The wrong way to hire

Consider the following scenarios: A Caucasian job seeker who speaks Mandarin fluently is turned away from a translating job; Two qualified women, one young and one older, apply for a position in advertising. Only the younger candidate is shortlisted; An overweight man applies for a position in the financial services sector – and is turned away despite his high skills and excellent references. The employers give fair reasons for their choices. Nobody takes a Mandarin translator seriously if they are not ethnic Chinese; a Gen-Y executive is a better fit for the trendy advertising industry; and an obese employee can bring a host of medical problems which might raise insurance costs and cut into company time. But are these biases justified? Experts say no. Further, they believe such prejudices can mar HR’s vision of the skills and experience needed to fulfill roles in the company. Employing with prejudice can also be costly, as poor performances or short tenures can easily result. In many cases, the biases can be subconscious. Any emphasis on what should be insignificant factors – such as race, gender, age or marital status – distracts the employer from an effective evaluation of the candidate. Hirers need to make a conscious movement towards total awareness of their influences. Mark Powell, Managing Director, Executive Directions, certainly agrees. In his ten years as a recruiter, he has rarely seen employers tackling hiring decisions from a purely strategic perspective. “The metrics employers use are all short-term,” he says. “I’ve never had an employer ask how successful the candidate’s performance (has) been.” Powell is one of many recruitment professionals in Singapore who have observed employers using unfair or inappropriate hiring criteria. Among the experts HRM spoke with was a former headhunter for the financial sector who knew of companies that used physical appearance as a major factor in hiring. One leading investment bank requested a “tall” candidate for a leadership position. Another asked for a “pretty” secretary. Identify your biases Powell says if somebody chooses to be biased, no amount of advice or restructuring will help them along. However, there is hope for employers who aren’t aware of their hiring biases, because there are methods of identifying and changing these. “Many hiring managers are not even aware of their own biases and stereotypes as these may have been learned from youth and reinforced over time,” says a spokesman for the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP). He says some common employer biases in Singapore are age and gender-related. Some employers also specify a language requirement without explanation. Common biases might be easier to identify, but there is sometimes confusion on what constitutes a real prejudice. One example is reverse discrimination, where hirers deliberately favour minorities in an effort to “balance the scales”. But recruiters warn it is still a less-than-ideal business strategy. There is also a tendency to categorise certain hiring criteria as part of a grey area between skills and prestige. A widespread hiring bias is the judgment of performance based on the brand names associated with a candidate. Employers are usually keener to hire candidates with degrees from reputable universities or experience at top companies. “You may not be the best skilled person for the job but if you have a Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley name behind you, you get hired,” says one recruiter. At the same time, equally experienced candidates from less prestigious fall out of favour in comparison. While time at the big names may indicate competence and talent, this shouldn’t be the sole reason the candidate’s application is moved to the top of the pile. Powell says the recruiter must also look at skills, past experiences and behaviours, placing the candidate in the context of the role under consideration. TAFEP says the tough economic times is also tempting employers to discriminate on the basis of marital status or pregnancy. “Some companies might be inclined to put the fair employment agenda on the backburner as cash flow and business issues take precedence,” the spokesman said. But he reminds companies that being a fair employer also helps to attract, retain and motivate employees. Many organisations are heeding the call. More than 1000 have already signed up to TAFEP’s Pledge of Fair Employment Practices, declaring their commitment to reducing bias at the recruitment stage. To Linggawaty Alamsjah, partner resources director, Starbucks Coffee, the pledge is more than just a promise to hire fairly. It is also a reaffirmation of Starbucks’ commitment to diversity. “Embracing diversity should not be affected by the economic environment,” she says. Deutsche Bank believes the pledge will reinforce the fair practices already embedded in the company. “We recognise that people are critical to Deutsche Bank’s success,” says Lai-Mun Yeo, Head of HR in Singapore. “We strive to ensure staff not only have a positive working experience but consider Deutsche to be their employer of choice.” The grey areas Hiring with prejudice is an ineffective practice over the long term. But in some cases, can a requirement that seems biased actually be a positive, practical choice? What if an employer is looking for a specific gender or ethnicity to serve a niche demographic? What if they’re looking at age as an indicator of life experience? Identifying and responding to biases is not always a question of black and white. “Businesses have unique needs and there is no one cookie-cutter solution,” admits the TAFEP spokesperson. Powell agrees – but he warns employers to be careful of the assumptions they make about candidates. “For sales roles, it’s possible that younger workers are better,” Powell says But he stresses the employer should still question past experience in areas like making cold calls. “If you come across someone smart, hire them regardless of age,” he says. Certain roles are also market-sensitive. For example, when hiring staff to work in the Singapore office of an overseas-based corporation, it makes sense to look for candidates with language skills or previous experience in the country’s business culture. Structured hiring Besides identifying their own prejudices, employers are strongly encouraged to implement a hiring structure which filters out all irrelevant criteria. “Biases occur because of a lack of recruitment robustness. They happen when an employer relies on gut feelings – perceptions based on values and experiences,” says Powell. He stresses the importance of asking candidates about past work behaviours. “How people act tomorrow is similar to how they acted yesterday,” he explains. These interview questions need to provoke an nswer that proves the candidate can apply past experiences to current work functions. For example, to gauge a candidate’s aptitude in handling workplace conflicts, ask “how did you handle conflicts at your previous company?” This is different from the question most employers ask: “how would you handle a conflict.” Powell says the hypothetical nature allows the candidate to give the answer the employer simply wants to hear, thus negating any informative value. Alexandra Hospital’s recruitment strategies aim to focus solely on roles and skills. According to its CEO, Liak Teng Lit, hiring with this mentality serves many useful purposes. “You must appreciate people for what they are,” he says. “Biases represent a one-dimensional way of thinking.” The hospital’s HR team has clear, written guidelines on the specific work behaviours it wants to see in staff. A housekeeper, for example, needs to have high hygiene standards and be thorough in their work. Race, gender and age cannot inform HR’s judgment of these traits so they are not considered. The hospital takes further steps to eliminate biases by having multiple people interview potential hires. “One person can overrule another – we don’t have to go for a total consensus,” says Liak. “Don’t have close-minded people in HR,” he advises.

 

Be Sociable, Share!

•