The Huge Issue of Hiring Biases & What They Are

The impact of a biased recruiting process

Preventing hiring bias is a real problem

It’s also not just CV sifting that’s prone to bias, interviews are also hotspots for potential bias.

Types of hiring biases:

Affinity bias:

Similarity bias, also known as affinity bias, refers to the unconscious tendency to get along well with people who are similar to ourselves. In subjective assessments and interviews, we tend to rate people with similar backgrounds higher. It is human nature to gravitate towards the familiar in order to feel safe, but this instinct has no place in 21st-century work environments.

Anchoring expectations bias:

When hiring staff, you have a hundred things to consider. Hard work, energy, and time are required. In this way, it's easy to narrow your judgement to just a few areas in order to form your overall opinion. You may be making bad hires because of your "expectation anchors".

Bias of confirmation:

We are all prone to making snap judgements about people based on our gut feelings. It is the tendency to subconsciously seek evidence to confirm our initial impression of someone. In addition, we discount evidence that contradicts our initial judgments. By hiring by gut feeling, you run the risk of missing out on great candidates because they make a bad first impression.

Bias caused by halo effects:

You have a positive impression of someone in one area that influences your opinion or feelings in other areas. It doesn't mean that someone is strong in all areas just because they are good at one thing. You are still overlooking more qualified candidates even though this increases your chances of hiring someone.

A bias caused by the Horn effect:

Halo effect's flip side. A perceived bad quality can distort your perception of someone as a whole. We may think a candidate is not a good candidate if their CV is poorly designed and laid out, even if word-processing and design are unlikely to be part of the job description. Think positively influenced for halo effects and negatively influenced for horn effects.

Bias of overconfidence:

This occurs when an interviewer observes one factor and assumes that it correlates with another, possibly unrelated factor, and uses it to judge performance. A person who is extroverted may not always be a good salesperson.?Interviewing a candidate unstructuredly and chit-chatting about their personal lives often results in illusory correlations.

Negative bias emphasis:

An example would be judging someone negatively based on their personal, irrelevant preferences, such as their height, weight, or hairstyle. Taller men, for example, earn more money, according to studies.

Beauty bias:

There are certain advantages to being beautiful, according to research. As a result, they are more likely to get a well-paid job and to be popular at school. Even though beauty is subjective, it's hard not to unconsciously correlate someone's appearance with their job performance.

This bias may explain why beautiful people are on average more successful at work.

Bias toward conformity:

Peer pressure affects hiring decisions, causing compliance bias. In assessment centers and group interviews, assessors may let their decisions be influenced by other opinions and views on a candidate.

Contrast bias

By judging performance by the person(s) who came before them rather than the hiring criteria, this occurs. Contrast bias is associated with some pretty significant recruitment outcomes, as shown in the following statistics:

– We are more likely to look favorably on someone's CV after reviewing a poor one.

– If the preceding candidate scored poorly, we're more likely to score a candidate higher at interview.

When reviewing CVs one after another and interviewing in close succession, this occurs. Without a constantly shifting benchmark, unsuitable candidates will get through, while good candidates will be overlooked.

Non-verbal bias

The wrong interpretation of body language can lead to the wrong conclusions. :

– A person's body language, such as how they look and act

– Voice tone and sound

– A minority focus on what they are actually saying

In recruitment, there's a saying that says the best interviewer gets the job, not necessarily the best candidate. It's when we're overly influenced by a person's body language or charisma that we call non-verbal bias.

Bias of first impressions:

Making an impression only takes a few seconds. It's not enough time for a candidate to show whether or not they'll make a great employee in just a few minutes.?When you meet someone for the first time, you make up your mind quickly. Especially in stressful interview situations, nerves often give interviewers a false first impression of a candidate. CVs or social media can also provide a first impression before the interview, which are generally not good indicators of job performance.

Johnny Nash Contact Details & Enquiries:

To reach out to me for consultations with your company, or for recruitment. Email me: [email protected]

For coaching enquiries:?Email me at: [email protected]

To follow my content on Instagram, or TikTok: Follow me on my user handle: johnnynash121

My Book: "The Secrets of The Sauce: Ending Career Misery"

Recruitment & Careers Club Podcast Episodes:

Apple Podcast Link:

Spotify Podcast Link:

https://open.spotify.com/show/7jbaLqpIFUj0rC4AWfYRUa