Greenhouse, a top-rated job recruitment platform, has introduced a new system called Greenhouse Verified. This system aims to give job seekers more confidence in the companies they apply to. To earn the Verified badge, companies must demonstrate a commitment to fair hiring practices, respect for candidates, and open communication. Greenhouse hopes that this will encourage more companies to create positive hiring experiences.
Currently, over 100 companies, such as CareRev and Smartsheet, are participating in the beta testing of Greenhouse Verified. Employer vetting is based on actions and processes they take and functionality turned on within their Greenhouse dashboard – such as scorecard completion percentages, response rates of candidate communications, etc, this page on their site shows what actions a company has to take in order to earn verifications. And they earn these on a per job basis.
Jon Stross, President and Co-Founder of Greenhouse, explained the need for the system: “Ghosting, spam, irrelevant interviews, unfairness in hiring decisions — all of this is almost a cliché at this point. We created Greenhouse Verified to incentivize companies to get the basics of hiring right, improving the candidate experience while giving jobseekers a signal of what kind of hiring process a company might have before applying. The goal is to ultimately make the candidate experience more positive.”
Greenhouse Verified assures candidates that the company they’re applying to has met strict, objective and data-driven standards, making them less likely to face poor hiring practices. Companies can be awarded four distinct badges for best practices:
- Communicative: Ensures candidates receive timely updates.
- Fair: Focuses on mitigating bias and ensuring applicants of diverse backgrounds are considered fairly by focusing on relevant skills.
- Prepared: Indicates that interviewers are well-prepared for thoughtful, informed questions consistent across applicants.
- Respectful: Ensures an inclusive and respectful candidate experience.
Combating Ghosting and Improving Communication
Greenhouse’s data from Q2 2024 shows that 31% of candidates never heard back from prospective employers; that’s 14.4 million applications. Greenhouse Verified’s Communicative Badge ensures candidates receive updates throughout the process, helping reduce ghosting.
Kyle Lagunas, Head of Strategy at Aptitude Research, a leading human capital management (HCM) research and advisory firm, commented: “The trust between candidates and prospective employers has never been more precarious. Candidates have high expectations when it comes to transparency and equity in hiring practices. While it may be easy to dismiss these expectations as entitlement, those companies that continue to attract the highest quality candidates are touting their ability to deliver high-quality hiring practices”
Reducing Bias in Interviews
More than half (54%) of candidates have been asked discriminatory interview questions. Greenhouse’s Fair Badge helps companies demonstrate a commitment to mitigating bias in hiring and ensuring a level playing field for candidates through practices like anonymizing resumes and using standardized interview prompts.
Ensuring Thoughtful and Prepared Interviews
Greenhouse Verified’s Prepared Badge shows employers that invest in thoughtful interviews, with interviewers consistently prepared to ask informed, relevant questions focused on skills. One in five candidates (20%) has rejected a job offer due to poor interview experiences, which this badge aims to address.
Ariana Moon, VP of Talent Planning & Acquisition, said: “Our hiring teams prioritize a positive experience for candidates, and Greenhouse Verified allows us to showcase our commitment to fairness, preparedness, respect, and communication. This gives candidates more transparency into our hiring practices.”
Fostering Respect Throughout the Hiring Process
With concerns about discrimination, nearly one in five candidates (19%) have altered their names on resumes. Greenhouse’s Respectful Badge recognizes companies that create an inclusive environment by encouraging candidates to be their authentic selves, whether through pronoun identification, name pronunciation, or anonymous feedback.
Désirée Porter, Senior Technical Recruiter at CareRev, highlighted the program’s value: “Because of Greenhouse Verified, we can easily showcase our strong hiring practices, providing candidates with a trusted and transparent experience when applying to our company.”
For candidates and organizations that want to learn more about Greenhouse Verified and the criteria to become a Verified organization, please visit here.
