26 September 2023

Recruitment Guide to beat biases

Start the conversation

The Behavioural Insights Unit in the Department of Premier and Cabinet has published a guide on how to overcome unconscious bias in recruitment.

The Guide, Behavioural approaches to increasing workforce diversity analyses and distils the latest research into unconscious bias and summarises some of the key ways decision making may be affected when attracting, selecting and promoting employees.

The Department said that the Guide drew on leading international work to date, including A head for hiring: The behavioural science of recruitment and selection, prepared by the Charted Institute of Personnel and Development and the UK-based Behavioural Insights Team.

It said the document focused on behavioural interventions and therefore wasn’t an exhaustive summary but was intended to provide a high-level overview of some of the literature and key biases.

“From suggesting alternate outreach options for attracting staff, to restructuring assessments, to new decision-making methods, the paper is an invaluable resource for reducing the influence of bias on recruitment, retention and promotion in the government sector,” the Unit said.

It said driving diversity in the NSW public sector was a key priority of the Government and noted that it had strategies to increase participation of mature workers, women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people with a disability in the public sector.

The Unit’s 12-page Guide can be accessed at this PS News link.

Start the conversation

Be among the first to get all the Public Sector and Defence news and views that matter.

Subscribe now and receive the latest news, delivered free to your inbox.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.