The Halo Effect occurs when we perceive one great thing about a person and let that halo glow of that one thing color our opinions of everything else about that person.ДЇor example, if we notice that someone went to a highly regarded college where they received a certain high grade, or that someone had received a prestigious award, we tend to let this achievement influence how we see everything else about that person. After the interview, the first candidate would seem to be a better fit than the second candidate. Whereas, if a person we shared no affinity with told us the same thing, we wouldnвЂ™t behave quite as warm towards them. If a candidate we have an affinity with tells us theyвЂ™re a little nervous we may smile more or offer more words of encouragement to try and set them at ease. This can have a big impact during recruitment.ДЇor instance, interactions with people we feel we share an affinity with will differ from people with no shared affinity. For example, attending the same college, growing up in the same town, or reminding us of ourselves or someone we know and like. Affinity BiasДЄffinity bias leads us to favor people who we feel we have a connection or similarity to.

The first step in combating these unknown influencers is to be aware of various types of bias in order to recognize these attitudes and how they are expressed in our behavior. Unconscious biases are typically outside of our awareness and can inadvertently affect who is selected for an interview, how interviews are conducted, who is hired and our reasons for hiring them. Unconscious bias can also affect collaboration between employees and prevent innovation and productivity. Unchecked, unconscious bias can result in a narrow pool of candidates being hired and promoted, as well as limited creativity, diversity, and inclusivity in the workplace. These biases often lead to inaccurate assessments based on faulty rationale.

Unconscious biases are attitudes and stereotypes accumulated throughout life that can influence our decision making, particularly when something must be decided quickly.

Affinity bias