23 Nov | Blind recruitment
According to a recent analysis of the Hays Journal, the publication of the Hays group that deals with new human resources’ trends, the so called “blind recruitment” is the new staffing method of choice. In said method, the information that reveals the candidate’s identity such as name, date of birth and schools attended are omitted.
The purpose of blind recruitment is to choose the most suitable person for the role, without the selector being influenced by more or less conscious prejudices. In psychology, non-entirely intentional evaluation errors are called “cognitive distortions” and have great influence when choosing a candidate. Hence the need for blind recruitment.
In 2014, three American entrepreneurs launched GapJumpers, a platform available to recruiters that allows candidates to submit anonymous tests to verify their technical skills, as part of a first selection phase. In numerous interviews, the three founders repeated that the system works a little like that of the program “The Voice”, where the judges decide which competitor will go to the next turn only by listening to their voice.
There are great companies, such as Deloitte and HSBC, that have been using blind recruitment for quite a while.
Deloitte chose to interview potential future employees without any knowledge of their home address, or which school/university they attended. These elements in fact, could provide info about a person’s economic status and marginalize those who live or studied in the most disadvantaged areas of their cities, or those who did not graduate from the most renowned universities.
According to Hays’ analysis, the “blind” interview method would also be beneficial to the company, because it diversifies human resources and creates a more diverse work environment. The assortment of backgrounds and personalities in an office is considered as positive for team productivity by many studies. McKinsey has dedicated his Diversity Matters report to this topic.