Are you a hiring manager? If so, you are likely adamant about avoiding bias in the hiring process. As you know, bias in the hiring process happens when a job candidate is chosen based on something other than his or her qualifications. Despite discrimination being prohibited in the workplace, it continues to rear its ugly head more often than it should. Most workplaces emphasize diversity hiring initiatives and hosting diversity hiring training. Still, hiring bias exists. Sometimes this bias is blatant, but usually, it is subconscious.
Are Your Subconscious Beliefs Promoting Bias in the Hiring Process?
You may think you are the most fair, unbiased hiring manager out there, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t double check to make sure your hiring practices are completely ethical. After all, not all bias is conscious; much of it can stem from subconscious beliefs. Business News Daily’s senior writer Chad Brooks said,
“…some managers still fall prey to their own inherent, subconscious biases when evaluating candidates. Without realizing it, they may tend towards hiring people who are similar to them, especially when it comes to their educational background, new research finds.”
It is the rare person who isn’t biased on some level, even if it is subconscious.
How to Prevent Bias in the Hiring Process: 2 Simple Tips
Many professionals have some type of subconscious hiring bias. Thankfully, hiring managers are not victims to their subconscious beliefs. There are ways they can effectively prevent discrimination in the hiring process. Here are two powerful tips to promote fair hiring practices:
1) Don’t rely on intuition – People are often instructed to “listen to their gut” when it comes to making critical decisions. This may be a helpful instruction in some cases, but not when hiring people. Instead of relying on intuition during the hiring process, rely on a clear-cut set of qualifications.
2) Increase accountability – The single best way to prevent bias in the hiring process is to increase accountability around it. In the article 4 Types of Interviewer Bias – and How to Eliminate Them Recruiter.com contributor Kazim Ladimeji stated, “Increased accountability reduces the effect of gender bias and increases the accuracy of evaluations, so make sure there is a culture/requirement for interview note taking, and evaluators should use named forms, and each interviewer selection decision should be justified, documented and filed.” Ramping up accountability prevents not only gender bias, but other types of bias, as well.
Even managers who are confident in their ability to hire without discriminating may want to implement these two tips in order to safeguard the hiring processes within their organizations.
In what ways do you as a manager help prevent bias in the hiring processes that happen at your workplace?
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