How to reduce bias in your hiring process
Uncover strategies for bias free hiring that allow you to tap into wider, more diverse talent pools and attract exceptional and diverse candidates.
Aside from the clear ethical problem with making hiring decisions based on biases – such as gender, ethnicity, age and beauty – employers run the risk of legal discrimination claims, while the impact can also be seen on profits. In fact, the business case for gender, ethnic and cultural diversity is stronger than ever, with the most diverse organisation outperforming their less diverse competitors when it comes to profitability.
All of that said, studies show that bias is prevalent in the hiring process. For example, applicants from minority ethnic backgrounds have to send 60% more applications to get a positive response from an employer than white British candidates, and 35% of hiring managers eliminate candidates based on differences in social class background.
By recognising bias and taking steps to understand it and overcome it, employers can make better-informed choices, which result in more successful hires and more equitable, diverse workforces.
This article will examine bias in the recruitment process, why it’s so important to reduce it, and explore proven strategies to develop an inclusive and diverse workforce.
Understanding hiring bias
At its most basic level, the definition of bias is a tendency to prefer one person or thing to another, or to favour a person or thing.
When it comes to hiring, this is when recruiters and employers fail to maintain objectivity and let irrelevant factors influence perceptions of a candidate, regardless of their skills or qualifications.
Despite many recruitment teams having good intentions, biases can occur at every stage of the hiring process. In fact, a major hurdle is that most people don’t think they are being biased or discriminating against others in the first place.
We are all shaped by our life experiences and sometimes people have beliefs and views about other people or groups of people that might not be right or reasonable. This is known as ‘unconscious bias’.
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) describes this as when a person thinks:
- Better of someone because they believe they’re alike.
- Less of someone because that person is different to them, for example, they might be of a different race, religion or age.
The problem is that even though we may be aware of bias, it’s a real challenge to overcome it. In fact, 48% of HR managers admit bias impacts the candidates they choose.
Sometimes this bias can mean a positive predisposition towards one attribute (known as the halo effect) which can lead to employers overlooking a candidate’s shortcomings because of a bias in favour of them. This not only can result in unfair treatment, but it can also lead to increased employee turnover, as the new hires may lack the right skills for the role.
The impact of hiring bias
To understand bias, we can look at data which shows the hurdles some groups of people face.
For example, figures show it takes black women 5.1 months and South Asian women 4.9 months to secure their first job out of education, compared to 2.8 months for white women 2.8 months and 3.4 months for white men. Further research shows that:
- Applicants with Muslim-sounding names are three times more likely to be overlooked for roles.
- Older applicants receive 68% fewer responses than younger candidates.
- 43% of LGBT employees face discrimination while searching for a new job.
While there’s a clear moral case for reducing bias, there’s also a compelling commercial case.
Workforce diversity means a wider talent pool, where employers benefit from a range of skills, experiences and perspectives. For example, companies with representation of women exceeding 30% are significantly more likely to financially outperform those with 30% or fewer, according to a recent McKinsey Diversity Matters report. The figures are similar for ethnic diversity (27% financial advantage).
5 steps to reducing bias in the hiring process
To drive meaningful change and build diverse teams that can help organisations achieve their goals and objectives, it’s crucial to address all aspects of the hiring process.
Below we’ve outlined 5 strategies you and your hiring teams can implement to overcome bias and boost diversity and inclusion.
1. Standardise job descriptions
To increase employee attraction and attract a wider pool of talent, it’s crucial to promote the benefits of the role in the job description.
For example, our research found that 91% of working parents say family-friendly benefits are key factors when deciding on a job offer. So, if you provide enhanced parental support, make sure candidates know that from your job adverts.
When putting together your job descriptions, always be thoughtful with the wording. Remember, job descriptions should:
- Always be specific and focused on essential skills and qualifications.
- Use gender neutral and inclusive language to attract a diverse pool of applicants and be aware of language around disabilities (including hidden disabilities) so you don’t inadvertently make it harder for applicants to apply.
- Eliminate criteria not directly related to job performance to avoid excluding qualified candidates.
2. Use structured interviews
From stereotyping to confirmation bias to the horn or halo effect, being aware of bias is an essential step during the interview process.
To reduce bias in interviews, it helps to have a well-structured, competency-based approach, with set questions, and an unswerving, objective rating system for an impartial evaluation of how candidates meet the job requirements.
Interviewers should therefore consider:
- Using consistent questions for each candidate to ensure fair evaluation.
- Implementing a scoring system to objectively assess responses against predetermined criteria.
3. Leverage diverse hiring panels
As many as 62% of Black women and 43% of South Asian women say they have faced discrimination during the application process based on their ethnicity, and over a quarter believe that their ethnicity has resulted in at least one job application not progressing.
To challenge any bias in your hiring process, consider utilising a wider team for your recruitment. Panel interviews are one example that can be beneficial in helping to reduce bias from the hiring process as they include diverse perspectives, rather than the process being carried out by one or two interviewers.
Carefully pulling together a panel of individuals from different backgrounds and experiences can result in a fairer evaluation of candidates. If it’s possible, consider having one of the interviewers on the phone so they do not make decisions based on the physical appearance of the person being interviewed.
4. Use fair assessment criteria
When you consider candidates based on skills, you’re more likely to hire talent from a more diverse range of cultures, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds.
So, once the interview stage is complete, it’s crucial to establish clear and measurable criteria for evaluating individual candidates.
According to Totaljobs’ research, over half of hiring managers are under pressure to fill vacancies quickly. However, to reduce bias you need to establish effective (and efficient) ways to assess a candidate’s abilities without the filter of bias.
It’s also essential to evaluate the candidate’s ability to do the job against the responsibilities required for the role, rather than first considering how they will fit in with the culture or the team (which can be a bias-led decision).
To help establish the right assessment criteria, employers and recruiters can:
- Take a skills-based approach and assess what candidates can do, rather than focus solely on their education and past work experience.
- Regularly update assessment criteria to align with the exact job requirements to improve your chances of finding the right person for the role.
5. Monitor and evaluate hiring practices
Reducing bias takes time and involves regular reviews to see where the problems are and how to overcome them.
To further eliminate bias, it’s helpful to ask candidates and new hires for their feedback. Use various channels (including anonymous options) for candidates and employees to give their honest opinions.
You can then analyse the information they provide to see if there are any differences between groups (including those with legally protected characteristics) and check that you’re really recruiting people fairly and removing unconscious biases from your processes.
Building a culture of inclusion
Reducing bias in your hiring process can help you achieve ambitious diversity targets and foster a culture of inclusion at work. The above advice is a starting point but it’s important to recognise that reducing bias is an ongoing process. However, when employers get it right, they not only help reduce bias in the workplace, but they can also improve profitability and become an employer of choice for top talent.