From Awareness to Action: Five Steps to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process

As hiring managers, we need to become aware of bias in the hiring process to avoid discriminating against candidates. Bias means unconscious preferences depending on race, color, sex, age, or any other criterion. To avoid bias when hiring, consider implementing the following strategies: To avoid bias when hiring, consider implementing the following strategies:

1. Standardize the hiring process: Developing a list of structured interview questions and the criteria for evaluating each candidate is recommended.

2. Diversify your recruitment sources: Increase the target area to target broader talents from the qualified layer of society. This can be of assistance in reducing the effects of self-organized prejudice in the pool of candidates.

3. Implement blind resume reviews: One option during resume screening, before diversity data review, is to exclude name, gender, and age to concentrate solely on a candidate’s merit.

4. Provide bias awareness training: Increase awareness of the ATC staff, including the hiring managers and interviewers, about the effects of unconscious bias. The first measure towards overcoming bias is to be aware of it.

5. Establish diversity goals: Establish concrete goals for amplifying diversity and inclusion among candidates within your company, ensuring that your staff also meets those objectives. This starts with trying to locate the source of potential sources of bias so that steps can be made to minimize them.

By proactively addressing bias in the hiring process, you can create a more inclusive and diverse workplace while also identifying the best candidates based on their skills and qualifications.