Paul Sullivan, Managing Partner
A number of top UK companies are implementing recruitment practices that aim to reduce unconscious bias from their processes. This includes removing candidates’ names during the initial application phase and then, for some organisations, even going so far as to remove details of their education, including grades and details of their school and university.
This may seem like a lot of effort for not much reward, but what are the benefits to your organisation of implementing such practices?
We all have bias and no matter how hard we try to avoid it, we cannot help it. This is because it is unconscious. Studies carried out in the USA and France have highlighted how significant unconscious bias can be. The study in the US, showed that people with white sounding names had to send 10 CVs off before they got a response, but people with African-American sounding names had to send 15.
UK Russell Group universities who studied the demographic of their intake suggested that only 36% of applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds received offers in comparison to 55% of white applicants in the same period.
It is not only race that appears to affect unconscious bias though – studies also show that gender can have an impact too, with male names scoring more highly than female.
So what does CV or name blind actually achieve apart from more work? By removing the name from an application this effectively removes the chance of unconscious bias both for race and for gender and allows people to get through the application stage and get through the door for interview.
When you remove the grades and university details for an interview, what you are actually judging the candidate on is not their academic achievements or the calibre of the university they attended, but their responses in the interview and performance on the day.
Using these selection methods, you can actually increase your talent pool and ensure that you are not allowing your unconscious bias to rule people out who may otherwise fit very well into your organisation and add value.
For more information about this article or any aspect of our business and personal legal solutions, simply give us a call on +44 (0) 28 9077 4500 and we will be delighted to help you (there is no charge for initial telephone discussions).
0+
