July 18, 2018 / by Scot Sessions
Unconscious behavior and bias is common in all people. While bias is easily spotted in others, we often believe that we ourselves don’t possess it. News flash—every human being possesses unconscious bias whether we realize it or not. We each have patterns that are familiar to us that have been developed over our lifetime.
As humans, we rely on our unconscious to keep us upright and moving forward, otherwise we would have to think about every little thing it takes to get going each and every day. We don’t have time for that. For example, we don’t have to tell our legs and feet to move in order to walk or run. We just do it without thinking about it. Are you breathing now? Of course, you are, but you weren’t thinking about it a moment ago. Have you ever wondered how you arrived at a familiar destination; work, Starbucks, or home, without even realizing it? Your powerful autopilot brain took over while you were listening to music, walking, talking, or texting, and before you knew it, you had arrived.
Your unconscious is a wonderful tool when used at the appropriate times. However, when it comes to the recruiting process your unconscious bias is likely to create a homogeneous workforce, which leads to a lack of creativity and innovation, as well as diminished financial returns. Managing your unconscious bias is key to improving diversity in the workforce. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Paul Gompers and Silpa Kovvali shared, “the evidence is clear: diversity significantly improves financial performance.” Read the full article here.
Companies spend millions each year on unconscious bias training, and then send workers back to their jobs expecting the problem to have been corrected. Companies are then surprised when yet another discrimination issue arises. Workers are in need of tools to put into practice the precepts they were trained on. You wouldn’t teach a violinist a great piece of music and then send them out on stage without the violin or the music and expect a wonderful symphony, so why would you expect anything different from your recruiters or hiring managers?
TalVista is focused on helping companies see beyond the obvious and manage unconscious bias with our suite of tools through our cloud-based platform. TalVista provides the tools to optimize job descriptions, review redacted resumes, and perform an unbiased and structured interview. Recruiters and hiring managers are empowered to perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently which impacts the bottom line.
Let’s talk more about your process and how we can work together to improve your inclusive culture with greater diversity and better financial returns. TalVista is here to help.
For more information, visit www.talvista.com
