3 Areas Bias (+ Inequity) Hide in the Hiring Process

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Bias and inequity are baked into the hiring process, typically from the very start. We know that. What we often struggle to understand is where it gets baked in and how it gets baked in. So, the goal for this week’s article is to share with you three common issues in hiring impacted by unconscious bias that inhibits employers' ability to increase diversity.

Issue #1: Roles are created in organizations quite often with no business need.

This happens more often than you think. For example, a leader could meet a talented person while networking and decide to hire them. Or a leader could decide to create a new role for a person whose position was about to get eliminated. Or, a leader could create a role to promote an individual so that they are not tempted to work elsewhere. These are not inherently negative reasons to create a role for a person. The bias is the issue. If you are a leader and your affinity bias leads you to get along with, socialize, or only want to be around people who are like you, then these employment opportunities are predicated upon a person’s relationship with and access to you. Therefore, for those with no relationship and no access, there is little to no employment opportunity.

If you know that you have a homogenous network and you struggle with affinity bias, which we all do as it is unconscious, then your ability to increase diversity on your team requires you to end creating positions for people you know and like and focus on the business need. Rather than opening a position that adds value to the organization, you are trying to make a role fit into your company. Therefore, any successor will have the difficult challenge of fitting into a role that was created for a person rather than a business need.

Ask yourself: What is the business need? What responsibilities are required to fill the gap on this team?

Connecting the open position to the business need allows you to define the role’s responsibilities more clearly. There should be no duty or responsibility listed in the job description that does not fill the gap and meet the needs of the business. 

So, remember: Hire for a business need by clearly defining and stating the new role’s responsibilities in alignment to the business gap.

 Issue #2: Do you have an exaggerated impression of the qualifications necessary to do the work outlined in your role’s responsibilities?

As a leader, how often have you found yourself thinking about the type of person you want to work on your team rather than the type of skillset needed to get the job done? I find that this happens often after a termination. The qualifications listed in the leader’s job description mirrors the exact opposite of the person who left the position. The longer the list of qualifications, the easier it is to confirm that the organization is looking for an extremely specific person. A needle in a haystack. A purple squirrel. And what happens is that too many qualified job seekers are eliminated. Even when they meet what should be the minimum qualifications for the role, they are rejected for reasons like the non-ivy league school they attended, the size of the previous organization they worked for, the previous industry they worked within, or the fact that they couldn’t answer a question about a subject taught to them in college.

Your ability to increase diversity on your team means that you are clear on the skillset needed to perform the stated duties in the job. This form of hiring requires you to “stick to the facts.” In other words, stick to the alignment between the stated responsibilities and the minimum qualifications necessary to deliver upon those responsibilities. When you have a long list of unnecessary qualifications, you limit your candidate pool size and people who are easily qualified to do the work feel ineligible. If it is necessary, add a separate section for preferred, desired or bonus qualifications. Just separate the two sections so that your team (and candidates) can see the delineation. If you are looking for a person who shares in your company’s values be sure to add that to the bonus qualifications, not the minimum qualifications. A person does not have to be passionate about your organization’s mission, be able to recite your pillars, or even share in your organization’s values to do the work successfully. It is nice if they do, but it is not a minimum requirement to get the job done.

Ask yourself: What qualifications are necessary to successfully deliver upon each of the duties outlined in the role?

Connecting the qualifications directly to the defined duties of the role prevents hiring leaders from adding unnecessary qualifications and it increases the likelihood that your candidate pool can be broadened. For those of you hiring based a candidate’s ability to meet the minimum and bonus qualifications as one section, try this exercise. Ask your HR or recruiting team to look at the level of diversity within the candidate pool of those who meet the true minimum qualifications for the role. Now, look at the level of diversity within the candidate pool of those who meet your minimum and desired qualifications. It is likely that you will notice that all your exaggerated bonus qualifications are inhibiting your ability to increase diversity within your organization.

So, remember: Clarify the minimum qualifications necessary to execute the role’s stated responsibilities. 

Issue #3: Do you have an overinflated and preconceived notion of how talent should be packaged in order to fit the exaggerated list of qualifications?

Connect the dots because one leads to the other. The more unnecessary qualifications you deem essential to do the work (issue #2), the more unrealistic the expectations you will have for the candidates you interview (issue #3). You will find yourself assessing the person (i.e., their look, presence, sound, tone, etc.) rather than assessing a person’s knowledge, skills and abilities (i.e., their capacity to get the job done). This is how hiring leaders leave the door open for stereotyping bias. 

Keep your eyes on the prize and build your interview questions around the qualifications to do the role. Know when you are asking questions that pertain to the minimum qualifications and know when you are asking questions that pertain to the bonus qualifications. Do not get so caught up in the messenger (e.g., how a person looks) that you miss the message (i.e., this person is qualified).

Ask yourself: Does this person have the knowledge, skills, and ability to meet the qualifications for this role?

Over time, several recruiters have asked me what they can do to help candidates to show their true and authentic self during an interview so that the interview team can better assess the “real” candidate.

My answer?

Remember that candidates are only playing a game that employers have created. If your organization has a pre-packaged overinflated notion of who a candidate needs to be, candidates will show up as that person during the interview. The system that created the game must be changed before candidates will begin showing you who they are. Your ability to increase diversity means building a more equitable and inclusive hiring process. But until then, and for today, candidates are showing you exactly what you want to see and hiding their true selves because they have learned that this is the only way to gain employment. 

So, remember: Assess an individual’s knowledge, skills, and ability to deliver upon the stated qualifications for the role.

These may feel like common sense recommendations. But common sense does not always equate to common practice—especially in hiring. Common hiring practices have left the door open to bias and inequity. As leaders, it is so easy to get distracted by things that do not matter. We can get distracted by qualifications that do not matter and we can get distracted by how someone comes packaged. These distractions are what is narrowing your talent pipeline, creating leaks for individuals from historically underrepresented populations.

Now, let me ask you something. If the person meets the qualifications to deliver upon the duties outlined in the role that was created based on a defined business need—shouldn’t that be enough to make them eligible for an interview and potentially hired into your organization?

 Join the conversation in the comments. If the person meets the qualifications to deliver upon the duties outlined in the role that was created based on a defined business need—shouldn’t that be enough?

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• Answer frequently asked questions related to diversity recruiting and retention 

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