Slides Pulled From the Following Preso:

The Ballad of Ken & BarbieWhy We’re Destined to Commit False Positives

When Hiring (and what to do about it)

Presenter Info

• Kris Dunn• CHRO at Kinetix (RPO, Recruiting)• Founder of Fistful of Talent , The HR Capitalist • Hoops Junkie

• Tim Sackett• SVP at HRU Technical Resources• Blogger #1 at the aptly named Tim Sackett Project• Contributor at Fistful of Talent

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JUST LIKE ME**:Our Five Favorite

False PositivesThat Have Nothing To Do

with the EEOC**or who I wish I was

DAMN: You Sure Are Pretty

(Please Accept My Offer of Employment)• Aka – Physical attractiveness bias

• Studies show that the more attractive you are, the more all positive skill and behavioral traits get applied to you in an employment setting

• Men at risk of this bias more than women (Shocking!)• Women may penalize other women with

attractiveness higher than their own (Meow!)• Men Like Women Who Have: Youth, symmetrical

face, Low waist-hip ratio, (There’s other stuff we’re not listing)

• Women Like Men Who Have: narrow waist, broad shoulders, symmetrical features

• FOT Thinks this is the most dominant non- Title 7 Bias at Play

• Some would say this naturally plays to age, but it’s broader than that

Short People Got No Reason

• Aka: Height Bias• Randy Neumann said it best: Short

people get the raw end of the deal• $789 more per year, per inch • More pronounced in Sales and

Management positions • Is it height or confidence?• But wait! There’s gender stuff that

affects how height is viewed:– Men actually prefer shorter women

WAR EAGLE!Where Did You Go to School?

• Aka - Educational Background Bias• Is it the most personal of all biases?

We think so.• Think referral networks, my friend • Flavors:

– “I want a Ivy-League MBA for this role”– Trust artificially assigned to fellow

alumni of the hiring manager– Concept of being over-educated for the

role in question– College Degree requirement– Stigma of “some college” or seeing the

name of the university without a graduation date

I…I…I..Just Liked Him!

• Really? What did you like about him, Tom? (He was just real… likable!...)

• Aka – Smooth Talker Bias• Studies show that effective

communicators always perform better in interviews

• Fine line between effective communication and buzzword bingo

• Building comfort and dialog with the hiring manager is key, as is “shutting the hell up” once in awhile

• Time of Possession in the interview is the key, as is reacting to the preferred cues of the manager

Weight Bias (You Were Expecting Us to Take a Chance with This

Title?)• While obesity certainly can be considered

part of bias related to attractiveness, it deserves it’s own mention

• Impacts women more than men• Impacts white women over other races• 64 extra pounds drops lifetime pay 9%• Obesity = 6.2% less lifetime earnings for

women, 2.3% for men• How to control: Referral networks lesson the

impact of weight bias in most organizations• Linked to concerns around absenteeism and

health beyond attractiveness• Average annual medical costs claims per 100

obese FTEs - $51K (for 100 non-obese – 8K) • The real deal – do qualifications and ability

to perform outweigh cost concerns?