Best Practices for Mitigating Unconscious Bias

in Talent Management

Recruitment & Hiring

• Use various recruiting sources, including nontraditional sources, online and offline (e.g. meet-up
events, community centers and coffee shops)
• Edit job descriptions for inclusivity; do the descriptions or benefits inadvertently speak more to a
certain group or profile?
• Review resumes blindly without looking at names, or utilize technology that removes identifiers
from resumes
• Define clear criteria for assessment and provide candidates with problem-solving opportunities
to uncover their thinking styles
• Include multiple individuals with different thinking styles in the interviewing process to mitigate bias
and ensure cognitive diversity

Onboarding, Training & Development

• Develop a long-term onboarding approach that follows the employee for their first year
and provides ongoing resources
• Establish structures to ensure all employees have opportunities to grow and be
successful (Unstructured processes will tend to benefit the dominant group)
• Create individualized development plans for different learning styles, providing a broad range of
learning and developmental opportunities
• Monitor your own patterns in assigning tasks (It is easy to slip into patterns that benefit some
employees to the exclusion of others)
• Provide diversity & inclusion training programs to all employees, and encourage a long-
term approach to behavioral change

Workforce Planning & Advancement

• Create a strong mentorship program that promotes two-way mentoring
• Advocate for strong talent, especially if they bring a different perspective or style to the table
• Develop clear policies for and ensure consistency in promoting employees up the organization
• Utilize a group of reviewers for promotion decisions to ensure a variety of thinking style are present
in the evaluation
• Identify what you want your future leadership to look like; do not base development decisions off of
current leadership
Best Practices for Mitigating Unconscious Bias
in Talent Management

Performance Management
• Make sure performance goals and measurement criteria are clearly communicated from the start
• Question evaluations of others coming from a different background or having a different work style
• Understand the impact of different work styles and when an issue is style-related vs. competency-
related
• Avoid biased language in feedback documentation and discussions
• Create standardized measures of performance and do not allow too much flexibility for outside
insights

Employee Engagement
• Take time to understand the motivational factors of others; what motivates you as a reward may
not motivate them
• Allow for a variety of rewards, both financial and non-financial, to meet various needs and desires
• Encourage managers to volunteer as mentors to underrepresented employees
• Build comfortable spaces for employees to feel a sense of belonging (e.g. affinity groups, clubs,
etc.)
• Create a safe environment where employees are encouraged to bring a different perspective or
style to the table