GB battles unconscious bias through new recruitment strategy

GB has announced the commencement of a new recruitment policy that will see the removal of personal details – such as names, genders, ages, and locations - from all applications for senior roles.

Research shows that, Australia-wide, people from culturally diverse backgrounds with equivalent qualifications and experience often have to submit more applications before they are offered an interview.

This new policy, which aligns to the Recruit Smarter program being implemented across the Victorian Public Sector, is designed to limit the impact of unconscious bias during the application process by removing all personal information.

Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott launched the Recruit Smart program last year, stating:

“I believe in an Australia where someone’s age, background, postcode, gender or wealth doesn’t determine your chance for a fair go. This is the first multi-sector cooperative initiative of its kind in Australia. It’s a ground-breaking and important step towards equality of opportunity in our workforce.”

Finding ways to reduce the role of unconscious bias has been shown to be highly beneficial for many businesses.

Diversity Council of Australia research shows that greater executive and board diversity in companies produced equity returns that were 53 per cent higher and gross earnings that were 14 per cent higher compared with those with low levels of diversity.

We asked Drew Spilsbury, chair of GB’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, about the changes.

"GB is extremely committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace, this new policy is a great way of formalising that commitment", Drew said.

"One of GB's core values is that 'our people are our strength' - removing identifying details from applications helps strengthen our team by encouraging recruiters to focus on the individual merits of each applicant".

As part of this pilot, GB is now deidentifying all job applications for Senior Leadership Roles within the company. These include all Senior Executive roles and roles reporting to Senior Executives.

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