Have you ever been trained on how to hire someone? Think about it…
Doesn’t it usually happen this way?
- You’re sitting at your desk one day when your boss asks you to sit in on an interview for a new position the company is hiring.
- You get a sheet with questions to ask and you skim over the qualifications outlined in the job description.
- Your pen tries to keep pace with the candidate’s voice as you take notes diligently.
At the end of the interview, the team debriefs. You’re expected to share what you liked and disliked about this person you just met.
If you haven’t been trained to distinguish what matters in a candidate, how can you provide feedback that isn’t rooted in your own biases and personal experiences?
You aren’t alone.
One-third of employees don’t receive formal job training for the positions they hold. So it isn’t too far-fetched to assume even more have never received training to help their managers and peers select a good person to fulfill other positions within the company without becoming subject to bias. Most hiring teams just flat out aren't prepared to control biases during an interview.
It’s no wonder organizations struggle to find the right people to add to their roster.
According to executive director of The Broad Center and author of Mastering the Hire, Chaka Booker, companies don’t always need formalized, expensive, and time-consuming trainings to prepare hiring teams to allow each candidate a fair interview.
He recommends selecting a diverse range of reading material for hiring teams to review prior to interviews. Whether the material is about the impact of bias in an interview or the types of skills and characteristics that hiring teams routinely overlook, it will expand interviewers’ minds so they’re more understanding of the value people who don’t look, act, or think like them could bring to the table.
Leadership Essentials editor, Gabrielle Reed, compiled a list of some of our best books for hiring teams who strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment at their companies.