Check yourself Am I biasing the person being interviewed?

How we conduct interviews can lead to bias on the part of the interviewee.

Usually, this is because of an aggressive approach which turns the interview into an interrogation. This hostile environment can result in poor information collection. Putting someone under stress makes them more susceptible to biases. For example, it can limit their recall and make them more vulnerable to courtesy bias – where they simply say what they think you want to hear – or fundamental attribution error – where they blame someone else involved in the incident for their actions based on their personality traits, rather than on other reasons such as production pressures or scheduling conflicts.

In a hostile environment, the interviewee may try to hide information, fail to tell the full story, and simply close-down in fear of retribution or blame. They may also simply panic, get confused and misremember what actually happened.

A calm, open and trusting space should be established to mitigate against the potential for the interviewer to bias the interviewee.

Suggested actions:

For Interviewers

• Avoid accusations either in the words you use, or the tone of your questioning.
• Avoid words with negative connotations or accusations, such as ‘what did you do wrong?’
• Avoid directly asking 'why' things happened, this is often seen as confrontational, and the interviewee may not know the answer
• Be cautious exploring errors or asking directly why procedures weren’t followed – this can raise concerns of blame and punishment.
• Ask open ended questions.
• Embrace silence, and let people answer in their own time – they may be thinking carefully or trying to recall something.
• Body language is important, be open in your posture - don’t fold your arms, lean towards them or point fingers, for example.
• If possible, a follow up interview by a colleague may be needed if you feel you didn’t develop a good rapport and there was more the interviewee could have said.

For Managers

• Be flexible in your resourcing and ensure enough headroom in scheduling to allow colleagues to support each other as necessary.
• Allow for flexibility, and for people to take time out as needed.

Find out more about the courtesy bias and fundamental attribution error here.