Welcome back to the second blog of our February series where we’re talking all about Inclusivity: How to be Inclusive in the Workplace. If you saw our video on Monday, you already have a leg-up! Today, we’re talking all about something called a “bias” and how HR Managers must actively check this bias to ensure a fair hiring process.

What is a Bias?

Okay, time to get psychological with you. Believe it or not there are multiple forms of “bias”. If you’re familiar at all with what exactly a bias is, then you know it’s an inclination or, for lack of a better word, prejudice against a person, place, or thing. Let’s get one thing clear: bias isn’t always a bad thing! Your bias can cause you to stay away from threatening people or places and can even help dictate your diet or exercise routine to help you stay healthy. However, when a bias becomes a problem is when discrimination begins. An example of a negative bias are stereotypes. Because of something you read, saw on TV, or were told by someone you trust, you can shift your bias. This can negatively affect people of certain races, ethnicities, backgrounds, etc. For the purpose of this blog though, we’re focusing on what’s known as your natural bias. This particular bias is typically passive and is one that is innate. It is something that is born in you, not something you are actively aware of or practice. Which is why this form of bias is so particularly dangerous - it’s subconscious. It’s not something you’re practicing on a daily basis - it’s natural.

Why Does it Matter?

Alright, so you have a basic understanding of what a bias is...but why does it matter? How does it affect the hiring bias? No one will know if I hire based on my bias right? Wrong. Whether you know it or not, a hiring bias is something that is pretty detectable. For example, if you’re only hiring white males because you’re a white male and that’s something you’re comfortable with...when someone who doesn’t necessarily fit those standards sees your company photo - they’re less likely to apply. Why? It lacks diversity. People want to feel included and welcome when they’re looking for a job. If they walk into an office for an interview or look up your employees on LinkedIn and don’t see anyone they can relate to or align themselves with (based off of first impressions, which are everything) then they may search elsewhere.

Check out this quote from Harver: “Companies that have [an] ethnically diverse workforce are 35 percent more likely to perform above their respective national industry medians. Gender diversity helps organizations perform 15% above the median. Unconscious bias can prevent companies from hiring diverse employees and hinder the overall productivity and that’s why it is essential to eliminate it from your hiring process.” By being more conscious when hiring or even instating some sort of diversity initiatives, you’re opening up your odds for success! Take a step back and check out your company or department...Is diversity lacking? Do you feel that maybe you hired based on your own personal bias and not based on the candidate’s potential? Don’t worry, there are steps to make a change. Check it out below:

How Can I Check My Bias?

Okay, so you’re worried you’re a biased-based hire OR you don’t think you are...but you might be? Don’t fret - Here’s how you can check your bias:

1. Look at their Skills- For this first point on how to keep your bias in check, we asked one of our Recruiters, Nathan Lewis for his insight. Here’s what he said: “One way to keep your biases in check as an HR manager or recruiter is to take a look at the candidate’s hard and soft skills. This liberates the manager and allows them to look past preconceived notions to focus on a person’s work history, technical skills, and people skills.” It’s easy honestly, you should only base a hire solely off of their experience and or potential right? So why not do exactly that? If you’re prone to following your bias, focus only on the person's skills.

2. Assessments, Assessments, Assessments- Nathan gave us another great option for checking your bias: “Another way to overcome bias is to focus on the assessment portion of a candidate’s application. Regardless of race, sex, gender, location, salary, age, or any factor that may cause a hiring manager to pause, assessments are a great black and white way of telling whether or not a candidate will be a technical or cultural fit.” This goes hand in hand with skills - their assessments (if offered) are a great “tell” as to whether or not they’ll fit in at your company. If their assessments aren’t great, there’s your answer. But, if they’re stellar...reach out! This takes away the bias you may or may not have and allows you to focus solely on stats.

3. Standardize the Hiring Process- Whether you’re a hiring manager or a recruiter, if you feel as though there is some sort of hiring bias going on - consider standardizing the entire process. Since a hiring bias can negatively affect your company’s livelihood, consider reaching out to those in charge and make the necessary changes happen. It’s as simple as revamping your job descriptions to include more descriptive language or even keeping the entire process blind. Don’t pass along anything to hiring managers except a name-less resume or assessment. This takes away any bias towards someone's name, gender, age, or race.

4. Establish Awareness- Okay, this may seem obvious, but by establishing awareness and by making hiring bias a well known “no-no” in the office, others will hopefully feel deterred from contributing to this issue. Harver says: “By teaching recruiters and everyone else responsible for recruiting about hiring bias, you will draw attention to it, allowing people to acknowledge when they’re doing it, why they’re doing it and more importantly how they can alter their behavior so they are no longer base their decisions on their biases. Only by acknowledging the issue of hiring bias, can we work towards finding a solution to eliminate it.” If you sense a bias happening...speak up! Haven’t you ever heard of “See something, say something?” Well, that certainly applies here. If you see a hiring bias trend...say something! Make a change, make everyone know what it is and why it matters.

5. Collaborate- If you’re prone to gravitate towards others most like you - consider a collaborative hiring process. This ensures that you, Betty, and Carl all like Chris and want him to interview. If you’re in charge of hiring on your own without another opinion or two, the chances of you hiring people based on your personal preference is high.

   Harver says again: “Diversity attracts diversity. Don’t have just one person responsible for hiring, make the hiring process as unbiased as possible by including as many different people, with differing backgrounds and differing world-views as you can. This way, a broad spectrum of people will have an input on each candidate, and everyone will be looking for something different, allowing the hiring to be a collaborative process, not based on one person’s decision. Have everyone individually note down their thoughts during interviews and submit these, or discuss them openly as a group during the selection process.” So, collaborate with your team, come to a mutual consensus on each candidate and move forward to see if your diversity efforts pay off - We have a feeling they will!

If you’re looking to hire right now and aren’t having success or need assistance...check out ApplicantOne! We offer three different recruiting solutions with the help of our recruiting technology aided by our team of in-house recruiters. The best part? We do all the heavy lifting for you so you can focus on other important matters. Follow this link to read more about us. Cheers!