Linda Bartalucci-Phelps

Over her 30-year tenure at Kelly, Linda Bartalucci-Phelps (she/her) has been on a quest to end workplace hiring bias and empower her team to obliterate barriers within the staffing world by looking beyond the words on a résumé.

As an industry pioneer, Bartalucci-Phelps’ career began at Kelly in human resources and has expanded into the DE&I space through evangelizing the importance of eliminating predisposition on candidate résumés. “I feel very comfortable challenging the status quo by saying no to specific hiring specifications,” she explains. “We are having conversations with internal staff to teach them how to approach removing requirements that are excessive or exclusionary.”

Kelly has undergone a shift in its DE&I programs, with initiatives such as Second Chance Hiring, of which Bartalucci-Phelps is a large supporter. The program calls into question why those with nonviolent criminal histories can’t be given the second chance to have a contributing role in the workplace. “I’ve empowered my team to say, if there’s any way you can see the path to ‘Yes,’ to take it,” Bartalucci-Phelps says. “It is about doing the right thing — and getting people connected to work.”

I feel very comfortable challenging the status quo by saying no to specific hiring specifications. We are having conversations [about] removing requirements that are excessive or exclusionary.

Yet Bartalucci-Phelps’ mission goes beyond removing criminal discrimination in hiring. One of her proudest moments came when one of Kelly’s interns was to begin a job as an engineer and was put through past employment verification as required by the client. The employment start date suddenly came to a halt because of immaterial minimum wage experience included on the résumé that was obstructing hiring efforts due to its seasonal closure. “We had the conversation and got the requirement waived and were able to move forward,” Bartalucci-Phelps explains. By spearheading the removal of irrelevant academic and employment requirements, she is continuing to see an increase in Kelly’s speed to hire.

Bartalucci-Phelps’ efforts have helped deepen understanding about practical experience bias and the screening requirements. She emphasizes that these changes could not have happened with her alone and is excited to see the lasting impact. “We’re going to continue to see more competent conversations and people not shying away from working with our clients.”