D
Diversity | Catalyst
discriminate, stressing that diversity
refers to personality types as well as
protected characteristics. “At second
round, things like group discussions
tend to favour extroverts. There’s a
danger that candidates who are more
thoughtful, reflective and supportive,
who you need in an organisation
might be excluded.”
Unconscious bias
Overall, Clavijo believes that
“organisations are doing quite
well in terms of their job descriptions
and screening processes”, but tend
to fall down during the interview
process. “That’s when a lot of bias
and stereotyping comes in,” she says.
This is something that Allen &
Overy has worked to address. “We
are deliberate and thoughtful about
who we have candidates meet,”
explains Dawas. “We’ve widened our
interviewer pool to ensure we have a
broad range of people who are diverse
not just in the way they look, but in
their background and other aspects.
“The most compelling evidence
has been not so much around
anonymised CVs, but the quality of
the interviewers and the training
they receive to improve their ability
to conduct a robust, objective and fair
interview. Our interviewers do see
applicants’ details, but we have now
trained 400 people around the world
in interviewing; by the end of 2020 it
will be 500-600 people.”
Of course, even with training, bias
remains, a truth that is driving the
use of more consistent, structured
interview formats, standardised
scoring systems and collaborative
decision making, to prevent a
skewed decision made by a single
interviewer. Accepting that we have
bias is the key to overcoming it.
“Training creates awareness,
holding a mirror up to ourselves;
what it doesn’t do is fix it,” sums
up Modley.
alexandermannsolutions.com
62
“Anything
that can be
seen to make
an assessment
feel less like a
gruelling test
benefits
everyone”
Clavijo references NEOMA’s
‘discrimination, diversity & inclusion’
course, designed to give students
strong examples from everyday life,
and to explain the importance of
becoming conscious “of all the biases
in front of us all the time”.
Within organisations, training
must be provided regularly, and
frequently updated to reflect evolving
issues, adds Dr Sun Young Lee,
associate professor at UCL’s School
of Management.
She highlights age discrimination
as a problem coming to the fore.
“Given many countries’ ageing
populations, organisations will need
to put more effort into bringing in
and supporting older employees,”
she says.
Bias around age is currently a
notable (and topical) issue in France,
Clavijo reports. “We’ve had recent
strikes around the retirement age. We
want people to retire later in France,
but if you lose your job at 45 or 50 it’s
really hard to find another one.” She
also highlights discrimination around