As someone intimately involved in hiring employees, you likely recognise the value of working with like-minded people.
In general, it’s hard to see what’s wrong with wanting to hire people who can quickly adopt your company’s norms and values and fit in with the established culture.
While it’s okay to want your employees to share your values, it’s essential to ensure that you aren’t letting affinity bias drive your hiring process.
Discover what you need to know about this psychological phenomenon, its potential negative effects, and how you can address it promptly.
What is Affinity Bias?
Affinity bias, also called the “like me” bias, is the tendency of individuals to trust and favour those with similar characteristics. These people may share your interests, background, or experiences, and you may perceive them as smarter or more suitable for a role.
Affinity bias is an unconscious process that can lead to favouritism in hiring, promotions, and everyday interactions with your staff.
How Affinity Bias Appears in the Workplace
Affinity bias can manifest itself in multiple ways throughout your organisation. Here are a few places where companies tend to be most affected.
Examples of Affinity Bias in Hiring Practises
Affinity bias can sometimes be mistaken for “culture fit.”
Hiring managers who allow affinity bias to inform their decisions may favour candidates who already seem to have a personality that will fit well with the existing team, even if they don’t have the qualifications required for success in the role.
Additionally, hiring managers may show favouritism to candidates who attended the same college or university or worked at the same company, overlooking others who have a more relevant skill set.
Hiring managers also demonstrate affinity bias when preferring candidates of the same age range or gender group. Unfortunately, this can lead to discrimination, ultimately raising your organisation’s compliance risks.
Affinity Bias in Performance Reviews and Promotions
In some cases, managers may give an employee higher ratings if they find out they are interested in the same sports teams or share the same taste in music.
They may also show favouritism to employees who display similar personality traits, such as being outgoing or humorous.
Not only does this not improve employee performance, but it can also affect promotions, as it may downplay the contributions of individuals who are different from them and promote the people they like.
Influence on Team Dynamics and Decision-Making
Affinity bias can lead to the formation of cliques during and beyond employee onboarding, which can make others feel isolated from the group.
Additionally, it can lead to unfair treatment, which may affect job satisfaction and morale, especially for those who feel they are being treated poorly.
It can also suppress diverse perspectives necessary for innovation and creative problem-solving.
Impact of Affinity Bias on Organisations
Like any form of bias, affinity bias can have serious negative consequences if it is not caught and properly addressed.
Reduced Diversity and Inclusion
Affinity bias pushes hiring managers to select candidates who fit their preferences or those of the existing group.
This means that those with backgrounds, traits, and experiences outside of your norm may be shut out of your workplace, hindering your efforts to build a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Limited Innovation and Creativity
When you only hire employees who think and behave a certain way, you don’t benefit from diverse perspectives that can challenge the status quo or bring creative solutions that you may not have thought about.
Additionally, those who were hired because of their ability to fit in may be hesitant to share creative ideas that may make them stand out from the crowd.
Employee Morale and Retention Issues
If employees without a certain background or interests are treated poorly and denied opportunities as a result of affinity bias, it can make them feel less motivated to try hard at their jobs.
This decreased engagement and morale may eventually lead them to seek opportunities elsewhere.
Identifying and Recognising Affinity Bias
Recognising affinity bias is the first step to mitigating its negative effects.
The following tips can help you catch it before it can take root in your workplace.
Common Signs of Affinity Bias
A few common signs that your organisation may be practising affinity bias include:
- Getting excited about candidates who share your background or interests
- Dismissing or undervaluing new ideas from people who don’t fit your preferred “type.”
- Passing over qualified people to promote those who fit better with your preferences or the dominant culture
- Creating echo chambers instead of leaning into employees who can bring diverse perspectives
- Assuming someone is qualified or a good fit because they attended a particular school or are in your age or gender group
If you notice any of these signs, addressing them quickly and effectively is essential.
Self-Assessment for Affinity Bias
It’s important to reflect on your possible biases, noting your preferences for people with certain experiences or traits. You may even consider using established bias assessment tools and programmes to help you identify biases you may not know.
Additionally, build an effective feedback culture by seeking feedback from trusted colleagues about your decision-making process, specifically asking about instances when you may be favouring one type or group of people over another.
Strategies to Overcome Affinity Bias
Even if affinity bias has been at play in your workforce management practises, there are ways to address and overcome it to improve your organisation and employees’ well-being.
Awareness and Training Programmes
One of the best ways to address any bias is to build a strong training culture.
Bias awareness training will help you recognise your own biases and provide tools, strategies, and techniques to combat them consciously.
Structured and Objective Decision-Making Processes
A structured process will help you to become more objective in your decision-making process.
For example, you may use a scorecard or metric to measure productivity instead of relying on subjective observations. This limits opportunities for bias to affect your hiring or promotion decisions.
Encouraging Diverse Perspectives
Let employees know that their ideas and opinions are welcome, and avoid dismissing those ideas when people are brave enough to share them.
It’s crucial to build a culture of open communication where employees can offer perspectives without fear of retribution.
Leadership Accountability and Role Modelling
Ensure you hold your managers accountable when you notice signs of affinity bias in their decision-making processes.
It’s also essential that leaders model honouring diverse perspectives. You can do this by consciously surrounding yourself with diverse people and perspectives to avoid creating an echo chamber of those who may simply tell you what you want to hear.
Benefits of Addressing Affinity Bias
Consider the following advantages you can gain from your efforts to mitigate affinity bias in your company.
Increased Workplace Diversity
Addressing affinity bias means you are no longer exclusively hiring those who share your background and interests.
The natural outcome is greater diversity in hiring candidates who may differ from those you would typically choose.
Improved Decision-Making Quality
Mitigating affinity bias allows you to focus on the merit of an idea instead of assessing it based on the person who shared it.
This often leads to more objective decision-making, as you can adequately evaluate solutions and consider alternatives.
Stronger Organisational Culture
A workplace without affinity bias makes all employees feel welcome, regardless of background or personality traits.
This can raise satisfaction and morale and contribute to a more positive environment.
Learn More About Affinity Bias
While there may be nothing inherently wrong with wanting your employees to share your company’s values, it’s important not to allow that desire to lead you to exclude diverse perspectives or dismiss innovative ideas.
Get in touch with us today to discover our learning and development solutions and start pushing your workforce toward greater success.
Affinity Bias FAQs
Is Affinity Bias Always Negative?
Affinity bias isn’t always negative, as it can foster community and shared understanding. Still, it often hinders diversity and leads to exclusionary practices.
How Can Organisations Effectively Reduce Affinity Bias?
You can effectively reduce affinity bias by practising self-reflection, getting awareness training, using structured decision-making processes, and encouraging open communication and diverse perspectives.
What’s the Difference Between Affinity Bias and Other Biases?
Affinity bias causes you to show favouritism to those who are like you, while other biases focus on different aspects and types of judgement.