As human beings, we’re genetically designed to make quick decisions. It seems we make up to 35,000 decisions a day, and most of the time without even realizing it!
All these decisions are largely shaped by various unconscious biases that influence the way we perceive reality. Our upbringing, our socialization process, our membership of certain social groups, our exposure to diversity, and our access to information and the media in general all feed into our decision-making process and influence our judgment throughout our lives.
Unfortunately, unconscious biases often manifest themselves during the recruitment process, not least when we rely on our instincts during interviews… The resulting decisions, based on intuition, are not objective and are often unsuccessful!
Explore some of the most common biases.
1. First impressions
This bias leads you to make quick, incomplete observations about candidates based on the first information you perceive. This can have a considerable influence on the way you treat candidates. For example, you might ask easy questions of people who give you a good first impression, and harder questions of those who don’t.
2. Confirmation bias
This is when, even before meeting a candidate, you form an idea of his or her profile, and then, during the interview, you only consider the information that confirms your beliefs, ignoring everything else. You do this because you want to believe that your instincts are right and that your assessment of candidates is well-founded. In fact, 60% of interviewers make a decision about a candidate within 15 minutes of meeting them. Some will have done so before the interview has even taken place.
3. The contrast effect
The contrast effect is a cognitive bias that distorts your perception of something when you compare it to something else. This comparison accentuates the difference between the two elements being evaluated, thereby distorting reality. For example, you will tend to evaluate a candidate more favorably if their interview takes place just after that of a “disappointing” candidate, and vice versa.
4. The halo/horn effect
The halo effect occurs when your first positive impression of a candidate unconsciously influences your perception of that person as a whole. As a result, you have high expectations of the candidate’s performance, and you ignore red flags or don’t dig deeper, because you’ve already reached your conclusion.
The horn effect is the opposite of the halo effect: it occurs when something negative about a candidate catches your attention and prevents you from focusing on something else. You then let this element cloud your judgment, which may influence your hiring decision by making you jump to conclusions such as: “a candidate with little talent for A is bound to have little talent for B or C”. More simply, it may be a character flaw or an aspect of a person’s personality that irritates you and leads you not to hire that person.
5. Affinity bias
You identify with a candidate on the basis of a similar or sympathetic trait, so you adopt a warmer attitude towards them during the interview and speak well of them afterwards. This same bias is also behind the tendency to hire candidates who are most like you, sharing the same interests or hobbies, for example. While this is an excellent way to develop friendships, this is not a conclusive recruitment technique!
6. Non-verbal communication bias
Be careful not to give more weight than you should to non-verbal cues, such as body language or a person’s appearance. We’re talking here about mannerisms, posture, eye contact or facial expressions. A person’s non-verbal communication may differ depending on the context. For example, a candidate who is stressed by the interview process may adopt a very different body language than in everyday life! This is not an effective way of evaluating a candidate.
How to avoid unconscious bias?
The first step in avoiding unconscious bias in recruitment is to be aware of its existence – and now you are!
Conduct structured interviews so as to remain as objective as possible when assessing candidates;
Take notes during interviews to avoid making decisions based on impressions;
- Make hiring decisions based on facts.
With a little practice, you’ll be able to identify your biases when they arise in your mind, and ensure that you make an objective, unbiased decision!