Bring neutrality in your hiring process

Never get me any CV from people of this state. How many times do I need to remind you?” says Siddhrath Kuvera, head HR of a manufacturing company.

We were sitting on a panel to hire people for his organisation. Kuvera has developed disliking for a particular state because of a bad experience. Now that particular state across India is not being entertained at interviews as far as Kuvera is concerned. I must have looked puzzled and irritated at the same time. Kuvera went on explaining me as why it is so crucial to weed out the wrong people. I agreed with weeding out the wrong people but not because of unnecessary or personal biases. Ironically, Kuvera is sphere heading a program with me in this company for “inclusive behaviour” and that was the base of my presence there. I took him heads on later and the discussion we had is for you to read. 

Unconsciously, we all are biased against a lot. Right from favourite colleague at work to a cricket player, biases work against every logic. Bigotry or prejudices form because of repetitive experiences and slowly become a habit, albeit unknowingly. Question is why would an experienced and well meaning HR professional will give in to biased recruitment and rejections based on personal anger. We are the results of our experiences in life. Those experiences shape up, break us, make the person we become. If there is a repetitive pattern in some particular person or similar occurrences from various sources, the process of labelling starts unconsciously. In that, unfortunately the talent acquisition suffers because this labelling becomes a red flag. Deep inside, we all have biases and it is alright but those should not be shackling your personal image.

How to overcome these biases? We hire people like us. Organisations are not about creating yes minister kind of brigade. But at the time of the interview, people look at similarities of languages spoken, states they are from and caste or religion. Sometimes people are hired because the boss sees a mirror image of themselves in younger version. The only way to deal with it? Stop it. A diverse team is essential to get better results and progress at organisational level. Why does this prejudice happens? One of the most sought after the movie, “A few good men” showed a strong case of biases against a particular set of weak people. The story did not end well for the boss as he had to brace legal battle and public outrage. He lost both. Real life is very close to reel life in this scenario. Start with the first set of correction. See if you recommend hiring people because of any points mentioned above or at times just because you tend to like them, no reason needed. That is not how good recruitment practices work.

Diversity recruitment is important. Organisations at the global level have woken up to inclusive workplaces. Back home in India now they talk about equal opportunity employment, unbiased religious preferences and even caste based favouritism getting a slow yet steady exit. Long way to go but the lining on the dark cloud is turning silver. Remember that old adage? All that glitters is not gold. Biased or favouritism based hiring might look attractive to begin with but soon it might give way to non-performing or people quitting jobs as they find it difficult to match the expectations. It is okay to think broadly in the process of choosing people. The reason companies now get an external expert on the interview panel is not to get biased opinions. Having a diverse set of people interviewing the candidate helps. Despite everything, if you feel that a biased approach is kicking in, be very aware and include others in decision making. The ultimate goal is to create a team that works best for the organisation.

The writer is a strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard Business Publishing