WHY LANGUAGE MATTERS IN HIRING
Job seekers browse a daylong career fair in Bangalore.
Take a moment to consider two employment ads and imagine who would apply for each, and then picture who you think will get hired.
WANTED: Hard-charging sales professional willing to do whatever it takes to close the deal. Must have demonstrated experience delivering the goods in a highpressure, competitive environment.
SEEKING: Empathetic sales professional who can deliver lasting relationships with happy customers. Must have proven track record working with winning teams in a competitive industry.
Both have the same goal: find a salesperson who will make the company money. But by emphasizing different personal qualities, the hiring manager is sending a not-so-subtle signal about gender expectations. They are also potentially excluding the best candidate for the job.
“For firms competing in a tight labor market, and where America’s competing on the global stage with so many other great companies from other countries, you’ve really got to make the most of your most precious resource,” said Josh Wright, chief economist for recruiting firm Icims. “That’s all about getting the right talent.”
My examples are admittedly ham-handed. There are hardcharging women and empathetic men. But every day, dozens of companies post job descriptions that signal bias to potential applicants, and it is often unconscious.
A recent study found that a famous tech company consistently used the phrase “whatever it takes,” apparently failing to consider that while such a quality may be regarded as admirable in a man, it has negative connotations for women. The phase “lasting relationship” is more likely to attract female applicants than male.
Job descriptions can reveal a lot about a corporate culture, and what the management team values as well as their implicit biases. Often those things change unintentionally.
“I’m sure you get entrepreneur founders, and then over time you have changes in management, leadership and HR,” Wright said. “Sometimes you get a certain amount of top-down culture, but there’s also a certain amount that emerges over time, in part because of these biases. People look for people who are similar to them.”
One of the most dangerous questions a hiring manager can ask is whether an applicant fits the “corporate culture.” The manager may be asking if the person is a loner or a team player, but sometimes they are asking if the candidate is a single male willing to work 18 hours a day and live off vending machine food.
Large corporations employ professionals in human resources to review job descriptions and detect bias. At smaller companies, though, unsuspecting managers refuse to consider the implicit biases within their organization.
Ultimately, they are shooting themselves in the foot because biased job descriptions chase away talented people, Wright said. A lousy job posting can also undercut a company’s hiring goals.
“What are your objectives, your culture and your performance? What are your corporate values? That’s what a lot of these dynamics run afoul of,” he added.
Technology companies face a lot of criticism for hiring mostly men. Initially, the defense was that young men had dominated top computer science programs. Many also dominated the ranks willing to work long hours required to launch a tech company.
Some of those early start-ups, though, have gone on to become global companies with tens of thousands of employees. More women are earning tech qualifications every year, but the imbalance persists, and it often begins with off-putting job postings.
“Wouldn’t we all do better by expanding the labor pool, so we had 100 percent of the available talent most likely to apply and go through the sorting process?” Wright asked. “This is not about saying you should hire a certain number of people from different minority groups or under-represented groups. It’s about finding out whether or not there is overlooked talent.”
Study after study shows that companies with a diverse workforce consistently outperform market averages. Psychologists have found that singlegender workplaces tend to spur risky and unhealthy behaviors, while more balanced offices perform more responsibly and profitably.
There are dozens of consulting firms that will scan job postings for implicit bias. Others screen resumes to remove names and other data that could trigger unconscious discrimination. There are also aptitude and skills tests that can rank candidates without relying on any personal data at all.
The real problem is convincing people to confront their personal biases and do something about them. Throughout my working life, I’ve met wellmeaning managers who swore they valued diversity only to hire people from the same demographic over and over again.
Everyone has blind spots and unconscious ticks, managers looking to hire the best talent learn to overcome theirs.