How to reduce hiring bias in the recruitment process

Fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace is becoming a top priority for many companies

However, this intention to create a diverse and inclusive workforce may face significant challenges due to deeply ingrained and unconscious biases within the hiring process. It is essential to acknowledge that bias, whether based on race, gender, age, or other factors, can influence the selection of candidates and ultimately hinder the goal of building a truly diverse team.

Recognising and addressing these individual biases is crucial for creating a more equitable hiring process. By raising awareness among business leaders and implementing strategies to reduce hiring bias, organisations can take steps towards fostering a more inclusive workplace environment where all individuals have equal opportunities to succeed.

The good news is that many business leaders are recognising these systems in their workplace and are taking steps to combat them.

So, what is hiring bias?

Hiring bias occurs when different standards are applied to different people during the recruitment process, resulting in prejudice or discriminatory action against an individual or groups of people.

Often, these unconscious biases can cause us to form an opinion or judge a candidate based on stereotypes and beliefs irrelevant to the person’s ability to do a job well.

Hiring biases get in the way of building diverse and inclusive teams

McKinsey’s 2019 analysis on diversity and inclusion revealed a striking statistic: companies in the top quartile for gender diversity in executive teams are 25% more likely to achieve above-average profitability.

Similarly, ethnically and racially diverse teams are 35% more likely to outperform their national industry medians. These findings highlight the clear business benefits of building diverse teams.

When people with different experiences and backgrounds come together, it sparks creativity and fresh ideas. Companies that embrace this cognitive diversity can boost innovation by as much as 20%.

However, getting there isn’t always straightforward. One of the biggest challenges in fostering diversity is the presence of implicit biases, which often go unnoticed in our daily interactions and decisions.

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In the recruiting process, interviewers may unintentionally rely on ingrained biases when evaluating candidates. Even with the best intentions to remain objective, these biases can influence decisions—leading to the exclusion of qualified candidates and perpetuating issues like gender bias.

If left unchecked, these biases not only disrupt diversity goals but also affect workplace culture, causing disengagement and alienation.

Our article explores ten common biases in hiring and offers practical strategies to minimise them, ensuring a more inclusive and fair recruiting process that attracts a broader range of qualified candidates.

Ten common types of hiring bias in the workplace

Confirmation bias

We have a proclivity to seek evidence that supports our existing beliefs and theories. Confirmation bias not only compels us to interpret or recall information that aligns with our perceived truths, but it also reinforces our personal biases and stereotypes.

This may occur during the hiring process when a recruiter or hiring manager intentionally poses questions in hopes of eliciting responses that support their perception of a candidate.

Affect heuristics

People frequently  take this mental shortcut when making decisions, relying exclusively on their emotions instead of seeking out concrete evidence. This can lead to biassed, often incorrect conclusions about a candidate.

Examples would include deciding not to hire a candidate with tattoos due to a personal belief that tattooed people are untrustworthy and unprofessional.

Horns effect

When a single negative trait profoundly influences our opinion of someone, it is known as the horns effect. During the recruitment process, this can impact our judgement and lead to a decision not to hire a candidate simply because we cannot move past a perceived character flaw.

Halo effect

An opposite of the horns effect, the halo effect is when a recruiter fixates on a single positive quality displayed by a candidate and allows it to influence their decision heavily. Potentially disregarding any red flags highlighting the fact that the candidate may not be suited to a role.

Expectation anchor

An expectation anchor bias occurs when we anchor ourselves to one identifying factor about a person and base all our decision-making on it. It is similar to both the halo and horns effects but is not tied to a specific negative or positive attribute.

A typical example is when a recruiter is looking for someone to replace an existing employee but expects the potential candidate to share similar attributes to the role’s predecessor.

These can range from external markers such as work experience and education levels to more implicit characteristics such as a sense of humour and social values.

Conformity bias

Our likelihood to cave into peer pressure due to fear of having a belief that differs from the status quo is conformity bias rearing its head.

During the hiring process, this might happen during group or panel interviews where a participant may hesitate to voice a negative opinion about a popular candidate with the rest of the interviewers.

Not wanting to disrupt the balance, the participant decides to let their opinion slide and moves forward with the rest of their peers in approving the candidate.

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Similar attraction bias

It is a deeply human attribute to be drawn toward people we share things in common within our everyday lives, which translates just as well to the workplace. We spend an average of 40 hours a week interacting with our colleagues, making it only natural to want to spend these hours with people we have an affinity towards.

A similarity attraction bias during the hiring process results from an interviewer responding positively to a candidate simply because they share similar values, experiences, characteristics, or hobbies even if these have very little to do with the candidate’s ability to do the job well.

Status quo bias

Change can be uncomfortable, and it’s no surprise that many of us prefer that things remain as they are. This desire forms the status quo bias. In recruitment, this might look like an aversion to hiring candidates who don’t look, think, or act like everyone else in the company.

