The smell of a hot cup of coffee in the morning prompts you to push off the covers, slide into your slippers, and make your way to the kitchen despite the tiredness you feel after working late the night before. Your brain knows that the aroma wafting into your room means it is time to wake up and that the cup of coffee brewing in the kitchen will help move that process along. Most mornings, you don’t lie there and debate what to do. You make an unconscious decision to get out of bed based on experience. In this case, your instincts serve you well, as does the coffee. However, our subconscious is not always correct.
The conclusions we draw without even thinking do not consider all the information available. It is more like an automatic reaction to a stimulus we have experienced before. While these reactions reduce the number of decisions we must make throughout the day, unconscious choices in the business world can lead to unexpected and undesirable consequences. They can prevent us from reaching the very goals that could bring us success.
Unconscious Bias
As we experience the world around us, our brains continually draw conclusions based on our experiences. From a young age, we may begin to associate two things purely based on what we observe. For example, if all the doctors you meet are female, you may begin to associate women with that profession. Likewise, you may draw conclusions about the type of people that you are most likely to become friends with. As you meet new people, you may filter out the individuals who don’t look or act like your other friends in favor of those who seem more like you.
You may never voice these conclusions or even be aware of them, yet you may act on them without conscious thought. These unconsciously held beliefs are not unique to one person or group of people. They are part of being human. Recognizing they are there and understanding how they can affect the decisions we make is the first essential step to eliminating the influence they have on our decisions.
The Impact of Bias on Executive Recruiting
In 1972, psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman began identifying and naming the unconscious cognitive biases that individuals exhibit. Since then, many psychologists have added to their findings to create a comprehensive list of biases, which have the potential to influence decision making in many aspects of our lives.
If left unchecked, cognitive bias can lead you to trust your instincts over the facts. It can lead you to hire an individual who is a poor cultural fit or simply unqualified for the position. Unconscious biases can take many different forms. Training about unconscious bias can help individuals recognize when bias is present. Here are just a few examples of what these biases may look like in executive recruiting:
- The Horns Effect – Takes place when recruiters fail to see past a single negative quality of a candidate, eliminating a candidate based on a single characteristic
- Affinity Bias – Occurs when recruiters are drawn to a candidate because they have something in common with them
- First Impression Bias – Describes when a strong first impression prevents recruiters from objectively evaluating a candidate
- The Halo Effect – Happens when recruiters focus solely on one great characteristic of a candidate, overlooking other skills and experience
- Confirmation Bias – Occurs when recruiters look for evidence to support their initial opinion of a candidate, overlooking any facts that don’t support it
The danger inherent in allowing these biases to creep into executive recruitment lies in their impact on the process. All of these biases prevent recruiters from fully and objectively evaluating each candidate and choosing the best one to fill the position. Thus, removing their unconscious effect on the process is essential.
Removing Unconscious Bias
While it is impossible to completely remove the human element from the recruitment process, standards, processes, and procedures can reduce the effect of bias on executive recruitment.
1. Create a Hiring Process
Before you begin your search, decide how you are going to evaluate candidates. Standardize it, including the steps each candidate will take, the questions you will ask, and the rating scale you will use to score candidates. Use the same process for each individual. Deviating from this process can introduce bias.
2. Know What You’re Looking For
Take the time to define the position before you talk to candidates. Know which qualities and skills are deal-breakers and which are nice-to-haves. Deciding what you need from a candidate before you meet them will help you be more objective during the hiring process.
3. Expand Your Search
Look beyond your typical connections, networks, and referrals. Remember that people typically surround themselves with like-minded individuals. If you want to achieve your diversity goals and reap the benefits, you will need to diversify your pool of candidates. Try connecting with professional associations or an executive search firm.
4. Leverage Technology
Advancements in technology have led to the development of excellent tools for streamlining and improving recruiting outcomes. Consider using tests to evaluate candidate skills or software to screen CVs. Technology can help you identify candidates who are well-suited for the position who you may have overlooked.
5. Ask for More Opinions
Executive hiring has an impact on many departments and stakeholders. Consider allowing a variety of individuals to be involved in the hiring process. Be sure to provide training on unconscious bias.
6. Set Diversity Goals
Unconscious bias often sneaks in under the umbrella of cultural fit. A candidate who is different may not seem like a good cultural fit for the organization, but they may be just the person you were looking for to bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to the C-suite. Make sure your executive search process supports your diversity goals.
7. Evaluate Your Hiring Outcome
Hindsight is always 20/20, and it will be easier to see your successes and shortcomings after recruiting is done. Take note of what worked well and places where bias may still be present. Make appropriate changes to your processes to improve them.
Eliminating bias is a worthy goal for every organization. Often, the best approach is to consistently strive to reduce its impact on hiring. If you need help knowing where to start, contact a skilled Salt Lake City recruiting firm. Their recruiters have been fine-tuning their hiring processes to help companies across the valley hire without the influence of unconscious bias.