Implicit bias and the role of the recruiter
Ongoing global developments following the harrowing murder of George Floyd has made many of us reflect on our own lives and experiences. Racism, prejudice, implicit bias - however you want to define it, is so prevalent in our society that for many, it feels like too big an issue to be able to ever effectively confront. For sure, it has got me thinking about all aspects of my own life including my job.
While I consider myself a reasonably well-educated and well informed, anti-prejudiced person, my 20+ year career in recruitment has been to essentially judge people. I have held a high level of pride in being able to assess someone’s suitability for a role and an employer’s culture; crediting my ability as an experienced recruiter to make an accurate and effective evaluation.
Having worked in international roles for most of my career I have always been confident in saying that I’ve never consciously prejudiced against someone on the colour of their skin, their gender or gender identification, their name, religion or sexual preference. BUT I have judged someone on whether or not their written and verbal communication is clear, whether or not I believe their descriptions of their skills and experiences, whether or not they’ve made an effort with their appearance, and whether or not I think they’ll be a “right fit” to be successful for the organisation that is hiring. Now, I find myself wondering how much of my assessment is based on implicit bias and / or prejudice and is my pride actually something I should be ashamed of?
Many of us with years of recruitment tenure can recall being asked by a hiring client to focus our search on a certain “type”. Some criteria requests are subtle eg: “we’d really like to recruit someone who fits with our current leadership demographic” or “someone who has been educated in the same standard of institutions as us”. Some are not so subtle eg: “if you could find us a tall, slim, blonde woman for some office eye candy that’d be great”. Admittedly these requests were a lot more prevalent and obvious back in the ‘90s but we still hear of them happening today although more discreetly.
For sure, any type of bias right at the beginning of the hiring process, changes any opportunity for companies to secure a more diverse workforce. The wording in a job ad, and the means by which the job vacancy is promoted have an impact. It is also a well-known and incredibly depressing fact that job seekers with “white” sounding names on CVs are three times more likely to receive call backs than more “ethnic” sounding names and yet there are countless articles and studies noting that diversity in the workplace ensures increased profits, improves company reputation and reduces turnover.
So, what can we do collectively as recruiters? And assuming we play our part well to ensure fairness and equal opportunities, how can we proactively try to buck any implicit bias trends that employers either recognise or choose to ignore? Does it need to be more than simply presenting a diverse slate of candidates? Is “blinding” CV’s and Resumes really going to have a sustainable impact in the selection process? How do we manage those awkward conversations when we suspect a hiring leader is being prejudiced? At what point and how often are we prepared to lose business in our efforts for championing the wider cause?
Whilst I don’t think the answers to these questions are necessarily simple, what I do know is that it is vital that we have the conversations, no matter how uncomfortable they are. And we need to be prepared to continue to have these conversations and own an education agenda with our clients and our peers, not only to maintain the momentum but to spread the message that we are consciously deciding to be part of the change!
About the Author
Leanne Morris is well known as a both an outspoken advocate and critic of the HR profession. With long standing networks across 94 countries in all specialist areas of the function, and a multi- continent work history, she is a sought after subject matter expert on international HR hiring trends and HR hiring best practice.