My boss said my 'data driven' hiring was just gut feeling with numbers

I run a small team and for years I thought my hiring process was solid because I used a points system for resumes and skills tests. Last month, my boss sat me down and said, 'Pat, you're just picking people you like and then finding numbers to back it up. You cut the same three candidates every time.' She showed me my own notes from six hires. I always gave low scores to people with gaps in their work history or who went to community college, even if their skills were a match. I changed the whole thing. Now I have someone else take the names and schools off the resumes before I see them, and I score the skills test blind. It's harder, but the last person we hired from this new way is already our best performer. Has anyone else had to fix a hiring bias they didn't know they had?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera_johnson917d ago

Yeah, @jakejones has a point about it being more than just a wake-up call. It's a system that failed because the bias was built into the scoring from the start. Like giving points for a fancy school instead of the actual skills needed for the job. The blind review is smart because it forces you to see what the data actually says, not what you feel it should say.

the_jennifer17d ago

Wow, that's a tough but important wake-up call.

jakejones17d ago

Wait, what exactly is the wake-up call here? I'm not sure @the_jennifer got the full picture from the original post. It wasn't just a tough truth, it was about a specific failure in planning. Like when a company ignores customer feedback for years and then acts shocked when people leave. That's not a wake-up call, that's just ignoring the obvious.