We’ve all heard the phrase, but what actually is unconscious bias, what impact does it have on us as recruiters and why should we care anyway?
In this piece, we’re going to share how unconscious bias can show up as part of a hiring process and why it’s so important to recognise and remove its influence where possible – not just for a candidate’s, but also a client’s sake!
Let’s dive in.
What is unconscious bias?
With the constant influx of job applications, do you subconsciously filter out certain applicants, hire based on ‘gut feeling’, or simply need an assistant to help you select the best candidates? If you have silently responded ‘Yes’, you may be hiring based on your unconscious bias.
Unconscious biases are social stereotypes formed outside a person’s conscious awareness, stemming from the tendency to instinctively organise society through categorisation and ‘join the dots’ based on scant facts about a person. Such stereotypes can be made between different qualities and social categories such as gender, race, disability, previous job experience, and social status. It is a mental shortcut that leads to quick, shortcut conclusions about a person’s character - for instance, ‘extroverts are better in sales’.
Such biases also cause us to gravitate towards people who have more in common with ourselves.
There are several types of unconscious biases present in society including:
PERCEPTION BIAS - OCCURS WHEN ONE JUDGES OR TREATS THE POPULATION ACCORDING TO FLAWED ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE GROUP THEY BELONG IN.
GENDER BIAS - OR SEXISM, WHERE PEOPLE EQUATE CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS WITH GENDER.
CONFIRMATION BIAS - THE TENDENCY FOR ONE TO INTERPRET INFORMATION SUCH THAT IT BECOMES COMPATIBLE WITH HIS OWN BELIEFS AND IGNORE INFORMATION THAT CONTRADICTS THEIR CONVICTIONS.
How does unconscious bias affect diversity in the workplace?
Unconscious bias influences the impression an employer has of their employees, which can hinder the process of recruitment, advancement of career, and employee management. Unconscious bias is a major contributor to the shortfall of workplace diversity, yet as the name suggests, it is implicit, difficult to notice, and causes one to make subconscious biased decisions. In recent years, there have been more public outcry over employee discrimination, racist incidents, and unfair treatment in the workplace - attributed to unconscious bias.
According to surveys, among the employees who have revealed encountering workplace bias, 33% feels estranged, 34% holds back proposals and solutions, and 80% would not recommend friends to their employers. Another survey has shown that companies with the most ethnically varied executive teams are 33% more profitable, companies with females in executive positions have 34% higher returns than those who do not, and 37% of workers believe that gender diversity would lead to greater business results.
How do AI and D&I tools help with unconscious bias in the workplace?
With unconscious bias being an inherent characteristic that everyone possesses, it is difficult to train and mitigate these issues conventionally. Research has also shown that conventional unconscious bias did not change biased behaviours, and could even cause it to backfire. Companies need to leverage on other alternatives, such as Artificial Intelligence and Diversity & Inclusion Tools that are readily available in the market - to help with hiring and promotion processes while minimising unconscious biases.
Such software can utilise machine learning, sentiment analysis, and natural language processing to simplify recruiting processes such as finding candidates, filtering, and outreach - areas which are often affected by unconscious bias during the hiring process. With the tools, information such as race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status will no longer cloud the judgment on skills, talents, and areas that are integral to the job scope.
Want to understand how it works? Check out our guide here.
The technology helps to measure a business’ current diversity, appeals to under-represented groups, increases pipeline diversity, connects with candidates fairly without bias, and enables compliant data reporting and collection.
With the help of Diversely, anyone involved in recruiting candidates can eliminate unconscious bias and successfully attract winning talent to deliver on client demands. Want to learn more? Reach out to us right here.
