Everyone has biases, checked or unchecked. If they’re not known to us, they are called “Unconscious Biases.” Unconscious bias is a concept so ingrained in our culturally-diverse society that one might be tempted to think it doesn’t need further reflection. One might be aware of their biases or prejudices, but still not know how to confront those tendencies.

In the workplace, unconscious bias can be a hindrance to the employer’s hiring process. Unconscious bias can affect hiring processes, promotions, layoffs, or even yearly reviews. This could lead to low morale and a narrowing of talent among the employees. This affects all businesses, big and small.

In 2015, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, a mechanical engineer currently based in London, gave a TED talk on unconscious bias. She stated, “We all have our biases. They’re the filters through which we see the world around us. Bias can be about race, it can be about gender. It can also be about class, education, disability. The fact is, we all have biases against what’s different, what’s different to our social norms.”

What You Can Do About It

In 1980, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra realized that most of their orchestra was made up, almost entirely, of white males. They quickly identified the issue and worked to implement the change. To bring some diversity into their orchestra, they decided to hold blind auditions. The auditors sat behind a screen that allowed them to hear the instrument but disallowed them to see who was playing the instrument. They even put down a carpet, so that anyone wearing heels would not be exposed to be a female. After these blind auditions and made their hiring decisions, they found that the diversity of their orchestra increased to a nearly even split between women and men. This is now a common practice among other orchestras across the nation.

By utilizing blind recruitment practices, businesses and organizations will open themselves up to a larger, more diverse pool of potential employees. By looking past age, gender, cultural, or racial biases, you will hire a work team that is diverse, creative, and forward-thinking. It might be natural for employers to resist hiring candidates who seem different, but these differences and varied skillsets and perspectives will ultimately give your workforce strength and vitality.

Staffing Solutions

If you are an employer and unsure how to make these changes, consider utilizing the services of a staffing agency to help you make the shift. By following the example of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, companies can now use a staffing solutions company like Certified Source. Staffing solutions companies that practice blind recruitment submit the resume’s and CV’s of potential employees with things like name, gender and age excluded. This ensures that a company is pulling candidates from as wide a range of talent as possible.

Additionally, a staffing company can provide you with a larger pool of candidates, help you streamline your hiring process, and tackle the paperwork and legal side once a candidate is found.

Think of how many amazing candidates you have missed out on simply because your unconscious bias was getting in the way. By using a central staffing solutions company, not only are you making a conscious effort to recruit based on ability and skill set, you get to have someone else do the heavy lifting during the recruiting process. Contact Certified Source to help you make the shift towards blind recruitment practices and see your company grow!