paragraph “COVID-19 Update” emails from copycat ride-sharing apps you used once that add no value to the dialogue — not even a promo code —which ultimately lead to the Unsubscribe button.
Frankly, unless companies are actually enacting programs to help empower minority groups or donating directly to the underprivileged communities, “I stand with” is cheap talk. “We’re exploring ways” means they’re doing nothing and we’ll be back here again after another life is taken.
I think it’s good that companies are donating millions to the cause. As always, there will be those who criticize them for “not donating enough”, however, doing something is better than doing nothing.
I encourage all of us to be the agent of change that liberates those you want to “stand with” from the systematic oppression.
We don’t have millions to donate at Screenable. Heck, having just launched we don’t yet have a comma in our bank account.
However if we aren’t willing to contribute as a tiny startup, how do we plan on being good stewards towards our community when we’ve achieved success?
✊🏽 Contributing with our own Diversity Hiring Challenge
Every recruiter who interviews a person from an under-represented group (“BAME” if you’re in the UK) using Screenable will personally receive 100 screening credits (worth £100) from me.
In fact, complete a job screening using any method and I’ll still honor it.
Just send me a direct link or screenshot of the completed screening. Yes, this will be time-consuming for me 😅, but you made an effort, and I’ll do the same.
I’m not asking you to hire someone simply based on their appearance or to fulfil your quota. I’m asking you to consider one additional candidate — just in the initial screening round — who may not have even been glanced at otherwise, especially in the sea of millions of job seekers desperate to get back to work.
🤝So please take this opportunity, as we’re coming out of record unemployment, to give a chance to someone who doesn’t look like you or was rejected simply because someone couldn’t pronounce their name.
The best people I’ve worked with at the most innovative companies in the world 📱 did not attend a top B-school or “have the right accent.”
Yes, I know…there will surely be people out there who game the system by screening a candidate they know they won’t hire anyway. However, if there is a non-zero chance that this opens an opportunity for someone out there, even if it only impacts one person’s life, it’s doing something rather than sitting on our hands feeling “disheartened.”
🌱 Simple actions lead to giant results 💪🏼
If you’re not sure how you can make a difference beyond words, join our movement or start your own towards breaking the systemic imbalance.
👀 I challenge other companies to take real action — even something unrelated to hiring — to foster broader diversity, rather than simply issuing statements of “how disheartened they are” or “that they’ll look into it.”
Don’t wait until the next George Floyd to take action — our time is now!
Stay safe and well,
Bobby Tang
Chief Revenue Officer, Screenable
Please feel comfortable to reach out to me directly for questions or collaborations.
