Birds of a feather flock together, which means that people who are similar to each other, or share similar interests, tend to spend time with each other. In the business world, this could be likened to “cultural fit.” While many companies want to hire based on cultural fit, this could end up backfiring. A diverse and inclusive workplace should be a goal of any organization and not out of a sense of altruism. Diversity and inclusion have real impacts on a company’s bottom line.
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Whether it’s bringing in new viewpoints, challenging long-held assumptions, or providing insights on different demographic segments within the marketplace, a diverse and inclusive workplace can provide a number of business advantages.
We Like People Like Ourselves
Unfortunately, many companies struggle with creating a diverse workforce, sometimes for reasons they’re not even aware of. Some experts suggest that a tendency among recruiters and managers to hire people like themselves may be a contributing factor.
Recruiters and managers still tend to hire people like themselves when it comes to ethnicity and gender, according to a new report by Namely, an HR platform. According to the Namely report, 80% of men have male bosses, while more than 50% of women report to other women. While biases toward certain gender or ethnic groups are likely responsible for some of this tendency, there’s also a natural and psychological propensity to prefer people we perceive to be like us.
Keep in mind that “people like me” refers to traits and characteristics that go beyond the physical, cultural, or ethnic. Being drawn to people like ourselves also refers to people who hold the same opinions, preferences, or views on certain topics.
Again, this tendency to build teams that are too alike can limit departments and organizations. Proactively nurturing strategic differences among team members can yield big benefits.
Overcoming the ‘People Like Me’ Preference
While the tendency to feel more comfortable with people like ourselves is strong, it’s not an insurmountable problem. Simply encouraging those tasked with hiring to consciously consider diversity when selecting candidates to interview and when making hiring decisions can go a long way toward improving diversity. Many recruiters are likely not conscious of the fact that they are showing a preference toward people like themselves.
Populating hiring and selection teams with a diverse range of interviewers can be another way to help ward off the tendency to hire based on personal preferences and unconscious biases.
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace are important business goals. The challenge for many companies starts at the recruitment level. For a variety of reasons, there are often barriers to recruitment of women and people of color.
When the existing ranks of the business—particularly those tasked with making hiring decisions—are too homogeneous, there’s a tendency for them to perpetuate the problem by hiring more people like themselves. Simply making them aware of this potential and reinforcing the goal of diversity and inclusion can help mitigate the problem.