Recruiters know that hiring people is not an easy feat; however, they should also understand unfair hiring practices. Employment opportunities are significantly increasing and the studies indicate that the Net Employment Outlook stands at 26%, whereas regarding the country with the strongest hiring plans - the U.S. and India stand close at 35% and 37% respectively.
With this increase, the recruiters’ responsibilities increase. This leads to them looking for easy ways to hire, thus, subsequently and unknowingly they follow unfair hiring practices. For example, the hiring of employees is based on elements such as gender, nationality, age, etc.
This enactment though not serious, has consequences on the overall growth of a company and therefore requires certain orders to avoid them. This guide will give you a basic understanding of unfair hiring practices and their types along with the solutions to deflect the use of them.
Only have a few minutes to spare? Jump straight to any section:
🤔 What are Unfair Hiring Practices and their effects?
👉 Unfair Hiring Practices Based on the Recruitment Process
👉 Unfair Hiring Practices Based on Unconscious Bias
👉 How to Avoid Unfair Hiring Practices?
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What are Unfair Hiring Practices and their effects?
Before diving into the different types of unfair hiring practices, one should have an understanding of them and how they come to be. Bias-based hiring is not purposefully done by the hiring managers but made unconsciously, proven by experts. Employing people based on inadvertent ageism, sexism, or nationality, leads to unfair hiring practices. Actions during the hiring process also fuel such discrimination. Poorly constructed recruitment processes can also account for unfair hiring practices.
As Joanne Lockwood, an expert on DEI, says, “When people are marginalized, they fail to have opportunities in employment. They don’t become productive and with that the productive members of society. So, I believe organizations have a responsibility to provide work and opportunity for all people.” This is a powerful reminder for all recruiters that the hiring process should not be impacted by any biases.
Such processes not only hamper the company’s growth but also the image and the entire team’s productivity. It also adds to the development of a negative mindset in the budding candidates leading to a huge adverse footprint in the recruitment agency.
Examples of Unfair Hiring Practices
One can divide unfair hiring practices into two -
- Unfair hiring practices based on the recruitment process
- Unfair hiring practices based on unconscious bias
Unfair hiring practices based on the recruitment process
Job Advertisement
When a position in a company needs to be filled, the first step for a recruitment agency is to create a post, followed by advertising and marketing it. If the job listing is unclear and lacking information it will further affect the hiring process since candidates who are interested in the said role will avoid applying as they will think that they are not suitable for the job. This is the first step towards unfair hiring practices.
Resume-based Hiring
Hiring based solely on a resume is an unfair hiring practice. This being said a resume may provide the details of the candidate but not their practical knowledge and skill set. Yes, resumes are important, and viewing them is a necessary step while hiring someone, but a recruiter should keep in mind that it does not reflect the skills each time.
Read More: Problems with Resume Screening - What You Should Do Instead?
Unstructured Interview Formats
Interviewing a potential candidate is one of the basic steps in the hiring process. They say, “First impressions are the last impressions”, and so the hiring managers instantly recruit a person when they find themselves comfortable with that person. Psychological studies call this term ‘confirmation bias’. This does not create a good image for the company in the opinion of the other potential candidates.
Unstructured interviews are one of the malpractices in the hiring process. When many candidates are applying for a job, a hiring manager might make decisions solely based on the interview regardless of the type of questions being asked. This showcases bias and eventually an unfair hiring practice.
Lengthier Recruitment process
Recruitment processes include certain steps to be followed, to hire the right person. However, the amount of time taken to hire matters. A longer hiring process leads to not only unfair hiring practices but also a waste of time and money. A prolonged recruitment process also leads to candidates losing their interest and focus in acquiring the job.
Employing via Shortcuts
Recruitment agencies often provide employee referral programs and hire people via such referrals. Though it saves hiring time, it does lead to unfair hiring practices. Hiring a candidate who has been referred by a team member cannot always prove to be trustworthy. It not only lessens the chances of hiring a potential and worthy candidate but also may hamper the productivity of the company. If an agency hires a person via a referral, one may never know their skills and abilities, unless they pass the assessment tests. Nepotism or favoritism, sometimes may lead to wasted recruitment, along with time and money.
