nepotism is a problem for me if people below me do it against my interests. it's also a problem for my superiors if i do it against their interests, but it is in my control and my responsibility so if i mess that up i have to deal with it myself.
the best way to avoid bias is to get recommendations from people outside who do not benefit from my choice.
if i hire people like me then asking those same people who else to hire will not help to improve diversity. the only way to improve diversity is to explicitly select for it. asking the team won't make much difference here.
the only time where asking the team is useful is when i want to make a technical evaluation, but even there i need to be careful that the feedback does not allow team members to reject candidates who are better than them.
A lot of what you're saying translates, at least in my reading of it, to "I don't trust the people that work for me". I don't know that I could work with a team like that.
that is not what i meant. at a certain stage of growth in a company, hiring decisions are no longer made by the top leaders but are delegated downwards. leaders of divisions are empowered to make those decisions. if i am at the top i (or we, if it's a team of founders) will choose those leaders carefully, but then expect them to make their own hiring choices.
if i am one of those chosen leaders, then this is not "my leadership should trust me because i am good" but "i became a leader because they trust me"
if hiring is my responsibility then it's just that. i am responsible, hence i make the decisions. if i hire the wrong person, then i have to take the responsibility for that too.
if i ask my team, and follow their recommendation, it is still my responsibility.
that is a very good observation. one that wasn't even consciously on my mind. so thank you for pointing that out. you are right. i don't trust the people that work for me to understand what are the best hiring choices to achieve my companies vision. not yet, anyways.
but please consider where i am coming from:
i mainly work with junior engineers who don't have enough experience to judge others.
i work in a country where personal favors to friends and family are the cultural norm. it's not even considered corruption, it is expected, and almost required that someone recommends their friends or relatives regardless of the actual qualifications.
because of that, embellishments of qualifications is also common.
in order to trust someone with hiring recommendations i need to work with them for a while to be sure we understand each other and know the goals of our company. especially when it comes to decisions about diversity.
that said, if you can make a good case why we should hire someone, i am not going to dismiss that, but i'll listen. i'll consider recommendations, but i am not giving the team a vote. this is not a democracy.
> that said, if you can make a good case why we should hire someone, i am not going to dismiss that, but i'll listen. i'll consider recommendations, but i am not giving the team a vote. this is not a democracy.
Asking the people who work for you to talk to the person and give your their thoughts on them doesn't need it make it a democracy. But it can help you make better decisions.
As a parallel example, I commonly discuss issues of my project with others in my company; people outside the project (the reverse is also true). When it comes time to make a decision, it's _my_ decision, but having their insights allows me to make a better decision.
oh absolutely, getting insights from people outside is always very helpful and welcome. whether it's for hiring or other questions.
and of course for any technical decisions i do ask my team, because i want them to take ownership of their work. i'll have to have a good reason to override a teams preference on how to solve a problem.
with hiring it is rather that, unless i can't decide myself between multiple candidates, the teams input is not going to make much difference, and it might make things worse if they don't agree with my choice. (asking them and rejecting their preferred candidate feels worse than not asking)
the best way to avoid bias is to get recommendations from people outside who do not benefit from my choice.
if i hire people like me then asking those same people who else to hire will not help to improve diversity. the only way to improve diversity is to explicitly select for it. asking the team won't make much difference here.
the only time where asking the team is useful is when i want to make a technical evaluation, but even there i need to be careful that the feedback does not allow team members to reject candidates who are better than them.