4 Ways Hearsay Feedback Leads to Bias in the Hiring Process

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Hearsay is a rumor.

Hearsay feedback is when you take a rumor and embed it as formal candidate feedback.

Hearsay feedback embedded into factors used to make a final selection decision is an ineffective approach to recruiting (in general) and is one of many ways that bias gets embedded into recruiting practices.

When I am facilitating workshops, leaders—particularly hiring managers—are often taken aback when I get to one distinct section of my presentation that shows them what questions to ask to identify where bias is baked into the hiring process.

Here is one of the questions I pose: ?

Are your hiring managers able to solicit and embed hearsay feedback about candidates from personal and professional networks when making a final selection decision?

And without fail, during Q&A a hiring manager will ask, “How is this embedding bias into the hiring process.”

Great question. In today’s article, I want to show you how. Let’s unpack this together.?

Especially in smaller industries, hiring managers may have “friends in high places” who work in the same industry. So, when we notice that a candidate has worked or is working at a company where the friend works, it makes it easy to reach out to that network to inquire about the candidate’s performance.

Here’s what this looks like. Let us say that I am the hiring manager.

As a hiring manager, I am interviewing a candidate named Tommy. I see that Tommy works in the same organization as a former colleague of mine, Jessica. ?I call Jessica and ask her to provide her opinion about Tommy. Jessica provides her perception. She says, “Tommy does not have a good reputation here.”

Here are four ways that bias is now being embedded into the hiring process:

1. Jessica’s feedback may be second-hand. If Tommy has not worked directly for Jessica, Jessica may be passing along bias-filled rumors (i.e., hearsay) from others in the company.
2. Tommy’s performance may be due to a toxic workplace environment; it may not be an indication of Tommy’s true nature of performing. Have you ever observed an employee underperform in one workplace environment (or while reporting to one manager) and thrive within another environment or while reporting to a different manager? The employee did not need to change, the environment did. This happens all the time.
3. Tommy may be the victim of blocklisting. Have you ever observed employees being snubbed for new opportunities based on a mistake or mishap that happened years prior—even though it got fixed? The employee cannot seem to move beyond the reputation no matter how well they have performed or will perform in the future. That is blocklisting. Jessica may be sharing her perception of Tommy based on blocklisting—which ironically may be the exact reason Tommy is trying to find a new role outside of the company.
4. Tommy may be a target of disparate impact or treatment. Maybe Jessica is not aware of this on her end, but perhaps Tommy’s performance (and those who identify like Tommy) may have been judged through the lens of historical standards of professionalism rooted in whiteness. This judgement may have created an outcome where groups who identify like Tommy may have gotten overlooked for opportunities. Maybe company decision-makers are judging Tommy’s performance based on how they dress, wear their hair, speak, etc., rather than their ability to get the job done successfully. So, these same decision-makers are unable to see beyond Tommy’s affect, to clearly see their performance.

In each of these four scenarios, the information received has great potential to be filled with bias. And if you—as a hiring manager—run with this information, you may be snubbing Tommy of a great opportunity on your team, and you may be ruining your chances of gaining a valuable new team member.

And here is one other factor that I will add to this conversation as a bonus. The hiring process is a confidential one. If Tommy did not sign a release allowing you to share or solicit information with others about his hiring process, you should not share this confidential information.

Instead of soliciting and embedding hearsay feedback into your final selection decision, create a more inclusive selection process by following the steps in your formal hiring process: extend an offer and then formally check references and employment history versus reaching out to peers for feedback. Objectively gain reference information and base your decisions solely on the candidate's skills, experience, and knowledge skills. By equipping your team with the right tools and following the formal hiring processes you can significantly reduce bias from your recruitment process.?

Join me in the comments section and share with me your thoughts (and stories) on embedding hearsay feedback.

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