Many hiring managers use the term ‘cultural fit’ to describe whether a prospective employee shares their organisation’s values. In the workplace, these implicit biases will cause us to make assumptions about a person’s skills, abilities and overall conduct.Ī recent whitepaper about UK workplace culture contained research that showed 95% of employers believe that cultural fit between professionals and employers is important.Īs far as we’re concerned, hiring based on cultural fit is a mistake. How someone looks, speaks and presents themselves will cause us to make a snap judgement as to the type of person we believe they are. These rapid-fire judgements often happen before we’re even aware of it. When meeting new people, we assess them on factors such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality and class. Therefore, we often take unconscious shortcuts to reach a quicker conclusion - it’s a part of human nature. Our brains can capture 11 million bits of information in one single moment, but we actually can only process 40 at a time.
#FIT AFFINITY SOFTWARE#
Find out more about our hiring software can help you de-bias your recruitment process, so you can find the most qualified candidates.Īffinity bias is one of the most prevalent types of unconscious bias. This is a crucial part of what we now call ‘ unconscious bias.’ Removing unconscious bias from the hiring process has been proven to create more diverse, innovative and profitable teams. We make these types of assumptions all the time, even when we think we are making a considered, rational decision. Believing that someone is a ‘good fit’ for your team because you are of a similar age or socioeconomic background.
#FIT AFFINITY PROFESSIONAL#
Thinking that someone is qualified for a role because you share the same professional qualifications, or have worked at similar companies.Viewing someone as particularly intelligent because you attended the same university.Here are some examples that you may have encountered, either as a prospective candidate or someone tasked with making a hiring decision: Examples of affinity bias in job interviewsĭuring the interview process, a hiring manager is likely to feel a sense of rapport with a candidate if they feel as though they have certain things in common. For this reason, affinity bias is sometimes referred to as ‘similarity bias.’ However, what may seem like objective assessments of people instead represent our affinity for people we feel are similar to ourselves. The term ‘affinity bias’ is used in neuropsychology to describe how we subconsciously gravitate towards people who we feel share our interests, beliefs, and background.Īs human beings, we often consider ourselves to be a great judge of character. In this article, we’ll be explaining everything you need to know about affinity bias, and how you can reduce its impact on hiring decisions with Applied’s recruitment software. Have you ever interviewed a candidate and been impressed with their skills and experience, but just had that inscrutable feeling that they just weren’t the right fit? Instead of chalking it up to compatibility or ‘chemistry’, you may have fallen prey to affinity bias.
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