How to Ensure You Remain Unbiased While Recruiting

Regardless of intentions, bias has a way of creeping into the hiring process, and research shows that people from certain backgrounds have a harder time successfully making it through the process than others.

Obviously, your company should be vigilant about eliminating bias in all of its human resources functions, but particularly when it comes to the hiring process.

Acknowledge bias exists

When combating bias, the first issue is to acknowledge that it exists, and for some people that means challenging their long-held ideas and beliefs.

Many businesses find that awareness training helps inform people about the real-life effects of bias and how bias can damage an organization. In addition to providing the direct benefit of educating employees, awareness training is also an effective way to start an organizational conversation around bias in the workplace.

Job descriptions should be a work in progress

Research has shown the way a job description is written can affect who applies for an open role. For instance, words like “determined” and “competitive” have been connected to lower application rates for women.

Because there’s no magic formula for attracting a highly diverse applicant pool, companies should constantly be analyzing the effectiveness of their job descriptions and tweaking them accordingly.

Use name-blind recruitment

The book and film Freakonomics famously revealed that resumes with traditionally African American names at the top get fewer responses than resumes with traditional European names.

In order to combat this “name bias,” employers should use software programs that allow them to implement a name-blind resume screening process. In addition to bringing more equality to the hiring process, going name-blind can also reduce the odds of eliminating would-be great employees simply because of their names.

Standardize the interview

Unstructured interviews that are more like conversations might seem free-flowing, but they’re often guided by personal experiences, some of which inform our biases.

Structuring the interview process by having a list of questions can help keep biases at bay. Many hiring managers find that scoring candidates’ responses to questions is another way to focus on qualifications, where your focus should be.

Provide a work test

Work tests that imitate the types of activities the applicant will be doing in the job are good indications of future job performance. Analyzing work sample tests from numerous applicants also helps adjust your judgment to see how one applicant compares to another. Asking applicants to fix work-related difficulties provides essential insights. A skill test pushes organizations to evaluate the candidate’s work as opposed to instinctively judging them by using appearance, age, gender and even personality.

Score candidates’ likability

Let’s be honest: Hiring managers tend to hire people they find likable.

While likability is important for cultural fit within an organization, it’s a subjective quality that is affected by your personal background, as most people tend to gravitate toward people of their own race, gender, age, nationality and so on.

Having hiring personnel score each candidate for likability is a great way to control for it, instead of having it become an unsaid and uncontrolled-for variable.

At Career Concepts, we strive to connect our clients with the most qualified candidates available, regardless of background. Please contact us today to discuss a custom staffing solution for your organization.