HR: How to Overcome Bias in the Workplace?

Let’s start with a premise: biases aren’t something to be fought against, judged, or reprimanded. Why? Because we all fall victim to them. Biases must be understood and overcome. It’s HR’s job to do this, and here we offer some tips to make it a manageable (and even fun) task!

Bias During the Hiring Process

PROBLEM: One of the critical moments when bias can arise is during the hiring process. The similarity bias, for example, can lead recruiters to prefer candidates who share characteristics, experiences, or backgrounds similar to their own, thereby excluding diverse talents who could bring great value to the company. Similarly, confirmation bias can cause recruiters to give more weight to information that confirms their initial opinions about a candidate, overlooking other important qualities or skills.

SOLUTION: To overcome these biases, HR can adopt several strategies. One of these is standardizing interviews by using a predefined set of questions for all candidates, ensuring that everyone is evaluated according to objective criteria. Additionally, using data-driven selection tools can help reduce the influence of personal opinions. Involving multiple evaluators in the hiring process, preferably with diverse backgrounds, can further help mitigate biases, providing a more balanced and comprehensive assessment of candidates.

Bias in Training and Development

PROBLEM: Another area where bias can emerge is during employee training and development. For instance, the Dunning-Kruger effect can cause some employees to overestimate their own skills, rejecting further training opportunities because they believe they don’t need them. This bias can also lead trainers to focus on those who seem more confident, neglecting those who, despite being more competent, are more humble about their abilities. Another significant bias is escalation of commitment, where trainers continue to invest resources in ineffective training programs simply because they’ve already dedicated time and money to them, despite unsatisfactory results. Finally, the curse of knowledge can cause experienced trainers to forget how difficult it was to initially learn certain skills, underestimating the challenges faced by new employees and designing courses that don't align with the actual needs of learners.

SOLUZIONE: To address these biases, HR can adopt various strategies. One effective solution is to implement objective assessments of employees’ skills to identify their real training needs, regardless of their self-assessments. Tools like skills tests, 360-degree feedback, and performance evaluations can provide a more accurate view of areas where training is needed.

To counter escalation of commitment, it’s important to adopt a data-driven approach to assess the effectiveness of training programs. Being willing to modify or abandon ineffective training programs, even if they have been costly or time-consuming, is crucial to ensuring resources are used most effectively.

To overcome the curse of knowledge, trainers should be encouraged to put themselves in the shoes of new employees and remember the difficulties they themselves faced at the beginning. Continuous and structured feedback from training participants can help identify areas of confusion and unnecessary complexity.

A Quick Tip for HR ⚠️

At Wibo, we’ve developed a training experience with the following characteristics:
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– It takes place remotely
– It is delivered in classes
– It is led by the best Italian executives
– It provides practical tools for participants
– It is customizable, yet guided
– It always takes participants’ feedback into account
– It is NEVER boring

It’s called the Leadership Academy, and it’s a year-long training experience aimed at improving all the most important skills. More info here!

Let’s continue…

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Bias in Performance Evaluation

PROBLEM: Performance management is a critical area where biases can significantly influence decisions and evaluations. For example, recency bias can lead evaluators to give more weight to recent events or performance, ignoring employees’ earlier contributions. The halo effect can cause one positive trait of an employee to skew the entire performance evaluation, masking areas that need improvement. Additionally, contrast bias can arise when an employee is evaluated not on their own merits but in direct comparison with others, leading to distorted evaluations due to differences in relative performance.

SOLUTION: To overcome these biases, HR can implement several strategies. One solution is to adopt structured performance evaluation systems based on objective criteria. Using specific, measurable metrics to evaluate performance can help reduce the influence of subjective opinions. Additionally, HR can introduce 360-degree evaluations, gathering feedback from colleagues, subordinates, and supervisors to obtain a more complete and balanced view of an employee’s performance.

To counter recency bias, it’s helpful to maintain ongoing performance records throughout the year, rather than relying only on recent events during annual reviews. HR can encourage managers to take regular notes on employees’ performance, using digital tools to track progress and successes over time.

To mitigate the halo effect and contrast bias, it’s important to train evaluators on unconscious biases and provide clear guidelines for evaluations. Training sessions on bias recognition can help managers identify and manage their own prejudices.

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I hope this was helpful. See you soon! 👋

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