Blind Hiring and Its Implications for the HR Profession

Recent surveys of Human Resource Managers (HR Professionals) has revealed that there are some companies that have embraced what is known as Blind Hiring wherein the HR managers specify the prospective and potential applicants to leave their personal details blank in their applications.

The details such as Name, Gender, Colleges, and Universities Attended, as well as details regarding personal beliefs and preferences are supposed to be left blank in the applications. Further, the hiring is supposed to be based on the applicants solving case studies as well as presenting solutions to given tasks instead of the traditional screening and hiring process wherein the applicants are called for interviews based on their educational and professional qualifications.

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Moreover, the hiring in this case is supposed to be “blind” to the personal details of the applicants so as to remove any bias or conflict of interest between the hiring team and the applicant since it is believed that some hiring managers shortlist applicants based on which school or college they attended as well as based on their location, religion, ethnicity, and other personal details. (Hayton, 2016)

Indeed the fact that many hiring managers tend to display the all too human trait and habit of short-listing applicants based on personal details is the reason and the prime driver behind some companies hiring applicants based on “blind hiring” practices. The need for such practices also arises from the fact that almost all organizations have what are known as “old boys clubs” wherein employees belonging to certain colleges and universities as well as those belonging to some past employers tend to “get” their classmates, peers, and coworkers from the past employers into the present workplaces.

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Moreover, with the extremely polarized social atmosphere, some companies have found that more often than not, employees tend to hire those belonging to their religion or ethnicity in addition to hiring those from their cities and other personal characteristics. (Juneja, 2009)

Therefore, it can be said that blind hiring removes all these sources of bias as well as conflicts of interest and instead, provides the organizations with a hiring method that is transparent and purely based on merit. In addition, blind hiring would also obviate the expensive lawsuits and other legal actions against companies that arise from hiring based on personal details. Apart from this, blind hiring also ensures that prospective applicants cannot use “back door entry” strategies wherein they “manage” the hiring process in collusion with insiders and hence, gain unfair advantages over their other applicants.

References,

Hayton, E., 2016. harver. [Online] (4.1) Available at: https://harver.com/blog/blind-hiring/ [Accessed 06 May 2022].

Juneja, 2009. smartrecruiters. [Online] (3.1) Available at: https://www.smartrecruiters.com/resources/glossary/hiring-manager/ [Accessed 06 May 2022].