Reducing Bias in the Hiring Process Through Choosing by Advantages: A Case Study

Abstract

Construction projects rely on the people in the project team; people are selected to perform their role satisfactorily in the project and contribute to its success. However, the selection in the hiring process has different biases that are often not perceived by those who decide to hire people. This research aims to present a study applying the Choosing By Advantages (CBA) Tabular method for the hiring process of a new team member, aligning the structure of the selection process with the five phases of the CBA system. The selection process is divided into two parts to reduce bias in decision-making: the first preliminary part uses information associated with objective data from the applicants' CVs without knowing their identities. The second part complements information knowing their identities obtained from personal interviews. In this research, we use a practical approach called the SEEDS Model®, represented in five categories of biases present in everyday thinking (similarity, expedience, experience, distance, and safety). Furthermore, the results demonstrate that CBA and SEEDS Model® help reduce bias in the selection process and choose people for their attributes representing their capacities, avoiding bias in the selection.