Hiring Charades

[Moses Ebe Ochonu]

[My Facebook reflection this morning]

Brian Flores, the former coach of the Miami Dolphins, claims in an explosive lawsuit against the NFL that teams have been playing racial "ojoro" in their hiring process. Flores, who is black, has included text messages which back up his allegation.

In particular, he alleges that the NY Giants brought him in to interview for their vacant position only to create the appearance of an inclusive and open hiring process, having already made a decision to hire someone else, who is white. His interview, he alleges, was a sham show to satisfy the outcry about the dearth of black coaches in the NFL.

According to the text messages, the team had already selected a white coach and merely brought Flores in to satiate the DEI clamor and to perform their own charade about a commitment to fair and inclusive hiring.

This is not just an NFL problem. In my own profession, in the so-called Ivory Tower, it happens. Throwing in token minority job finalists to stave off criticism sometimes happens.

Preselection also happens in almost all other professions, and in life generally.

Most times, when it comes to opportunities, the decision has already been made by the folks upstairs.

Unsuspecting people acting in good faith and putting their proverbial best foot forward are merely brought in to give the process credibility and an aura of professionalism.

In African politics, it is common for some "sit-tight" political incumbents to recruit their own “opposition” in a sham electoral contest just to legitimize the predetermined charade in the eyes of the so-called international community and donor/creditor countries.

In much of the discourse, we’re told that this only happens in the third world, especially in the governmental sector, where corruption, nepotism, and “tribalism” are allegedly the norm, and meritocracy is shunned. But this practice happens in respected corporate and academic spaces that claim to be meritocracies, and is common in Western organizations.

The preferred candidate is known and chosen, and other people go through the stressful motions of a grueling hiring process. It is a waste of the candidates’ time and energy. And it is a cynical use of innocent and qualified people as props in an elaborate game of putting on a façade to overcome certain perceptual and legal burdens.

In the case of the NFL, they have the Rooney Rule, which prohibits discrimination in hiring processes, but which most teams now circumvent, according the Flores lawsuit and several black coaches that are now coming forward to narrate their own interview experiences with several NFL teams.

It is not always about race, gender, ethnic, or other identity-based discrimination, however. Sometimes the preselected candidate for the job simply checks all the boxes and is a perfect fit for the organization.

But that then begs the question of why said organization would waste the time of other applicants with elaborate, prolonged interviews, replete with performances of serious evaluations?

Hiring processes generally are overrated as objective, merit-based exercises. Often, the decision comes down to not the most qualified, experienced, or credentialed person but the person who is the best fit.

And this question of fit is largely subjective, completely outside the control of the non-favored candidates. Sometimes, it even has to do with things they were born with or into, so can’t change.

Next time you apply for something and don’t get it, please don’t kill yourself with too much self-criticism. You probably did your best, and the decision probably had nothing to do with your performance, experience, qualification, and capacity.

Please accept my apologies if I continue to disappoint and depress young people, but the real world is far from a meritocracy. I believe knowing these nuances of life is more helpful than empty motivational claptrap.