Chief Sources of Bias in the Selection of Employees

Chief Sources of Bias in the Selection of Employees

There are a number of issues when tackling the problem of bias in the

selection of employees in the modern market environment. To bias

against someone is to exert a preference or an inclination that

inhibits impartial judgement. This often stems from a prejudice.

Perceptual selectivity operates when we are perceiving other people.

It can lead to a stereotyping in decision making and ultimately a

biased view point of potential employees. However, people are less

likely to use stereotypes when they are motivated to avoid using them.

This essay will discuss the source of stereotypes and bias in the

selection of employees and consider additional methods for reducing

their biasing effects.

The judgement heuristics and biases model represents the current

thinking in decision making. Decision making involves choice, and

choice requires both careful thought and much information. Excessive

information might overload and delay a final decision. Indeed, some

managers believe that making the right decision but taking a long time

is as bad as making the wrong decision. Therefore the process is sped

up by relying on judgements shortcuts called heuristics. The work of

Tversky and Kahneman has showed that heuristic-based decision making

exposes its users to biases. These are inherent in human intuition.

A person can form an impression of an object or person influenced by

external factors such as dress, speech or posture. This is called the

'halo effect' and can operate in either a positive or a negative

direction. The effect acts as a screen that filters out information

that is not in agre...

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