Unconscious or implicit bias refers to the mental process that causes us to unknowingly form judgment that reinforces stereotypes and contradicts our conscious values. It is closely related to affinity bias where individuals who share similar values/appearances/behaviours etc. gravitate towards each other and more easily form connections. However, making choices that are unconsciously bias during your companies hiring strategy is detrimental to any team and business by creating a workplace lacking diversity.
Creating a more diverse workplace will help to keep your team members’ biases in check and encourage them to question their assumptions. Enriching your employee pool with representatives of different genders, races, and nationalities is key for boosting your company’s joint intellectual potential.
There are all sorts of varied resources available to help you train your teams to confront unconscious bias in the workplace and within your hiring strategy. It is very important that employers invest the time and resources into this continuously throughout the recruitment process; inclusive language should be used in job advertisements, and applicants should be assessed on their capabilities before perceived “cultural fit”. You might want to incorporate equal opportunity questionnaires or include skill-assessment-based tasks.
We encourage you to review your interview process to standardize your format and prevent opportunities for bias to present itself. In a standardized interview, each applicant is asked the same questions in the same order. Typically, these questions are then scored by individual interviewers against the same criteria, and these scores are then collated by another, separate member of staff to offer a combined average/overview at the end of each process. This prevents the possibility of one score influencing bias into the next stage of the interview process.
Ultimately the first step to uncovering unconscious bias within your recruitment strategy is to become conscious of it. This requires the time to be taken to self-reflect, and to ask your team to do the same, so that you can assess your existing strategy and communication techniques honestly and constructively.
GKR London is passionate about equity, diversity, and inclusion. We seek individuals from the widest talent pool and encourage underrepresented talent to apply for vacancies with us. We are committed to recruitment processes that are fair to all, regardless of background and personal characteristics.
Contact our team today if we can support you with your EDI and recruitment strategy.
Written by Molly Shoesmith, Operations Manager at GKR London Property Recruitment.
Tel: 0207 048 3304
Email: jobs@gkrlondon.com
Web: www.gkrlondon.com
