Skip to main content

Hiring mini-mes? How to spot similarity bias and encourage diversity at work

Illustration of workers with one standing out for story about bosses hiring people like them
Similarity bias can lead to an office populated with people who have personalities, schooling histories, or even ethnic backgrounds similar to the boss's.()

As a manager, you're busy trying to build and maintain an effective team. While diversity and inclusion may be on your mind, there could be something influencing your hiring decisions without you even realising it.

It's called similarity bias.

Recruitment specialist Kathy Kostyrko says there's an easy way to spot a manager who has a problem with it: "You'll find many 'mini-mes' in the same area, all [variations] of the same kind of person."

You'll know what she's talking about if you've ever seen an Austin Powers movie. Mini-Me was a clone created by the film's bad guy, Dr Evil, who was a little too fond of himself.

While managers may not be Dr Evil types, they can fall into the trap of hiring in their own image.

The result can be an office populated with people who have personalities, schooling histories, or even ethnic backgrounds similar to the boss's.

That's because similarity bias is one of dozens of forms of unconscious bias, says Michelle Stratemeyer, a diversity and inclusion academic at the University of Melbourne.

We're all prone to it, but Ms Kostyrko says it can have a damaging impact on workplaces because it stamps out diversity.

ABC Everyday in your inbox

Get our newsletter for the best of ABC Everyday each week

Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.

Why should workplaces be diverse?

A range of research shows organisations with a diverse workforce are more likely to enjoy above-average profitability, and workers in inclusive teams are 10 times more likely to be highly effective, and nine times more likely to innovate.

It simply makes good business sense to care about diversity, especially as Australia becomes more multicultural. The 2016 Census found a quarter of the population were born overseas.

"We know that talent is spread fairly evenly across genders and cultural groups, across able-bodied and people with disabilities," says Lisa Annese, the CEO of Diversity Council Australia.

"Eventually, organisations that don't come to the party will find they're at a significant commercial disadvantage."

How common is similarity bias in the workplace?

Similarity bias remains a factor in many recruitment decisions.

"Quite a few studies have shown if you give people the opportunity to select between different applicants, they're more likely to select someone similar to themselves," Ms Stratemeyer says.

Ms Kostyrko adds that her recruitment firm sees instances of similarity bias almost daily.

"We'll present a diverse shortlist to clients [but] people who match a similar profile to the hiring manager are selected for interview."

An internal survey conducted by HR consulting firm Diversity Australia also found similarity bias was the overriding factor in 78 per cent of recruitment decisions by its clients.

The firm's director, Steven Asnicar, says that's often led to problems.

He shares the example of one division at a large company that had a turnover of 120 per cent in one year: "The executives were constantly hiring people who were just like them and that caused a lot of grief when they couldn't find people who could think outside the circle.

"It became very frustrating and they often ended up with people bullying and harassing each other, which led to high turnover."

If you're a manager, there are many ways you can minimise bias when recruiting, and boost the performance of your organisation too. Here are four things to consider.

Recruiting a diverse workplace

Consider your language when writing a job ad

Creating a more diverse workplace begins long before you hire any candidates.

Let's start with the job description.

Ms Stratemeyer says there's research to suggest that certain words or phrases can appeal to or deter different genders.

"If you talk about a 'competitive' environment … that tends to appeal more to men than women," she says. "Whereas mentioning a 'supportive' environment tends to appeal more to women."

Remuneration structures can also have an impact. Ms Stratemeyer says bonuses based on sales tend to appeal more to men.

"But this is not to say all women enjoy more community-oriented organisations and all men like competition — it's just on average what you might end up with."

It's a new area of research, so it's not yet known whether particular words or phrases influence culturally diverse candidates.

Including statements like "we welcome people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds" or "people with diversity" in your job ad can help, says Ms Kostyrko.

Ms Stratemeyer also suggests running test cases to see how different applicants react based on changes to the wording in your job ad.

But what if you're still only attracting a certain group of candidates?

Ms Stratemeyer says consider where you're advertising your job.

"If you're having trouble getting one specific population, what you can do is look for special organisations or university clubs — try to partner with people who can put the word out to the population you're looking for."

Try blind CVs and think carefully about the interview panel

Once you've got a good range of applicants, the next step is to keep your unconscious biases from colouring the selection process.

Katriina Tahka runs an HR consultancy and says one option is to implement blind CVs for the first round of recruitment.

That means removing candidates' names from CVs to ensure suitable applications don't get tossed out of the pile because of gender or cultural biases.

"But then eventually you are going to interview a person. So one of the simplest, most important things [employers can do] is be conscious of the interview panels they put together to make sure that they're representative.

"Some companies have mandated that every panel has to have at least one female — that's basic."

Create a standard set of questions and stick to them

People shaking hands after interview
There are many ways to minimise bias when recruiting, including using 'blind CVs'.()

"You also have to be conscious that the people conducting the interview have had some sort of unconscious bias training and are really aware of the questions they're asking," Ms Tahka says.

She has an example of what not to do from the start of her own career. Fresh out of law school, she interviewed with a hot-shot firm in Sydney. To break the ice, the senior male partner asked what high school she went to. She responded with the name of a public school.

"He kind of looked at me in terror and said, 'You didn't go to a private school?'"

His follow-up question was to ask if she liked rugby. She didn't.

"It was just really clear that the interview tanked after that and they went 'you're not our kind of person'.

"I'm a straight, white woman … Imagine if someone was openly gay or had a disability, let alone Indigenous in Australia — there's that many filters in the process."

For that reason, Ms Kostyrko recommends avoiding questions about a candidate's social background altogether.

"That's anything they do outside of work and their technical-focused area. It's a bit of a minefield … It's like you wouldn't ask what religion a person is, or the sex of their partner."

Their favourite footy team is similarly irrelevant. Of course, those kinds of questions are usually asked with good intentions to build rapport. The point is, they can inadvertently activate unconscious biases.

"That's why having set questions and asking the same questions of every candidate is so much better for helping eliminate unconscious bias," Ms Kostyrko says.

One study of nearly 20,000 applicants found highly structured interviews with pre-determined sets of questions virtually eliminated racial bias in the hiring decision.

Take the instinct out of it when making the final choice

You've got a shortlist and now it's time to select the best candidate.

Ms Stratemeyer suggests appointing one person on the selection panel to act as a devil's advocate, "so they can ask you questions about why you're making the choice that you're making … instead of going off gut instinct."

When it comes to reference checks, Ms Kostyrko recommends keeping questions focused on a candidate's technical skills, "not how well [a referee] got along with them", as that can introduce a personal bias.

"Of course, you'll want to know if they'll fit into the culture of your organisation," she says.

Asking questions like "were they part of a team?" or "did they collaborate?" will give you clearer, less biased appraisals of their work, rather than "did you like them?"

Ms Kostyrko adds that the people most likely to "fit" into your organisation are "people who tend to be the collaborative ones, the ones that have initiative — things [for which] it wouldn't matter what diversity they had".

All of that is a lot to consider. If you're tempted to chuck all of this in the 'too hard basket', remember: plenty of research shows diversity is ultimately good for the bottom line. Scroll back up to the 'why care' section for a motivational boost if you must. And happy hiring.

Posted , updated