Why is blind recruitment a good ally for HR? In the perfect world, the recruitment and selection process would only consider the job experience and social and technical skills of the candidates. However, this is not always the reality in the corporate world.
The biases of recruiters and hiring managers can cause decisions to be made based on other details unrelated to suitability for the role.
For example, according to data from a survey by consultancy PwC, women are 123% more likely to experience gender discrimination when applying for jobs than men. In this sense, blind recruitment is an excellent tool to stop R&S biases and increase the diversity index in the organization . Companies that have used the technique already report success in this regard.
But how does this process work in practice? How to prepare the organization for this change of mindset? Keep reading the article to find out the answers to these and other questions.
What is blind recruitment?
Blind recruitment is a candidate analysis model that excludes personal data from professionals during selection, such as age, address, years of experience and university names. Only professional information is analyzed by recruiters.
The idea is that removing this personal information makes it easier for hiring managers, recruiters, and HR professionals to make objective decisions about a candidate’s skills, experience, and suitability for a role, thereby decreasing the risk of bias (conscious or unconscious). ) that affects the decision.
Candidates’ names, for example, can give signals about their socioeconomic background, ethnicity, and immigration status that can influence a hiring manager’s decision on whether or not their application progresses. The age of the candidate can also generate a tendency of not being hired by the company because they believe that the person is too young or too old to perform the function.
As already mentioned, blind recruitment is useful for reducing the personal subjectivity of R&S. The technique emerged precisely to eliminate gender bias in the hiring of musicians from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in 1952. According to a report by the British website, Peridot , blind auditions were successful, through this type of recruitment 50% more women reached the final stages of contracting the Orchestra.
How significant is the problem of bias in recruitment?
Academic studies and research suggest that prejudice and discrimination are common in the hiring process.
A UK government survey published in 2009 found that organizations tended to interview more applicants with names that sounded like white families. According to the survey, 10.7% of candidates with a name that sounded of white ethnicity received a positive response, compared to 6.2% of candidates with a name that sounded like an ethnic minority.
A study by the US National Bureau of Economic Research — which involved sending 40,000 fake CVs — also found that fictitious workers ages 49 to 51 received 19% fewer responses than those ages 29 to 31.
In another study, also conducted in the United States, universities that were looking for a laboratory manager were randomly assigned resumes with male and female names. Those with male names were rated “significantly more competent and hirable.”
Is there still any doubt that there is subjectivity and personal criteria influencing the R&S process?
What are the benefits of blind recruitment?
There are many benefits to promoting the technique in your selection process, in addition to creating a more diverse workforce, the advantages of blind recruitment are:
Emphasizes The Relevance Of The Employer Brand
Being publicly committed to diversity, facilitated by blind recruiting, can boost the hiring brand. According to a PwC study , 86% of millennial women and 74% of millennial men consider employer diversity policies when deciding which company to work for.
Increases Team Productivity And Creativity
Recruiting blind is a tool that tries to generate fairness in the R&S process. The idea is to focus only on the skills and intellectual capacity needed for the job. In this sense, factors such as age, ethnicity, sex, nationality and skin color are not considered.
In this way, the organization starts to prioritize talents and not discriminatory factors. This naturally leads the company to build more plural teams, raising creativity and team productivity .
Cost Reduction
The assertiveness in the process contributes to a reduction in the turnover rate and greater retention of talent. As a result, there is considerable cost reduction linked to hiring and onboarding processes.
What are the disadvantages of blind recruitment?
While there are several benefits to hiding identifiable information from applicant applications, the impact of blind recruiting on an organization’s diversity can only go so far. The disadvantages and limitations of blind recruitment include:
Delay In R&S
The hiring process can take a long time — if you don’t use an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) that can automatically hide candidates’ personal information, someone will need to do it manually. This can be problematic if you’re dealing with a significant number of signups per month.
Possible Cultural Fit Issues
You may find it more difficult to assess candidates’ cultural fit as you will not be knowledgeable about personal interests and experiences. However, some experts argue that the concept of “cultural fit” is a way for managers to validate their reliance on bias when it comes to making hiring decisions.
Process Limitations
Some recruiters also argue that blind recruiting only makes a difference in the first phase of the hiring process : bias can still arise during face-to-face interviews.
How blind recruitment works: 5 key steps
Defining expectations about the process of this type of recruitment with the entire organization is the first step of the technique. Remember: blind recruiting is only a small part of the overall diversity puzzle, so make sure this is clearly communicated to everyone.
1. Select The Information You Want To Hide
Deciding what information to hide is probably the most important aspect of implementing recruiting. As mentioned earlier, information such as name, education, zip code, and so on can give you some insight into the candidate’s personal information. So, carefully decide what information is really important to you and the company.
2. Focus On Collecting Relevant Data
You need to figure out what information to collect and the most efficient way to do it. Assessments during the R&S allow you to gather data about your candidate’s cognitive abilities, personality and behavioral traits, and even their cultural preferences.
By allowing candidates to complete assessments early in the hiring process, it helps to make more objective hiring decisions.
3. Use A Structured Interview Process
Standardized and structured interview processes allow you to focus on factors that have a direct impact on candidate performance. Thus, there is less personal judgment in the decision-making process.
When conducting interviews try to ask open-ended questions that further assess the competence of candidates. This will allow you to focus on factors that have a direct impact on candidate performance.
4. Hire Suitable Tools For This Type Of Process
Create processes that support hiring in this way. You can use a recruitment and selection tool that has an applicant tracking system (ATS) that automatically hides identifying information.
You can even take online practice tests — related to the candidate’s position — to help objectively assess your skills before inviting you for an in-person interview.
5. Staff education
Finally, constantly educate staff, especially managers, on how to recognize and overcome their conscious and unconscious biases.
