Hidden Hiring Bias: How GIAs Transform Recruitment

Discover how common biases in job adverts and interviews can narrow your talent pool, and how a simple health check for your hiring process can help you recruit the best person for the job.

By Ruth Healey

Imagine you’ve put out a job advert for your company, and the perfect candidate doesn’t apply simply because of the wording.

It’s a common scenario and it’s evident from looking at job adverts that many small businesses are unintentionally building barriers into the recruitment process.

For SMEs, building fair and inclusive workplaces isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s good for business. That’s why Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland, as a women’s organisation campaigning for equality, is determined to support fairness in every aspect of working life.

Although gender equality is in the best interests of many business owners, there is still a long road ahead when it comes to achieving it.

From biased recruitment processes to parental leave and gender pay gaps, disparity in the workplace is still a huge concern.

More than half a century has passed since the Equal Pay Act was introduced, yet experts predict it may take another 45 years before we see true pay equality in the UK.

Pay is a significant issue, but inequality also exists in many other forms in the workplace and as the President of a charity dedicated to empowering women and girls, this deeply saddens me.

How to Overcome Recruitment Bias

Business owners, no matter how big or small the enterprise, must be aware how they can improve gender equality and where bias can creep in.

One of the simplest ways to tackle inequality is during the recruitment process. Bias often sneaks into recruitment in ways we barely notice.

The words we choose for job adverts, for example, can send subtle signals to the applicant.

Terms like “assertive” or “nurturing” may seem harmless, but research shows they influence whether men or women see themselves as fit for the role.

Similarly, within the job advertisement, by including criteria such as essential or desirable skills and characteristics can be equally off-putting. Therefore, this can unintentionally narrow your talent pool.

Studies have shown that men will apply even if they only tick a few boxes, whereas women tend to hold back until they meet every bit of the criteria before deciding to apply.

The result is that capable candidates don’t apply simply because of how the advert was written, but because of psychology too.

Even if an applicant does apply, unconscious bias can continue to shape decisions throughout the recruitment process.

We all tend to favour people who look or sound like ourselves. It’s a natural instinct but can seriously disadvantage those from underrepresented groups.

By recognising these hidden patterns, business owners can take simple, practical steps and start recruiting the best person for the job, not just the most familiar.

A Simple Step to Ensure Fair Process

The good news is that there’s a process business owners can employ which builds fairness into everyday decision-making.

Gender Impact Assessments (GIAs) sound like something designed for big government departments but they’re simply a structured way of asking “is this process fair for both men and women?”

In recruitment, that means looking at each stage whether it’s advertising, shortlisting, interviewing, or onboarding.

Essentially, it’s a health check for your hiring process to ensure decisions are made based on skills and potential rather than an unconscious assumption.

For small businesses, the value of a GIA lies in its simplicity and accountability. Instead of treating diversity and equality as a box-ticking exercise, it builds fairness into everyday decision-making.

Top Tips for a Recruitment GIA

Here are a few things to consider when creating a recruitment-focused GIA.

Job adverts and design: Avoid gendered language, include a range of individuals in photography and publish salary bands. This is key to attracting a wider, more diverse pool of talent.
Early selection: Use simple blind recruitment techniques. When CVs include names, addresses, schools, or other personal details, our brains make snap judgements – sometimes in a matter of seconds.
Interviews: Use structured scoring and mixed interview panels where possible. Having a diverse panel is not only inclusive, it gives candidates confidence in your organisation and its culture.
Pay and onboarding: Provide fairness in offers and flexible work options. Spell out your approach to flexible working. You don’t want great candidates to be deterred because they’re unsure if you’re flexible or not.
Added value: Explain any mentoring opportunities, equal promotion pathways and flexible parental leave. Can you use any case studies in your recruitment pack to give confidence to job seekers?

What’s important to remember is that GIAs aren’t about extra paperwork or burdensome bureaucracy. They’re actually about creating a better business outcome.

Companies that integrate GIAs tend to end up with stronger teams and better staff retention. They also deliver greater innovation because you’ll soon be drawing from the widest pool of talent.

While they aren’t mandatory in the UK, they are already delivering results in places like Australia and Finland, where structured gender analysis has driven real improvements in workplace equality.

Stay Ahead of the Curve

For small businesses here, voluntarily adopting GIA principles is a practical way to stay ahead of the curve and ensure you’re building the kind of fair, future-ready workplace that attracts the very best people.

A crucial step towards real equality is ensuring that more women reach senior leadership roles, which are still seriously under-represented in the UK.

GIAs can aid organisations in thinking about the conditions that support women to be in and stay in business roles, by consistently considering how decisions affect women and men differently.

Without these checks, gender equality risks remaining an afterthought.

By taking simple, practical steps today, you’re not only supporting women and girls – you’re also creating a fairer, more resilient business for the future.

About the author

Ruth Healey is President of Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland, a registered women’s charity founded in 1934. It focuses on empowering women and girls. With 30 years’ experience in the business world, Ruth brings a wealth of professional knowledge and experience.