Are There Biases in Your Recruiting Practices?

Are there biases in your recruiting practices? I know that none of us want to believe we are in any way prejudiced — but let’s be honest: As human beings, we all have our biases, our opinions, our perceptions. As much as we might resist, these things can all cloud our judgment and impact our decision-making. That includes the decisions we make about hiring, firing, and recruitment.

As a leadership speaker, I talk to a lot of business owners and HR managers, and I’ve become familiar with some of the most common biases with hiring and recruiting practices. Before you defend yourself as being totally impartial, I invite you to give yourself a check-up… consult this quick list of common recruiting biases:

Common Biases Within Recruiting Practices

• Unfair extrapolations and assumptions. This is sometimes called the “halo/horn” bias — in other words, you just get a vibe that the applicant is either a really good or bad person, based on criteria that may be shaky at best. For example, you might subconsciously assume that the applicant who is well-dressed and physically attractive is a good worker; that the one with the annoying nail-biting habit isn’t; or that the applicant with strong sales experience would also make a good sales manager, even though there’s really nothing to back this up.