Local government recruiters can use structured interviews and performance-based questions to eliminate bias in the hiring process

Job candidates want to make a good impression in an interview, but they are also judging the people they meet in the interview process, says Joan C. Williams, director of the Center for WorkLife Law, professor at the University of California, Hastings College of Law, and author of the book “Bias Interrupted.” In the volume, Williams explains how leaders can use standard business tools—data, metrics and persistence—to interrupt the bias that is continually transmitted through formal systems like performance appraisals.

Williams urges local governments and other organizations to take the following steps, so they make a good impression on job candidates:

• Provide all candidates with a handout detailing expectations. Williams says a carefully crafted handout can help level the playing field for first-generation professionals, such as Asian Americans, women and introverts. She notes that these are all groups more likely to feel pressure to be modest or self-effacing. “Setting expectations clearly allows candidates to make their best case for themselves.” One handout her organization has used includes advice like, “Present yourself with quiet confidence. Bluster doesn’t work well here, nor does excessive modesty.” Williams adds that it’s a good idea to remind candidates of the qualities and skills your organization is looking for and share the metrics you’ll use with the interviewees after the employment conversation.
• Use structured interviews and ratings. Williams urges HR department personnel to ask every candidate the same list of questions. She also says HR staffers should ask candidates questions that are directly relevant to the job. “Don’t ask about hobbies and the like unless your goal is to replicate your existing workforce. After the interview is over, interviewers should rate the candidate using a consistent rating scale.” After collecting these ratings, HR staffers should discount all outlier responses, where the interviewers either ranted or raved about the candidate. Williams says outlier responses should also be discounted in the résumé screening process for candidates.
• Rethink culture fit. Williams says that if culture fit is used as a criterion in the hiring process, that the hiring manager should be asked to articulate in writing what “culture fit” means. “Then keep track of who is seen as a poor fit and look for demographic patterns. This isn’t only about people of color and white women; keep track of first-generation candidates as well. If the culture fit criterion is having an exclusionary effect, the organization needs to define culture fit in terms of work-relevant skills and dispositions, not in terms of preferred leisure activities or the lunch test (Would I like to have lunch with this person?).”

Williams notes that another problem with the concept of culture fit is that, once “fit” is defined, disqualifying factors and attributes may well be minimized or ignored. She notes that objective requirements that have been applied to others may be set aside if culture fit is used as a measure.

Williams urges hiring personnel to ask performance-based questions and/or use work sample screenings as part of the evaluation process. “Questions like ‘Tell me about a time you had too many things to do and had to prioritize’ provide concrete information about job-relevant skills.”

She says if applicable, it may make sense to ask candidates to take a skills-based assessment. “For example, if part of the job is analyzing data sets and making recommendations, ask the candidate to do that. If part of the job involves writing, ask candidates to submit writing samples.”

• Track what happens after the interview. Williams offers this advice to hiring managers: “If women, people of color, and first-generation white men are getting called in for interviews but not being offered jobs at the end of the process, conduct an audit of your interview process. Are these candidates rated differently by interviewers? Are interviewers treating them differently than in-group candidates?”

She notes that a study conducted among economists found that, when presenting research to peers, women get more questions than men, including more questions that are patronizing, disruptive, demeaning, or hostile. “The same study showed that women were interrupted more frequently. If your company is attracting a diverse pool of applicants, but those people are not making it through the interview process, it’s fair to ask if dynamics like these could be at play.”

At the following link Williams offers additional views on how local governments can expand diversity in their workforces.

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Michael Keating is senior editor for American City & County. Contact him at [email protected].