4 Negative Effects of Biased Hiring

What is Biased Hiring? 

Biased hiring occurs when those involved in the hiring process make judgments about candidates based solely on first impressions.

In the traditional hiring setting, the way a candidate looks or acts may influence how those in charge of the hiring process perceive that person’s ability to do a specific job. However, these factors are not always an accurate gauge of performance.

Making decisions this way could be termed as biased hiring. 

What are the effects of Biased Hiring?

Being biased when making hiring decisions can create some negative effects like:

• Ending up with employees that aren’t motivated to handle the tasks given to them to the best of their abilities. This can lessen not just their own productivity but that of the team they are in.
• Ending up with employees who don’t fit in well with the company culture. Consequently, employees who don’t feel like they fit in are less productive because they’re not feeling their work environment and don’t feel like they belong.
• Biased hiring can lead to lower retention rates and a less engaged workforce. These hires have the potential to easily get fed up with the activities of the organization and eventually quit.
• When hiring practices are biased,  it makes an organization be not as diverse as it could be. If the bias goes in too deep then the organization might become monotonic which can cause an organization’s output to suffer. An organization that is full of people who think the same way is not going to come up with the best solutions for their organization’s problems.

In light of all these, we can see that hiring decisions that are biased could do some serious damage to an organization.

Why do all these even matter?

Hiring is hard as it is; While you want to make sure that people working in your organization are competent, you also want them to be fit in other areas too, like culture.

One common mistake organizations make is hiring people who don’t fit with their company’s culture. Having someone like this on your team is a bad hire, and you would do well to recognize them and learn how to avoid them.

Having a bad hire is one of the main reasons a team fails to reach its goals, leading to a negative impact on their organization, and usually causing teams to not achieve their goals and objectives. You can read more on the effects of bad hires here.

These negative effects of biased hiring can easily be avoided, as it is usually rooted in human error, and what better way to counter human error than the use of science and technology. 

But what does that really mean?

Incorporating science and technology into the hiring process can help organizations make the best choice for their organization by objectively determining if a candidate is the best fit for a job.

The use of science and technology allows for more objective reviews of candidates based on their qualifications and experience without the need for gut feelings or subjective assessments. 

This approach means that the organization will not be making hiring decisions that are biased, additionally, they would not waste resources and time interviewing unqualified candidates and will be able to fill positions quickly by focusing on those who have been qualified as they have the appropriate skills and experience. 

Research shows that the most effective recruitment processes rely on science and technology to ensure their candidates are not only top skilled but also a good fit culturally for their role.

It would behoove today’s organizations and in their best interest to employ science and technology in their recruiting process in order to avoid bias thereby increasing the possibility of making the best hires for their organization. 

In conclusion, to your benefit, we have a FREE consultation opportunity for you, should you want to talk to a professional about Biased Hiring. Simply click here to chat on WhatsApp with one of our specialist consultants. Or call +234 810 801 7433.