Five Common Hiring Biases and How to Overcome Them
It is estimated that the average adult makes around 35,000 decisions per day! Some of these are simple, like what to eat for breakfast, while others are more complex. Deciding who to hire for an open position demands careful consideration and strategic recruitment management. Unconscious bias, which influences many human decisions, is no exception in recruiting. It can lead to judging candidates based on factors irrelevant to workplace performance. This not only harms candidates but also results in costly bad hires.
What is unconscious bias?
Unconscious bias occurs when we unknowingly make decisions based on stereotypes, beliefs, and attitudes. This behavior can lead us to favor certain people and discriminate against others without realizing it. In the context of employee management, unconscious bias can significantly impact hiring, promotions, and everyday interactions. Let's examine some common unconscious biases that can cloud our judgment in managing employees effectively.
1.Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out and favor information that confirms or supports one's beliefs—in other words, to select information that reinforces one's initial gut feeling and ignore details or even red flags that might conflict with those beliefs. For example, if a candidate attended a less prestigious school, a recruiter will subconsciously look for information that proves they are not a good fit for the job.
2.Similarity-attraction bias
It's only natural that we want to surround ourselves with like-minded people, and a recruiter or hiring manager might be tempted to hire the candidate they feel most connected to. Having the same hobbies or supporting the same sports teams might make for a nice conversation over lunch, but you shouldn't let that overshadow the qualities that are really important in the job.
3.Halo effect
The halo effect refers to the tendency to make assumptions about a person based on a positive quality or trait. A good example in an interview would be a firm handshake or the way the candidate is dressed (perhaps an outdated example in today's age of remote work, but you get what I mean). We appreciate a firm handshake as much as anyone else, but does it show that the person has other qualities to do the job well?
4.Hubris Bias
You've probably heard someone say, "I'm an excellent judge of character." While some people have a sixth sense for these things, that shouldn't be your guiding light when it comes to hiring.
Hubris Bias comes into play when we are confident we can make the right decision. Subjective views replace objective information and hiring decisions are made based on gut feeling.
5.Gender Bias
Gender bias is the act of favoring one gender over the other and making assumptions about a person's competence based on gender. Although gender bias can affect any gender, it primarily affects women and nonbinary people. Gender bias harms women's career development and companies lose great talent due to poor hiring decisions.
How to combat unconscious bias?
Although unconscious bias cannot be eliminated 100%, there are numerous ways to avoid it. The first step to overcoming cognitive bias is to acknowledge that it exists and no one is free from it.
Psychometric assessments
Psychometric assessments are designed to evaluate a candidate's personality, behavior, and cognitive abilities to determine the best candidate for the job. Standardized assessments are the best indicator of job performance and allow you to objectively evaluate and compare candidates, eliminating bias. Psychometric assessments, when used in conjunction with other selection methods, such as structured interviews, go a long way in making your hiring process bias-free.
Structured interviews
A structured interview ensures that you ask all candidates the same questions; therefore, they are all evaluated against the same criteria. An unstructured interview is more of a conversation and the interviewer is bound to improvise more, which can easily lead to them focusing on things that are less important to job performance.
Other methods
- Review job postings for bias. Make sure you use inclusive language.
- Review your advertising channels. Are you reaching a diverse audience?
- Assemble a cross-functional interview panel
- Unconscious bias training
Acknowledging and addressing unconscious bias is crucial in hiring. Tools like psychometric assessments and structured interviews help. IceHrm provides integrated solutions to support unbiased recruitment practices.