Even the most experienced hiring managers can overlook hiring biases that impact their recruitment decisions. As a result, qualified candidates from underrepresented backgrounds can be excluded from the hiring process.
Identifying the overlooked hiring biases that might be impacting your recruitment process lets you develop strategies to create greater inclusivity. These methods can help.
Learn about the overlooked hiring biases that could be impacting your recruitment process and how to overcome them.
Gender Bias
Gender bias favors one gender of candidates over the other. One example is the belief that male candidates are more assertive, competent, and suitable for leadership roles than female candidates. In reality, qualified female candidates are as capable as qualified male candidates to fill high-level roles.
Tips to overcome gender bias
You can overcome gender bias by using structured interviews and clear evaluation criteria when interviewing candidates. Asking the same questions and scoring candidates’ answers with a rubric help create objective evaluations for hiring decisions.
Confirmation Bias
Forming opinions about candidates based on first impressions or preconceptions is part of human nature. For instance, you might be unfairly influenced by how the candidate looks, where they went to school, or which companies they worked for. Then, you might seek information to support your initial impression and ignore contradictory evidence.
Tips to overcome confirmation bias
You can overcome confirmation bias by including skills assessments early in your recruitment process. Focusing on what a candidate can do is more important than their background. Also, ensure each candidate is asked the same interview questions so the best candidates can advance.
Age Bias
Assuming younger candidates are energetic, tech-savvy, and innovative and older candidates are slowing down and resistant to change can lead to ageism. The reality is that many experienced candidates can provide knowledge, stability, and emotional intelligence to benefit your workforce.
Tips to overcome age bias
Implement blind hiring practices to overcome age bias. For instance, resumes should not include age-related identifiers such as school graduation dates. Also, during interviews, emphasize each candidate’s skills, experience, and accomplishments to determine the value they can provide your organization.
Affinity Bias
Everyone has a more favorable opinion of someone who is like them. Therefore, you are likely to choose a candidate who shares your race or gender, speaks the same language, went to the same school, or has other commonalities. As a result, you must overcome affinity bias to make objective hiring decisions.
Tips to overcome affinity bias
You can work on overcoming affinity bias by reading and learning about underrepresented communities in the workplace. Recommended books include So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, and What Works by Iris Bohnet. Additionally, a recommended podcast is Harvard Business Review’s “Women at Work”.
Gaining insight into the experiences of people with disabilities, immigrants, Indigenous communities, and other underrepresented groups helps uncover hiring biases that can impact your recruitment decisions. This insight can help develop the framework and language to identify, discuss, and minimize any bias in your company’s hiring process.
Would You Like Help with Your Recruitment Process?
HireCall can help uncover overlooked hiring biases impacting your Oklahoma company’s recruitment process. Reach out to start the process today or easily request qualified talent.
