MightyRecruiterHow to Block Out Biases When Conducting an Interview
Over the past decades, companies have institutedï diversity hiring processesï because managers believed that obtaining a diverse corporate culture was valuable and expected. While these awareness programs are essential for supporting the diversity issue as a corporate objective, strategies, slogans, and words won’t solve the problem. However, tactics will, particularly for avoiding biases when conducting an interview.
The real problem rests with the hiring process, where legal hiring processes and diversity initiativesï can quickly dissolve. A fundamental problem limiting these programs is that most interviewers overvalue personality and first impressions.
Avoiding Biases During Interviews
Personal stereotypes and biases when conducting an interview unconsciously enter the process immediately, but are rarely good predictors of performance. If the interviewer just doesn’t like the candidate, the applicant won’t make it to the next interview round regardless of competency. To overcome this, you should avoid making a hiring decision within the first 30 minutes of the interview.
Top Ten Common Hiring Mistakes
Hiring a diverse staff requires a concentrated effort. Though many employers have executed programs intended to increase diversity, most have been unsuccessful. This has led a search for new approaches to enhance success in hiring professionals of all backgrounds. There are steps you can take to avoid the top ten common hiring mistakes and reduce the risk of hiring the wrong staff.
1.Poor interviewing skills. Learn how to use behavior-based interviewing techniques to assess candidates.
2.Placing candidates into management based on seniority. Hire or promote people who have the desire and aptitude for a leadership role, not just because they’ve been at the company the longest.
3.Failure to hire for fit. Hiring employees who fit into the culture of your organization and training for skills avoids costly turnover.
4.Expecting employees to act like owners. If you want employees to act like owners, then they have to share the profits.
5.Lack of structure. A strong foundation has to be in place to maintain or increase revenues and grow your business.
6.Dropping new employees into their chairs without any training. Develop an onboarding plan to smoothly assimilate employees into your organization and watch productivity soar.
7.Retaining poor performers. Replace non-performers with top performers and you will see improvements across the organization.
8.Doing everything on your own. Use outside resources to strengthen your organization.
9.Treating everyone equal. Treat employees as individuals, reward those who deserve to be rewarded and be prepared to tell others why they are not receiving equal treatment.
10.Failure to manage performance. People like to know what’s expected of them and they also like to know when they are not meeting expectations so they can improve.
A hiring manager’s prejudices and biases when conducting an interview are most apparent during the first 30 minutes. One way to get past this is to never make a hiring decision during that time.
Match Candidate Skills with the Job Description
Define what the applicant needs to do to be successful instead of using qualifications and skills to assess competency. For instance, deliverables such as building a team of engineers or designing a product are far more relevant than five years of management experience or an engineering degree. Ask the candidate to provide detailed examples of comparable accomplishments. Assess the achievements over time, and see if there is a growth trend. This process will allow you to define and measure performance. Using comparable accomplishments is an excellent way to discern the distinction between individuals well before biases when conducting an interview enter the picture.
Evaluate Your Hiring Team
Hiring the best fit for your culture is crucial to the success of any business, but isn’t always easy. Diversity in hiring enables expansion of a well-rounded group that can function better in different circumstances and under pressure. It also builds the path for dynamic problem-solving and enhanced decision-making skills, resulting in a favorable overall success rate.
In most cases, even while managers embrace and implement programs that they believe are bias-free, they still fall short of addressing unconscious biases. When problems exist with the interviewers, particularly with biases when conducting an interview, it will affect the entire corporation. Employers searching to diversify staff need to implement a system to prevent any subconscious hiring reactions. Hiring managers are unaware it is even happening, and employers do not notice it either. It is one of the biggest drawbacks in real-life-hiring situations.
You can always consult the other articles and tools on Mighty Recruiter to learn more about bettering your business and making all-star hires.