Most companies are aware that their recruitment process may pose a risk of being biased. But what if we told you there are simple ways to achieve a more accurate, engaging, and less biased recruitment process. Let us introduce you to 4 easy hacks to ensure a fairer hiring process.
1. Know what you are looking for
As a hiring manager, you want to make sure you set realistic expectations in your job ads. Sometimes, we tend to have too much of a fixed idea of our ideal candidates and their preferred qualities, that we instead end up losing out on potential talents and applicants. Instead, boil down the most vital experiences and hard skills for this particular position. Could some of these perhaps be skipped or rephrased to make it more inclusive towards those who might not check every single box but would still make an excellent candidate?
2. Question your instincts
Whenever you need to make a selection or decide who to call for an interview in a recruitment process, stop for a minute and ask yourself why. You may find that the candidate you’ve selected is partly based on a gut feeling. Well, that "good sense" we have about someone most likely stems from your unconscious beliefs and personal liking. To be truly unbiased, we want to avoid as much "gut feeling" as possible.
Instead, ask yourself what you truly base your decisions on, and why not get a second opinion from a colleague? This is a great way to challenge your own biases and force you to articulate why you feel a certain way about a candidate. You can also use smart tools to make the selection process less unbiased.
3. Be mindful of biased interviews
During an interview, we usually tend to ask biased questions based on how we perceive the candidate in front of us. This is obviously something we want to avoid, as it works in favor of a particular group of candidates. One great method to avoid this is to create standardized questions that will both improve the quality of the interviews and ensure that all candidates receive the same experience.
4. Leave the candidate selection to smart technology and AI
Today, there are many solutions out there that enable employers to easily anonymize candidates, which in return gives candidates the experience they deserve - to be objectively judged throughout the recruitment process. One excellent tool for this is Alva Labs who helps companies to recruit based on data, instead of preconceived notions or personal opinions.
How to make unbiased hiring decisions
Watch the replay of our popular webinar with Linnea Bywall, Head of People & Operations at Alva Labs and with top peers in your region to learn more about how to leverage the talent shortage by rethinking the candidate experience.
