Unconscious Bias in the Employment Process – A Quick Overview

From an employer’s point of view unconscious bias, if it exists in their employment process, is potentially a problem.

Studies repeatedly show that a well-integrated and diverse workplace is one where productivity and development thrive. The worry is that unconscious bias can lead to missed opportunities for talented candidates, reduced workforce diversity, and even potential compliance issues.

What Is Unconscious Bias?

Basically, it is the automatic, unintentional judgements, people make based on their own background, experiences, and influences. Before we go any further though, let’s get something clear. We are not talking about actively choosing to discriminate. Unconscious bias is not the same as active discrimination because it usually happens without awareness.

A good example is the ‘familiarity’ bias, where we unconsciously prefer someone with the same background as ourselves.

Another well known example is ‘accent bias’. This is a well-documented phenomenon where people make unconscious judgements based on the way someone speaks.

Both of the above may seem trivial on the surface but if they lead to the wrong choices during candidate selection, they could have some far-reaching consequences. Unconscious bias like the above could, for example, contribute to a bad hire.

So Why Do We Have These Biases?

The main theory is that it is because life is complex, psychologically speaking at least, and we all need to make quick judgements. It is a sort of shortcut thinking technique to get us through the day. For example, we don’t apply deep thought to it when we meet somebody we have a lot in common within a social setting. Similar backgrounds usually make for easy interactions so it’s a pleasant experience. We are biased towards them in a positive way. However, if we still have the same bias in a recruitment setting, we could be favouring someone for possibly the wrong reasons without realising it.

That is the essence of unconscious bias in employment. It means we could unintentionally, and unknowingly, make a judgement on a candidate without fully applying either logic or reason.

Is Unconscious Bias Important?

Well, firstly to discard someone from the employment process because of what The Equality Act 2010 refers to as protected characteristics (race, gender, age, and so forth) is illegal. So, demonstrating you have tried to control the possibility of unconscious bias in your selection process is clearly a good idea.

Secondly, looking at it from another angle, unconscious bias could potentially result in hiring a less suitable candidate. That could be an expensive mistake in the long run. So, while nobody would actively do the following, unconscious bias may facilitate mistakes around.

• Unconsciously favouring a candidate with a similar educational background to the interviewer.
• It might suggest a candidate is less capable due to their accent, name, or perceived cultural background.
• Deeply entrenched age-related stereotypes may mean older candidates are overlooked in favour of younger applicants.

All of the above are undesirable in the employment process but very real and documented examples of unconscious bias in action.

An interesting side note is that AI seems to demonstrate where bias has already potentially been active. In an experiment with AI candidate filtering, a well known global company started to see a learning AI system favour male candidates over women. Apparently, this was because it used historical hiring and promotion data to make its decisions and, because of the number of male candidates and managers, it assumed men were a better choice. This raises worrying questions about the use of AI in recruitment and potentially further unconscious gender bias issues in the company.

How to Minimise the Potential for Unconscious Bias

There are several methods of reducing the possibility of unconscious bias affecting your hiring process.

• The biggest enemy of bias is awareness, so training that alerts managers to the possibility of it happening will usually be a good starting point.
• Work with a recruitment partner. We are here to pre-filter and select suitable candidates. This removes some of the more common triggers.
• Regularly review hiring data to identify potential bias patterns.
• Encourage diverse interview panels to bring multiple perspectives into hiring decisions.
• Focus on skills and experience only very early in the interview process.

By adopting these strategies, you can create a more inclusive workplace, attract a wider range of talent, and help ensure legal compliance with employment laws.

What About Company Cultural Fit if You Focus on Skills?

Unconscious bias is entirely unrelated to your company culture. Early, and anonymous, focus on skills and experience is a way of ensuring you are seeing the right people without unconscious bias influencing the initial decision. It takes away the possibility of company culture or unconscious bias allowing an unsuitable candidate to progress unless they are a fit in terms of experience and/or skills. In the finance world, appropriate skills and experience are vital.

Company culture is also a vital part of the employment process. It matters to you and the candidates and, as we all know, a ‘good fit’ person is vital for a successful hire. However, it has little or nothing to do with the first stage of practical filtering of a candidate.  So, when we are pre-filtering candidates, while we do consider the culture of the workplace, we do so only after we have considered them for suitability.

Is it Worth It?

You can’t help but have noticed a lot of very loud chatter around Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) recently. Sadly, what should be an open and helpful discussion seems to have turned into a rather bitter slanging match at times. This is a real shame because the goal of something like unconscious bias awareness is to create a workplace where everyone can thrive and therefore become more productive. It would seem to only benefit employers and employees alike.

In the final analysis, understanding and implementing ways to reduce or eliminate the possibility of unconscious bias is not a restriction on the candidates or the employer. It is one piece in a wide employment process that is really focused on one thing – getting the right candidate.

We are always here to help with your employment needs, so let’s chat.