Significant research has shown that much of the recruitment cycle is dictated – unintentionally or otherwise – by bias, and the nature of humans to unconsciously judge other people. According to one study, this can “stymie diversity, recruiting, promotion, and retention efforts,” and, if left unchecked, can “shape a company or industry’s culture and norms”.
With this in mind, we’ve outlined some top tips on how to avoid bias in the hiring process that will enable employers to recruit more fairly when sourcing marcomms specialists.
The study from Iris Bohnet, director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School, is one of several that highlights the innate human tendency to inadvertently prejudge groups of people. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) has been particularly under the spotlight over the past week following Donald Trump’s inauguration as US President. He seemingly linked the plane crash in Washington with the Federal Aviation Authority’s (FAA) inclusive hiring policies, to the bemusement of most, at least on this side of the Atlantic.
Nonetheless, while significant work has been made to level the playing field, a volume of research suggests that unconscious biases still creep into marcomms hiring processes, and it’s up to employers to ensure they are acting correctly and not in a discriminatory manner. This isn’t just the right thing to do morally, but there is a clear business case for recruiting more fairly and therefore developing a more diverse workforce.
Diversity benefits businesses
McKinsey & Company found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and gender diversity were 36% more likely to outperform their peers, while a Boston Consulting Group study showed that companies with more diverse leadership teams reported 19% higher innovation revenue. And in an increasingly interconnected and multicultural society, it makes sense that being able to mirror your customer and client bases more effectively will enable you to better understand them. This is clearly even more important in marketing and communications teams who are interacting directly with, and creating content for their audiences, and therefore require a more diverse mix to build connections with them.
However, even the most ethically-minded employer can still inadvertently allow these biases to edge into their marcomms hiring activity, and the tendency is often to hire those who are similar to the rest of their workforce. But what can organisations do to reduce subconscious prejudices?
How to avoid bias in the hiring process
The first step is in the first candidate touchpoint. Put simply, building more inclusive job descriptions will encourage a more diverse candidate pool to apply for the roles. Avoiding gender-specific wording, and terms like ‘rockstar’ or ‘guru’, will prevent people being put off applying before having engaged with the position in full.
When it comes to building out shortlists for interviews, hiring teams should look to establish a blind interviewing process that removes personal information related to names, genders and other identifying factors. Applicants should then be reviewed alongside predefined criteria which evaluates them objectively, and purely based on their skills, experience and competencies. This is similar to a skills-first approach to recruitment, but with an additional layer to remove any potential prejudices.
This should also be extended to the interview and assessment stages. Predefined interview questions, combined with a scoring matrix that enables applicants to be reviewed on a level playing field, will help to remove much of the bias inherently built into this process. Enabling them to be interviewed by a panel of more diverse employees can also help to balance different perspectives and viewpoints.
Much of this approach is built on a foundation of education and development, and hiring teams will often need to be trained to ensure they are aware of the potential for unconscious biases to edge into the recruitment process. Equally, its key to monitor diversity data and metrics to identify any potential patterns that could be developing both when recruiting, and after making appointments.
Avoiding bias does take some work and the vast majority of employers will be making subconscious decisions without being aware of them. However, the benefits of adopting this approach outweigh any potential challenges, and by developing less prejudiced processes, and building more diverse teams, organisations can reap the rewards.
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If you are looking to manage your organisation's ED&I strategy, VMA GROUP's Advisory Services can support you in developing inclusive, fair and unbiased recruitment practices. Get in touch with the team today to find out more.
