What is blind recruitment

What is blind recruitment

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Straightaway, we should recognize that everyone has unconscious bias. Even if we do not want, there are some factors that influence us and the way we work. This is way lately (and actually a bit farther in time) the idea of blind recruitment is taking more space.

What is blind recruitment

Blind recruitment started around 30 years ago, in 1980, in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The musicians recognized one thing: they were made up by just men. Only men were playing in the orchestra. So, recognizing the diversity issue, they opted for a different approach: they decided to audition new members by not watching who was playing. Yes, they decided to judge only the music, and not the person. The impact of this on the hiring decisions resulted in a previously all-white, male ensemble becoming a near 50-50 split of male and female, with a lot more diversity and, clearly, the representation they wanted for their orchestra.

Being chosen for a job because of gender, nationality, or age is wrong. And this is why many companies are currently using the method of blind recruitment: many companies started to eliminate the curriculum vitae on purpose, and to avoid receiving information such as identity, name, birth, and education.
Blind recruitment’s aim is to chose the best person for a role, without knowing who this person is. Does it sound strange? Well, it isn’t. Sometimes recruiters (like everybody else) may be biased by knowing this information, even involuntarily. It is like when you see a beautiful person, and think he/she is also nice and good. It is just a way our mind works, and Human Resource employees are the last one who should be effected. So, this is where the need of blind recruitment comes.

Among those who chose Blind Recruitment, there are giants like Deloitte and HSBC. And EY, Virgin Money, BBC decided to cancel the name of the person from the CV.
Blind recruitment is not only a plus, but a great advantage for the company and its image. It is a value that the company gives, an opportunity for the employees and itself. It increases diversity,
Doing Blind Recruitment is not that easy: you need to find the proper tools, the proper path.

A blind team

There is also the need to train your team to be also “blind”, and go beyond every difference (which is not for granted). Blind recruitment isn’t just the recruitment path itself, but continues also afterwards. After being selected, the chosen person will be inserted in a team where he/she could be mocked, become a victim of prejudice. So, it is also necessary to train the team to accept what is going to come. Managers must be trained, able and used to manage these kind of situation.

Blind recruitment is a new frontier of recruitment, a new way to hire the best talents. It is a future oriented way to create a diverse, rich and creative team, made of people which are not different, but that make a difference.

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