How can you eliminate unconscious bias in hiring for your creative team?

Reflect on past hiring decisions to recognize patterns that may indicate bias, such as consistently choosing candidates from similar backgrounds. Use tools like implicit association tests to uncover biases you might not be aware of.

It is important to recognize that we all have biases, and actively seeking ways to uncover and eliminate them is the first step to creating a more inclusive society. We should commit to becoming self-aware and promoting inclusivity in our thoughts and actions.

To address unconscious bias, we must apply conscious and deliberate effort. "Unconscious" bias may not reflect our values, but it most certainly reflects a lifetime of cultural conditioning. This can be a huge blindspot for organizations, including those leading job search effort. Creative teams benefit from diverse perspectives and viewpoints, particularly because creative problems normally have multiple valid solutions. Collaboration is a key to driving better creative outcomes. Collaboration informed by a more broadly diverse team amplifies that effect. It takes a great deal of honesty for one to address unconscious biases. Taking the first step to say "even me" as opposed to "not me" is a first step to embrace.

Define must haves, good to haves and red flags for potential candidates. Discuss them with your immediate team as they will be the ones working with the new hire. Start with a phone screen to check for cultural fit, followed by assignment for functional fit and to understand how serious the candidate is. Post that, have atleast 2 or 3 rounds of discussion with senior persons in your team to ensure there is no unconscious bias in your hiring decision. You may use the S.T.A.R.T. model for evaluating the candidates and encourage your peer panelists to use the same for bringing consistency in the hiring process.

Go where the wild talent roams. Diversify your talent scouting grounds—online platforms, niche communities, partnerships with groups championing underrepresented creatives etc. When you are able to break the echo chamber of referrals; you'll be able to find fresh voices/minds that shake the status quo and give your team the foundation for doing innovative and potentially, award-winning creative work. Good luck and go get em!

One of the biggest symptoms that bias--unconscious or otherwise--is influencing hiring across a creative team are the terms "culture fit/team fit." If these terms populate job postings or descriptions, it's a recipe to hiring a very homogenous team. Instead, actively seek to diversify your team and grow your culture. Ultimately the goal is to build a team of individuals that create diverse solutions precisely because of their diverse backgrounds and journeys to becoming a creative professional.

To truly nix unconscious bias, you've got to mix self-awareness with a structured hiring framework, stir in ongoing education, scout for talent in uncharted territories, and be relentless about measuring and iterating your approach. It's also not about being politically correct; but about wiring your team for rich, multifaceted creativity that drives your business (and your clients' brand forward).