The scorecard: the smallest change that makes hiring fairer

If you can change only one thing about how you interview, change this: decide what you are measuring before the first interview, and score every candidate against the same criteria.

What a good scorecard looks like

• Four to six criteria, each tied to something the role really needs
• A short behavioural anchor for what a 2, a 3 and a 4 look like
• Weights agreed before candidates are seen, not after
• Scores submitted independently, before the debrief

Why independence matters

The first opinion voiced in a debrief shapes everyone else's. When panelists submit scores before they talk, you get genuinely independent signals, and the disagreements that matter become visible instead of smoothed over.

Making it painless

The usual objection is time. Nobody wants a form after every interview. This is where a notetaker earns its place: it drafts the evidence for each criterion from the transcript, and the interviewer confirms or edits the score. Completion rates in our data rise from 41 percent to over 90 percent.