Human Resource Insight-Bias
Bias, whether hidden or overt, can have implications for such decisions as who you select to join your organization and how they are promoted, compensated and evaluated. In turn, these decisions can affect employee turnover and quality of life. For HR, the task is clear, but daunting: Help uncover and address such bias before problems arise.
According to an analysis conducted by a Harvard University-led research team, it is entirely possible that you and even your staff are biased—and that you don’t even know it. Researchers found that the highest levels of bias—70 percent or more—were directed at African Americans, the elderly, the disabled, the overweight and other stigmatized groups. Such hidden biases can be disastrous for the employees who suffer as a result of them; they also can damage businesses by leading managers and employees to make flawed business decisions in a number of areas, including hiring, promotion, training opportunities and project assignments.
The key for HR professionals is to begin by helping managers and employees recognize these skewed perceptions. As a first step, employers can minimize the likelihood that there will be like-me bias by having a diverse interview team select candidates. If a diverse team does the selecting, it is less likely that someone will be able to argue credibly that the team selected someone “just like them.” Employers can further minimize the likelihood that there will be like-me bias by having a structured interview process in which all applicants are asked, at least initially, the same job-related questions. Without uniform questions, different questions might be asked based on the interviewer’s comfort level. For example, if the interviewer is less comfortable with someone of a different race, the candidate would not get a fair shot in terms of the questions asked of him or her. Structured questions ensure all candidates are asked the same questions regardless of demographic characteristics or appearance.
Research also indicates that unstructured interviews can be biased and a poor predictor of actual job performance. Interviewers have a tendency to make snap judgments based on superficial criteria, and then spend most of an interview confirming first impressions rather than getting to know the candidate in an open-minded way. Using multiple interviewers with diverse backgrounds and different perspectives is another way to help ensure that more valid and legally defensible selection decisions are made—and that the impact of any biases held by individuals or groups is minimized.
Bringing the best and brightest talent to our companies requires rigor, discipline, creativity, persistence and optimism. Diversity training for employees and managers is an excellent tool in raising awareness about bias. It is essential for your organization’s best interviewers. Hidden bias will affect turnover, hurt your business, impact your customers and drain your productivity. Hidden bias also can leave employers vulnerable to shifting demographics. Labor estimates show U.S. employers will face a shortage of skilled workers by 2010, and organizations that allow hidden biases to infiltrate personnel decisions won’t succeed at properly hiring, training, engaging and motivating certain types of workers, which will put them at a competitive disadvantage in the war for talent…and talent is our competitive edge.
