From an employer’s perspective, securing the best, most qualified candidate for an open position can feel like winning the lottery. After all, a strong fit usually corresponds to a higher likelihood that the employee will become an asset to the company. Yet candidate selection throughout the hiring process is anything but simple.

What’s the biggest problem? We tend to bring inherent known or unrecognized biases into the process. Even when we assume we’re following equitable hiring practices, we may be incorrect. Consequently, rather than assuming that we’re doing the right thing, we leverage unbiased tools and procedures to avoid the hot water of litigation.

For example, take valid, reliable pre-employment assessments that have been written to match the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures as well as other laws and court precedence. When constructed in a methodical, scientific manner, these hiring tools can help deliver a 100% ethical, valid, and defensible hiring process that allows candidates to demonstrate their abilities and qualifications. In other words, they support the goal of true equal employment opportunity (EEO), which is one of the most commonly misinterpreted parts of the candidate selection journey.

What Is Equal Employment Opportunity?

Plenty of people misunderstand the goals of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Uniform Guidelines, and EEO regulations. These laws were never meant to force organizations to hire less-qualified people; they serve to reduce the chance of discrimination against applicants based on irrelevant characteristics. In other words, the laws level the playing field by removing bias.

Now, it’s not unusual to hear people substitute the term “affirmative action” with “equal employment.” But the two principles are not the same. Affirmative action policies in hiring address existing issues at specific companies.

For instance, if a court determines that an employer has systematically discriminated against a group based on a trait such as race or gender, the court may direct the employer to take immediate affirmative action to rectify and reverse the problem. Consequently, the employer may have to hire a certain number of qualified applicants from the group that was discriminated against. Once this has happened, the employer will need to follow EEO hiring process guidelines in the future but has finished with any affirmative action expectations.

Not surprisingly, employers want to avoid costly and embarrassing EEO stumbles whenever they can. This is why so many hiring teams and recruitment professionals use pre-employment assessments. Unfortunately, some companies also put their reliance on AI-enabled employment selection software and frequently end up with problems they never anticipated.

Where Does AI in Hiring Process Decisions Fit In?

This isn’t to say that AI can’t be helpful to recruiters. It certainly can. However, AI candidate selection systems can put a company out of compliance and in legal danger quickly for several key reasons.

First, they make decisions based on the available data inputted into them. Often, the data is incomplete. The result is that though the predictive systems boast fancy algorithms and machine learning, they may end up being biased. That is, they end up glossing over perfectly reasonable candidates because they mimic past bias or even discrimination. An excellent case study of this happened at Amazon. The enterprise-level employer reduced its reliance on AI-supported hiring after discovering that the software it was using was showing a preference for male applicants.

Another obstacle to utilizing AI is that recruiters can’t see how decisions are being made. They merely get applications that have been filtered to them and trust that the information they receive represents the most qualified applicants. It’s worth mentioning that if they have to defend a hiring decision in court, they won’t be able to blame the software. Ignorance isn’t an acceptable excuse.

Finally, AI isn’t helpful if you’re looking for a “rare outlier” kind of candidate. AI software does its best to sort typical applicants, not diamonds in the rough. Therefore, you might miss an opportunity to transform your business in untold ways because your AI system screened out a unique candidate’s application.

Using Pre-Employment Assessments Instead of AI-Enhanced Candidate Filtering

At the end of the day, you want to amass a team of highly qualified individuals who feel engaged and aligned with your organization and its mission. You also want to make sure that your candidate selection lives up to EEO expectations as outlined in documents like the Uniform Guidelines.

Though it can be tempting to think that AI hiring software is the answer, you may want to think twice about depending on AI systems entirely. Developing valid, accurate pre-employment assessments with the help of a reputable partner like Biddle Consulting Group can ensure that your hiring process is everything you need — and nothing you don’t.

Get in touch today to learn more!