From the Desk of- Irene Mosota MSc, FRSA
"In diversity there is beauty and there is strength." - Maya Angelou
This week I have been looking and thinking about pathways to inclusion and mostly focusing on hiring practices. Below are my reflections and my observations as an independent panellist in recruitment. Partly reflecting my own experience of being interviewed. Please do indulge me as I share my perspective in this blog post.
In the dynamic world of hiring, the term "culture fit" often echoes through boardrooms and interviews. However, without a clear definition of culture and robust tools to measure it, the concept can inadvertently become a veil for discrimination. This insidious bias, often fuelled by affinity bias, perpetuates a hiring process that unintentionally side-lines diversity, leaving us with workplaces lacking in representation.
Despite our best intentions, our organizations are riddled with biases, both conscious and unconscious. This is more prevalent in the case of recruiting, which is the very beginning of the employee journey. A key determinant of who gets in and who doesn’t. Which then mirrors the organisation's make-up across different levels. Inclusive hiring is not only the morally right thing to do, and also a huge competitive advantage for your organisation.
We all have biases. You and me together. Before digging deeper into how to counter bias. It’s important to acknowledge that we all have, conscious and unconscious biases. This acknowledgement is the first big step to addressing the issue. The trouble is, if this goes unchecked, they lead us to make snap judgments based on gut feeling and fall prey to stereotypes and prejudices in decision-making.
It is important to recognise that having biases doesn’t make us bad people. It simply means we are human and it’s an evolutionary trait. For thousands of years, we’ve been wired to make snap judgments to escape danger which is core to our survival instincts. Awareness alone is not enough we have to ensure that our biases are checked and addressed.
Harvard has developed a tool to check your bias. Please note this is not like “snake oil “that will cure you of all your biases and you’ll cured and all good for life. It will require other interventions too Take a Test (harvard.edu)
Defining Culture Fit and the Danger of Affinity Bias: Let's break it down. Culture fit, when not properly defined, risks becoming a euphemism for hiring people who are essentially reflections of ourselves “people like me”. This unconscious desire to surround ourselves with those who share our values, interests, and even appearance can create an environment that shuts the door on diverse perspectives and talent Affinity bias, rooted in this comfort of similarity, seeps into the workplace, limiting the richness that a diverse team can bring.
Unpacking Affinity Bias in the Workplace: Uncomfortably enough, affinity bias is pervasive in the workplace, shaping hiring decisions and contributing to the startling lack of diversity in many organisations. This bias can be especially insidious when leaders attempt to justify a predominantly white leadership team by asserting that qualified candidates from other ethnicities simply didn't make it through the recruitment process. Does it mean that other ethnicities are not capable of leadership? This should serve as a red flag, prompting us to scrutinise our hiring processes and acknowledge potential systemic issues that may disadvantage certain groups.
Barriers to Equitable and Inclusive Hiring
1. Candidate Search
Perspective: The journey towards inclusive hiring begins with how we search for candidates. Are our recruitment channels diverse and inclusive, or are we inadvertently limiting our candidate pool? Consider broadening your search to platforms and networks that reach a wider array of talents. Challenge the status quo and redefine where and how you source candidates to ensure diversity from the outset.
2. Interviewing Process - Panel
Perspective: Affinity bias often sneaks into the interviewing process, especially when conducted by homogeneous panels. Diverse perspectives are essential at every stage, including the interview room. Ensure that your interview panels reflect the diversity you aim to achieve in your organisation. This not only minimises bias but also creates an inclusive atmosphere where candidates can see themselves thriving. Personally, I don’t recall ever being interviewed by someone that looks like and that has led me to question my sense of belonging.
3. The Hiring Decision
Perspective: Think about the qualification criteria — does every job require a degree, or could a candidate learn the necessary skills on the job? Sometimes, organisations prioritise graduates from prestigious universities, creating a barrier for candidates from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Having homogeneous interview panels and making a hiring decision is more likely to pick a candidate that mirrors who they are. If your company practices involving multiple people in the hiring process, ensure diversity of background in the decision-makers. The interview process should include questions about areas or ways that bias might present itself. These questions may be uncomfortable but are essential to ensuring inclusive hiring.
What we can do differently to foster Inclusive hiring
1. Transparency
Make sure the process is transparent, informing all candidates and providing all necessary information for them to apply. Avoid introducing new stages midway just to suit a specific candidate.
2. Salary Expectations
State salary expectations explicitly to avoid unintentionally creating a pay gap. Clear communication about compensation sets the stage for fair and equitable negotiations.
3. Diverse Candidate Referrals
Request candidate referrals from a diverse group, especially underrepresented groups. This widens your talent pool, moving beyond the familiar and expanding the possibilities. Make it a standard process to have a diverse candidates list -it is a stepping stone to hiring diverse talent.
4. Anonymise Candidate Data
Anonymise candidate data when reviewing applications. This mitigates perceived competence biases and ensures that decisions are based on skills and qualifications rather than unconscious biases.
5. Fairness and Consistency
Ensure fairness and consistency by asking each candidate the same set of questions with a corresponding scoring framework. This helps in objective evaluation and eliminates potential biases in the assessment process. Please also refrain from asking arbitrary culturally specific questions, as this may disadvantage candidates from different cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, consider the correlation of these questions to the candidate's skills and job role. Be cautious of “cultural fit” and bias seeping through as we look for similarities during the interviewing process."
6. Avoid Gendered Language
Avoid using language in job listings that can be gendered. Craft your listings with neutral and inclusive language to attract a diverse range of candidates.
Finally, it is important to remember that Inclusive hiring is not just a buzzword; it's a strategic imperative for organisations aiming to thrive in a diverse world. By addressing affinity bias at every stage – from candidate search to the final hiring decision. And by implementing these practices, we remove barriers that hinder diversity and create workplaces where everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute their unique talents. Let's all work towards addressing both personal and systemic bias, and create environments that foster inclusion, belonging, celebrate differences and, in turn, drive innovation and success.
Let’s hire for “culture add “and not “culture fit”. Thank you for reading and I look forward to sharing from my desk next perspectives on Allyship