Friday Facts: Unconscious Bias
Posted on Friday, July 5th, 2019
Unconscious Bias is a well researched and discussed topic in many Leadership, Human Resources, and I&D conversations. However, rarely have I seen it brought to life in the way the new P&G advertisement #TheLook does. I invite you to take less than 2 minutes to watch this video and reflect on your experiences and/or reactions that it uncovers.
As HR practitioners, we know that one place the bias can have a detrimental effect on the talent potential of an organization is during an interview. Here are a couple tips on how to uncover and address bias when it appears – and we all know it does.
RAPPORT Bias: This bias happens when the candidate shares some attributes with the interviewer, so the interviewer feels that “instant rapport”, and rates them more favourably. For example, if both are fans of the same hockey team, enjoy the same weekend activities such as skiing, listen to the same musician, etc. Just because you connect and share common interest, doesn’t mean the person will be the best candidate to do a specific job.
Tip: Ask yourself, “Does it matter whether you like the person you hire? And how important is it to you?” If you do care about it, an article from Harvard Business Review recommends rating candidates as you would on their other skills during the interview. By giving likability a score, you’re making it more controllable.
Halo/Horns Effect: The candidate has one very positive or negative answer or attribute that overshadows everything else they say or do. This happens because we tend to look for confirmation about our assumptions (known as confirmation bias), often without questioning where those assumptions came from. For example, they are so cheerful it outweighs the lack of experience in another area. Alternatively, you find their communication style abrupt, so you are skeptical of all their skills.
Overconfidence Bias: The interviewer believes that they “just have good judgement”, have a “gut feel”, and can “just tell” if someone is going to be good. While experience in interviewing and hiring can provide perspective, to address bias we need to quantify why one person is a good hire vs. another person.
Tip: Having a structured interview vs. an unstructured interview will help keep this in check – As we always do here at AC. This is because in a structured interview you ask all candidates the same questions based on competencies and prerequisites outlined in the job description.
If we can recognize when these biases occur, we can determine whether they are rooted valid or not, and if there is any relation to the job. Don’t rely on your memory for decision-making; always refer to your interview notes and the actual information you observed. Consider setting an agreement with other interview panel members to call out bias in one another when it is observed.
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