Balancing the scales

Unconscious biases affect many of the decisions we make in our lives.  But, when it comes to hiring, an unconscious bias about education held by a hiring manager can affect an entire company.

Managers who graduate from one of Canada’s top universities overwhelmingly prefer to hire graduates of similar schools, according to a recent study by Indeed.

By a factor of more than six to one, 86 per cent of managers who only hire graduates of top institutions went to a similar school themselves, as compared to 14 per cent of managers who did not graduate from a top institution, according to the survey of 500 senior-level and executive managers in Canada with a least four direct reports who have managed their team for a minimum of one year. Only managers who had a university degree for employment were included.

The study reveals a worrisome trend. By limiting the field of potential hires in this way, a manager’s education bias can prevent a company from finding the diverse talent needed for an organization to grow and thrive.

How bias blinds

Like other types of bias, hiring bias is the result of the comfort level hiring managers have with their own experiences. It is human nature:  When we meet someone who is similar to us, dresses similarly or has a similar haircut or accent, we feel comfortable with them.

But if we fill our teams with people who are similar to us, we weed out those with different perspectives and backgrounds — the very diversity that is essential for the success of an organization.

While it is easy to understand why managers do this, they may be missing out. When it comes to higher education, for example, very few people attend top schools, so a whole other segment of the population is left behind.

And, in practice, education is not the most important indicator of workplace performance, according to the Indeed study. Managers rank other attributes — including strategic thinking (65 per cent), working well with others (65 per cent) and self-direction (61 per cent) — much higher than a prestigious degree (17 per cent) as contributing to top workplace performance. Yet, these skills are not learned in a classroom.

This demonstrates how an emphasis on a brand-name university degree during the hiring process risks talent being overlooked. A school name may be an easy fallback for someone hiring for an entry-level position — especially in the case of highly technical positions. However, a good interview process can help determine a potential employee’s skills and identify qualities that define a good performer.

Why diversity matters

Diversity is an important element of successful organizations. Research has demonstrated that when a company embraces diversity, it can become more innovative and competitive.

In assessing the impact of diversity on corporate performance, great things happen when teams consisting of unique backgrounds, experiences and cultures come together, according to a 2016 study by Indeed of 1,000 U.S. tech workers.

But this doesn’t happen on its own. Work must be done to support and leverage diversity in an organization’s workforce. In other words, diversity can’t be just a talking point, it must be part of the corporate culture. To attract and maintain a diverse workforce, senior leadership must execute strategies and initiatives to promote inclusion and diversity from within the organization.

To succeed, great talent with a diversity of skills, experiences, culture, background and abilities need to be hired to contribute to the success of the company.

Employers should create programs to source a diverse slate of candidates. And, recruiters must also focus on creating an inclusive and supportive work environment.

A wide array of action plans are necessary to move the needle on diversity. These can include partnering with academic institutions and organizations to create a diverse pipeline of talent, experimenting with how best to remove bias from job descriptions, and focusing on specific populations that are underrepresented at the company.

Going beyond academic credentials

Education is certainly important, but other factors are also strong indicators of performance. Digging deeper into an applicant’s skill set can pay off.

Here are some key steps to uncovering true talent:

• Identify skills: Make sure the interview process highlights top-performer skills such as strategic thinking, self-direction and teamwork.

• Train the hiring workforce on interview techniques and unconscious bias: This type of training is important to hiring a diverse workforce.

• Aim for diversity: Consider hiring people of different genders, races, ethnicities and religions.

• Focus on how a candidate fits culturally with the existing team: Different experiences can prove an asset and provide a new perspective.

• Look for candidates with balance: Seek out candidates who demonstrate an ability to successfully balance school with jobs. Translatable skills that make candidates successful also include internship experience, demonstrated technical ability, and volunteerism.

• Look beyond a degree: Depending on the role, consider candidates without university degrees.

• Seek other ways to determine skill: For example, a computer science graduate who scores well in a coding contest is demonstrating an ability to do a job, even if she didn’t graduate from a top school.

Organizations need to become more comfortable with viewing the university a potential recruit attended as a secondary or tertiary attribute alongside others that are more indicative of workplace performance.