Mitigating Bias: Why Core Competencies Should Drive Your Hiring Process

by Rachel Burgoyne, NPAG

“...there is a clear and proven way to help us not be held captive by the implicit bias we carry with us during the hiring process. Identifying the core competencies, which are the skills and experiences that are essential to succeed in a job, will give you and your team the guideposts and measuring sticks needed to figure out who the best candidate is for any role. ”

Hiring a new member of your team comes with many challenges. You have to balance finding someone with the skills and experience needed to do the job, as well as someone who will succeed in the culture and environment of your organization.  

And beyond that, our brains are unfortunately not the unbiased, neutral, objective observational tools we would like them to be. Like it or not, even the most educated, self-aware, well-rounded, curious people among us are still subject to carrying our implicit bias into all human interactions we have – especially an interview, when we are trying to assess people.  

What is Implicit Bias? 

Implicit bias operates within us at the subconscious level, and it runs contrary to our conscious beliefs about who we think we are and what values we hold to the outside world. It is triggered through rapid, snap-judgment associations we have about people, ideas, and objects – and this bias can be positive, negative, or neutral.  

For example, when we read through the resume, we’re often looking for what is legible to us and what we can relate to (i.e. same alma mater, same early career trajectory, similar tenure in recent role, etc.) This “like me” bias can trigger a positive association based purely on perceived similarity. 

Relatedly, the impulse to make connections can also prompt a negative association or “red flags” for profiles that are different from ours or surface associations with our own negative experiences (i.e. I never worked well with my counterpart at THAT organization.)  

So, what exactly are we supposed to do to short circuit all these biases our brain is carrying? How can we assess people fairly during a hiring process – and how do we help our teams do the same? 

Core Competencies as our North Star 

Thankfully, there is a clear and proven way to help us not be held captive by the implicit bias we carry with us during the hiring process.  

Identifying the core competencies, which are the skills and experiences that are essential to succeed in a job, will give you and your team the guideposts and measuring sticks needed to figure out who the best candidate is for any role.  

Discovering the Core Competencies, and Embedding Them From the Start of the Search  

Before launching a search, take the time to talk with the people on your team who have the best understanding of what the role entails – what its functions and responsibilities are, what hard and soft skills will equip someone to succeed – and make sure that is captured clearly in the position description. This will help applicants understand what these core competencies are, which will help them self-assess whether they truly are a good fit or not.  

It also helps the team who will be assessing them have a shared understanding of what is needed for this role. Whoever is conducting the initial review of applications can use the list of core competencies to guide their assessments of resumes and cover letters, instead of being swayed by other factors that may play into their implicit bias. 

Creating a Competency Rubric to Guide Interview Assessments 

Before a pool of candidates advances to interviews, take the time to lay out the core competencies in a simple rubric that your hiring team will use for taking notes during their interviews. This will help discipline their assessments towards the skills and experiences needed to succeed in the role. It will also help make it easier to compare and contrast the strengths and experience of different candidates. 

Although we can’t completely rewire our brains to remove our biases, we can use Core Competencies to challenge these biases and keep us grounded in factors we genuinely need to weigh during a search process – and that’s great news. 

Questions about core competencies and/or how to implement this in your hiring process? Reach out at info@npag.com and let’s discuss!