As an executive who worked in the industry for 25+ years, I was exposed to many hiring practices. I explored how bias entered the process as I and others hired for key executive roles. I was astonished at how diverse the teams I hired were, yet I did not see a similar parity around me. I hired employees of all ages, genders and races and never made any conscious effort to do so. With reflection, I realized I favor process-oriented people like myself. As I became aware, I was able to manage through this bias in my hiring and build teams that achieved our strategic objectives.

I experienced a situation where a manager asked an employee leaving the organization to stay silent about their departure for a period. This allowed the manager to arrange for a backfill plan and immediately put that plan into action. Although the new person hired was highly qualified, there was no internal posting or review of other potential candidates to ensure the best candidate was hired.

Have you lost a key employee and immediately think of “who could fill this role?” Of course you do!

I saw job descriptions written, defined, and posted with a specific person’s skillsets in mind. If the position description is too specific, it may keep someone who is perfect for the job from applying and/or a hiring manager from seeing someone who did apply as a fit. The business strategy should drive the structure and skills required, not the currently available talent.

Three ways to avoid bias and hire the BEST candidate when filling a position:
1. Be aware of your biases or filters in the planning process. Most people tend to hire people like themselves.
2. Review your business strategy and use it to define the structure and skills your organization needs to be successful. This will help define the best position description.
3. Collaborate with a search partner to define the position description and set the right filters on your search so they provide a diverse candidate slate that will help you achieve your strategy.

Hiring a search partner can help remove filters and bring talent to light that may have not been identified without that active call to action.