Hiring based on ‘Fundamental Attribution error’
Hiring based on judging a candidate by their behavior or personal traits is a ‘fundamental attribution error’ based hiring. For example, during the recruitment process, a person may be rejected due to underperformance during the interview. The hiring manager does not consider external factors that are affecting the candidate during an interview.
Unfair Hiring Practices Based on Unconscious Bias
Unconscious bias-based hiring is one such malpractice observed during the hiring process. Yes, this type of hiring still prevails, even in such a developed world, and till 2022 hiring managers relied on their intuition during the hiring process. Whether it is age, gender, or caste, hiring on these bases can cause serious damage to the recruitment process as well as the company’s overall growth. Let us dive deeper into this, as it has a high chance of being steered away.
Hiring based on Gender
Gender-based hiring has been in existence for a long time, way before the introduction of recruitment agencies. It has been observed that organizations prefer males over females, and this has not changed even in recent times. Women everywhere still face workplace bias, whether it is related to hiring, promotion, or a hike. The rate of women working at different levels falls drastically, starting with 46% for entry-level roles. Globally, only 25% of women get promoted to top management positions.
Though women do face workplace discrimination, nowadays, men too are facing the same issues at work. The age of equality has led to such harsh truths, that gender-based bias hiring practices affect the employment rate.
Hiring based on Race
Racial discrimination has always been a serious issue globally, and the attitude toward it has not seen any changes. However, hiring someone according to a specific ethnicity or color bias is a significant matter. A study shows that in the U.S. labor market, African-American people have a 50% less chance of acquiring a job and 25% less pay compared to Whites. It is the 21st century and still, this issue exists everywhere, and the employment sector is heavily affected by such kind of discrimination.
Hiring based on Age
If we look at demography, more than half of the world's population falls under the working age category which is people aged between 15 to 64, out of which 47% belong to Asia countries while North America comprises 5%. This news should impact positively on the overall growth, however, age discrimination affects it. Companies look to hire people with more experience which is directly proportional to the age. Selective hiring based on age should also be considered as an unfair hiring practice.
How to Avoid Unfair Hiring Practices?
To maintain a fair and good hiring practice, recruiter can set up precise guidelines.
1. The language used in advertising a job matters. Studies show that the usage of masculine words like ‘competitive’ or ‘determined’ holds a negative connotation in women’s minds, thus driving them away. Applying technology can further help reduce these word games. Thus, a recruiter while creating the job post must utilize gender-neutral language and then assess the hiring process.
2. Reduce bias-based hiring by analyzing the candidate’s attributes acquired through assessments such as:
3. Interviews should be standardized, so that the candidates are asked the same types of questions, thus, reducing bias. A scorecard or a scale can help the interviewer to conclude after reviewing the answers.
4. Blind hiring practices are also one of the solutions to avoid unfair hiring practices. It entails hiding the candidates' details such as age, sex, etc. which might affect the hiring process.
5. Diversity hiring should be given importance while hiring to provide equal opportunities thus improving the organizations’ performance, decision-making processes, and financial sector.
6. Training hiring managers and improving communication between the company and the recruitment team can reduce unfair hiring practices.
7. Finally, engaging in a simple and easy recruitment process can convert unfair to fair hiring practices. A shorter process may lead to a less complicated and much faster hiring process.
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Conclusion
As Lawrence Bossidy of GE says, “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies.” The success of a company is based on an employee’s performance, but hiring such employees, who add value to the work, without any discrimination is a major role.
Understanding what is an unfair hiring practice is a crucial step for a company to succeed. Recruitment agencies not only provide the essential element - ‘future employees’ for the smooth functioning of an organization, but maintaining a good recruitment process is a key factor as well. Avoiding bias-based hiring as well as following a fixed guideline for recruitment may lead to the downfall of unfair hiring practices.
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