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Even with a growing number of legal department diversity initiatives, the playing field for in-house lawyers is still far from level, according to a new report from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.

On Thursday, the organization released a study conducted in partnership with the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession, called “You Can't Change What You Can't See.”

The report highlighted the many challenges women and people of color face in the industry, such as constantly needing to prove they are real attorneys, having to clean up and take notes in meetings and dealing with sexual harassment. According to the report, “gender and racial bias was reported in all seven basic workplace processes,” including hiring, performance evaluation, networking and pay. 

But there's hope for the future. The MCCA's report also included tools for law departments to boost diversity and inclusion efforts. Here are four ways they can combat bias and help D&I succeed:

1. Use metrics to find patterns and spot roadblocks to diverse hiring.

How many people of color and women apply for in-house legal jobs? How many make it to the final stages? Where do they fall off? These are questions that could be answered with solid data and reveal issues with the hiring process. 

“It's the old adage, what gets measured gets managed, and what does not get measured does not get managed,” said MCCA president and CEO Jean Lee.

According to the report, one roadblock to diversity can be language—words such as “competitive” and “ambitious” in a legal job posting can discourage women from applying. Legal departments and HR should collaborate to ensure word choice doesn't affect the company's ability to get top talent.

Once candidates do get an interview, the report noted it's helpful to ask all interviewees similar questions and to stick to merit-based, professional conversations. Lee recommended discussing the qualifications required for the job before applicants pour in, so that qualified diverse lawyers don't lose spots to potential hires who don't meet the role's needs, but have been recommended by a friend.

The report also had hints for avoiding bias in the interviewing process by avoiding questions about previous salary (asking is now illegal in some jurisdictions). It recommended giving candidates an upfront  chance to talk about any gaps in work history, so those who have taken time off for family reasons have a chance to provide their perspective.  

2. Widen the search pool.

Predominantly white law schools are going to produce predominantly white job candidates, yet many companies still turn to the same traditional elite schools when recruiting talent. Widening the search to include schools with more socioeconomic and racial diversity leads to applicants of a greater variety of backgrounds, the report said.

“Some firms and companies are starting to explore ways in which they can widen the pool,” Lee said, and increasing the number of schools in a talent search can help do that.

Lee also noted companies can reach out to affinity groups and attend job fairs targeting women and people of color. She said more companies have asked her about this option in recent years, and people are often surprised when they see the amount of untapped, diverse talent in the legal world.

According to the report, it's also important to monitor who is getting referred for jobs. If a company that relies on referrals for hiring is mostly white or male, it's possible referral-based hiring will perpetuate the lack of the diversity.

3. Make an office schedule for nonlegal tasks.

MCCA's report found that women were much more likely than their male colleagues to take on nonlegal tasks, such as event planning or cleaning.

“Female colleagues end up losing hours in a day,” Lee said. “It takes away from your opportunity to do more glamorous work in the in-house department.”

To combat this, the report recommends coming up with a spreadsheet schedule for office administrative and maintenance work. By assigning office members a specific day as their turn to clean, it prevents all of the responsibility from falling on one person.

Before designing a schedule, the report recommends sending out a survey asking employees about how much office housework they do in a week, so departments can track whether the burden is falling on women or other groups.

4. Watch for bias in performance evaluations.

The MCCA report also noted the dangers of performance evaluations that treat workers differently based on factors such as gender or race. One of the studies mentioned in the report showed more negative performance reviews for black law firm associates than white law firm associates.

MCCA's report recommended analyzing performance reviews for patterns in similar criticisms or negativity focused on women, people of color or other groups. Legal departments can also push to have performance evaluations focus solely on skill and work performance rather than personality. Reviewers should also be asked to provide evidence to back up low ratings, to push for less-subjective answers.