How to Combat Unconscious Bias in the Hiring Process
More companies are starting to recognize that diversity matters, and are making efforts to recruit and hire a more diverse workforce.
Unconscious bias, however, makes hiring a diverse workforce much more challenging.
In short, unconscious biases are “stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness.”
Everyone holds various unconscious biases and what makes them so difficult to find and address is, in fact, because they’re unconscious. Unconscious biases can range from views on race and gender to personality and likability; and these biases creep up in hiring every day.
Here are some ways to combat unconscious bias in the hiring process…
Require all interviewers to take unconscious bias tests: If people are aware of their biases, they are more likely to recognize when it influences their decision-making, especially during the hiring process. There are a number of unconscious bias tests people can take for free online.
Submit interview feedback beforehand: Once when I was interviewing a candidate, I talked to one of my colleagues who interviewed the same candidate earlier in the week. My colleague seemed to genuinely like the applicant. A few days later, all the people involved in the hiring process got together to discuss the candidate. During the meeting, one high-ranking member expressed some concerns about the applicant and suddenly my colleague switched their opinion about the applicant. Submitting interview feedback beforehand ensures the honest opinion of the interviewer is being recognized, and helps mitigate any biases that might appear in a hiring meeting.
Make sure you’re rejecting (or accepting) a candidate truly because of culture fit and not because of unconscious biases: Culture fit is one of the most important aspects companies use when assessing future employees. However, oftentimes, unconscious bias will take the guise of culture fit whenever someone wants to reject (or accept) a candidate. Once, in a meeting when discussing an applicant, one of my colleagues said we shouldn’t accept the applicant because they wouldn’t fit in with the group. After hearing this, I was shocked because, to me, the applicant represented all the values and characteristics we held as an organization. When I asked my colleague why they felt that way and pressed for details, I was not able to get any solid answer. Hence, if a person on your team says not to hire someone because they wouldn’t fit, ask them for specific details from the interview that prove their point. Often times, our unconscious biases make us stay closer to the familiar.
?What other tips do you have to remove unconscious bias from the hiring process? Let me know in the comments!
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#StudentVoices
Senior Scientist at University of Wisconsin-Madison
8 年Have the evaluation criteria laid out before applicants are reviewed. Research shows that people will change the review criteria midstream to fit their "ideal" candidate.
PBF GFIN | Business Delivery | Senior Business Analyst | Program Governance | Agile BA
8 年Suneil - You have deftly tackled this topic and with great real-life examples. Thanks for sharing and making me think.
Owner, Safe Operating Systems, Inc.
8 年Assign the interviewee a random number (not 666) in place of name; blindfold the interviewee and interviewers; garble the interviewee's voice and remove all dates from resume. Don't be surprised when the interviewee refuses the offer.
Senior Enterprise Account Executive at Learning Pool LTD
8 年Great article. The challenge can be however that unconscious bias is exactly that - unconscious. And no matter how much we try to recognise this it can be difficult to pin it down. Have you considered how technology can help? Our data science team have developed big data algorithms which provide our customers with insights into unconscious bias in real time, meaning recruiters and hiring managers have instant visibility across reviewer behaviour.
Senior Executive Recruiter at The Carter Group, a Retained Search firm
8 年I remember a date I had with an HR Manager of a bank that I banked at. At the time, it was a first date, nothing serious - but when she'd shared with me where she worked, I immediately thought of how attractive and friendly all the tellers were. (Think back 20 years ago, when people actually walked inside the bank to cash checks) I remember clearly asking her how she decided to hire one person over another. As an incompetent womanizer, I certainly noticed a pattern of hiring attractive people at her bank. She shared this: "Basically, it comes down to 2 things: Can they do the job and, will they fit in?" She then broke the second question down to "Would I want to work with them?" I knew then that this was not how people should be evaluated, at least not in the second prong of her 2 prong test. So glad to see (again) that this was just an HR manager and not a policy maker for every company in the world.