So, if, for example, 86% of Fortune 500 CEOs are white and male, the status quo bias is what will compel board leaders and directors to continue to hire white men for leadership roles. This can damage workplace diversity by perpetuating a bias towards the unfamiliar, leading us to reject evidence or opportunities that benefit us.

Illusory correlation     

The illusory correlation bias occurs when we feel a connection exists (with little to no evidence) between two variables that bear no relation or impact on the other.

Something like this might happen when an interviewer focuses on random questions and answers that are irrelevant to a candidate’s ability to do a job. Examples of these questions might include “What is your birth sign?” or “If you had to pick an animal to represent you, what would it be?”

Five effective strategies to reducing hiring bias

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1. Collaborative hiring

Most interview results come from a single perspective, which can lead to biases. Redesigning the interview process can help reduce this by involving a team with diverse backgrounds, values, and roles. Collaborative hiring brings invaluable input from multiple perspectives, which helps minimise blind spots that interviewers may have, leading to a more balanced and unbiased candidate assessment.

By increasing the number of participants in the interview process, companies can further reduce biases common in traditional one-on-one interviews. This approach allows candidates to be evaluated on a broader range of skills and attributes, giving a more comprehensive view of their ability to succeed in the role.

Collaborative hiring also enhances the candidate experience by allowing them to interact with people across different departments and levels of the organisation. This interaction provides valuable insights into the company’s work culture and environment, helping candidates make more informed decisions.

2. Encourage blind applications during the screening process

Resumes are the most practical way to get an overview of a candidate’s qualifications. Still, they risk interviewers being distracted by demographic characteristics that tie into implicit bias. One way to mitigate this is to implement blind applications and have applicants submit resumes that omit race, education, gender, and age details.

In the 1970s, many orchestras started blind auditions due to claims of racial discrimination against the New York Philharmonic. Research by Princeton and Harvard showed that blind auditions increased women's chances of employment by 25 to 46%

GapJumpers, founded by Kedar Iyer, is software that addresses bias in hiring. It was created after realising that many talented coders were overlooked because their resumes did not include prestigious university names.

Today, companies like Dolby Labs, Adobe, and BBC use GapJumpers. They create blind auditions to assess candidates based solely on their abilities and skillsets, leading to unbiased hiring decisions.

Its use has increased the chances of minority and female candidates being offered first-round job interviews by 40%.

3. Write inclusive job descriptions

 A well-written job description speaks to diverse applicants while being specific about the required skill sets.

The workplace is evolving and employees want to work for companies that encourage a diverse and inclusive workplace. Yet, finding diverse employees remains a struggle.

Many companies have neglected to promote inclusive values in their job descriptions. Updating job descriptions with thoughtful and inclusive language is crucial. This step shows potential applicants that your workplace welcomes everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality, age, ability, or status.

Here are five tips for writing more inclusive job descriptions.

Avoid gender-coded language. Words like “ninja” and “rockstar” are masculine-coded and according to research, are likely to discourage female professionals from applying for a role.

Minimise the use of corporate jargon. Not only are these obscure terms distracting, but studies also show that jargon is one of the most common reasons young professionals hesitate to apply for entry-level roles.

Highlight your commitment to DEI. If your company has already taken steps towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive workplace, consider talking about this in your job description. 

Limit the number of requirements for the role. Focusing too heavily on a long list of qualifications can alienate potentially great employees who might not fulfil all of the criteria. 

Be sensitive to cultural and racial bias. The words we use in job descriptions can unintentionally exclude individuals from specific cultural backgrounds, so we suggest leaving them out unless it is necessary for the role. 

4. Conduct structured interviews

 An informal interview process is great for building rapport and getting to know your candidate personally. However, unstructured interviews  - where there are no standardised questions- can be an unreliable source for predicting job success.

Using the same set of job-specific interview questions reduces bias. A standardised list helps interviewers focus on factors that correlate with the role. This approach allows for a fairer assessment by comparing all candidates' answers to the same questions.

5. Outsource your hiring responsibilities

Outsourcing parts of your recruitment process can help tackle the challenge of unconscious bias in the workplace. By working with an objective third-party service provider with the tools and technology to find the right candidate for your business, you can minimise the potential for any internal biases to creep up during the hiring process.

Hire anywhere around the world with Airswift

If you’re growing your global team, working with an Employer of Record (EOR) service provider company like Airswift can help you hire, onboard and manage a distributed team with ease and efficiency.

As your Employer of Record, we help you hire international employees without setting up a physical entity. We go further by supporting you with their benefits, taxes, salary, personal time off, and more. Ensuring compliance with all local laws and regulations.

We’re currently active in more than 150 locations worldwide, and our dedicated service teams are ready to help you start employing high quality candidates around the world. Get in touch with us to find out how you can personalise our full suite of global employment solutions to your needs.