Improving recruitment practices requires an awareness of unconscious bias. This is a term that describes an automatic process that is often triggered by our brain making quick judgments and assessments of people and situations.
These subconscious ideas are informed by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences.
Being unaware of our biases can lead to faulty decision making such as employing the wrong person or overlooking the best person for a job or promotion.
We cannot defeat the unconscious mind but we can manage it by implementing policies and procedures that help us act in a more rational way and in the best interests of our business.
ECU: 2013 Unconscious bias in higher education