The halo effect in recruitment: a bias that distorts your decisions

When it comes to choosing a new employee or deciding on an internal promotion, we tend to believe that we are being objective. However, a great deal of psychological research shows that our judgments are influenced by cognitive biases that alter the rationality of our decisions. One of the most insidious is the halo effect, a mechanism that leads to the generalization of a positive (or negative) impression to an entire individual. In recruitment as well as in internal mobility, this bias can have significant consequences on performance and equity within the company.

Understanding the halo effect

The concept of the halo effect was brought to light as early as 1920 by the psychologist Edward Thorndike. He showed that when a significant characteristic was perceived in a person — for example, appearance, verbal fluency, or sympathy — observers tended to attribute to it other qualities that were not objectively related to the first. In other words, our brain projects an overall impression from a detail.

In the professional context, this phenomenon is particularly present during recruitment and internal mobility processes. A candidate may be considered more competent simply because he exudes confidence, while an employee who is already recognized in his department may be perceived as “ready” for promotion even if his skills do not match the requirements of the new position.

When the halo effect influences recruitment

The recruitment process is often based on interviews, moments where the impression left by the candidate plays a decisive role. An applicant who has a perfect command of his body language and speaks confidently may be perceived as more competent than someone with a more discreet profile, even if the latter has more solid technical expertise. This trend is all the more pronounced as recruiters sometimes have to make quick decisions and juggle a large number of applications.

Relying on this initial impression, the company risks selecting a candidate who corresponds more to an idealized image than to the reality of its skills. The consequences are reflected in recruitment errors, which are costly in terms of time, training and commitment of teams.

When the halo effect biases internal mobility

Internal mobility is also subject to this bias. An employee who has recently shone during a visible project can automatically be perceived as a future manager, without an in-depth analysis of his managerial skills having been carried out. Conversely, a more discreet but rigorous and reliable profile may be underestimated and have limited opportunities for growth.

This type of partial judgment not only creates positioning errors, but can also weaken the social climate: some employees feel wronged when faced with decisions that do not reflect the reality of each person's skills.

The consequences for the company

Beyond individual errors, the halo effect has a collective impact. It maintains a culture of subjective evaluation, encourages promotions that are sometimes unwarranted, and prevents the valorization of talent that is not immediately noticeable. In the long term, this can affect the attractiveness of the company, hinder performance and generate frustration within teams.

How to reduce the impact of the halo effect

If the halo effect is a natural bias, it is possible to limit its influence. Structuring recruitment and mobility processes with multi-criteria assessment methods reduces the weight of the first impression. Training HR teams and managers in cognitive biases is also essential in order to develop a culture of objective decision-making. Finally, the use of tools for the scientific measurement of behavioral skills is an effective response to reintroduce reliability into decisions.

Yuzu's answer: objectifying HR decisions

That is precisely what is proposed Yuzu, by integrating the contributions of cognitive sciences and psychology into solutions forgamified assessment. Unlike traditional interviews, which leave a lot of room for biases such as the halo effect, the experiences developed by Yuzu objectively assess soft skills, a key criterion in the success of recruitment or internal mobility.

By combining scientific rigor and a fun experience, Yuzu allows companies to make more accurate decisions, reduce errors related to cognitive biases, and ensure better alignment between talent skills and job needs. To better understand the impact of cognitive biases in business, you can consult our analysis dedicated to recruitment and cognitive biases, or discover how effectively evaluating soft skills can transform your HR processes.

Conclusion

Invisible but extremely influential, the halo effect is a trap that many recruiters and managers fall into. All it takes is a positive or negative impression for an overall judgment to be biased, with sometimes serious consequences in terms of recruitment and internal mobility. Recognizing this mechanism and putting in place objective tools is an essential step towards fairer and more efficient decisions. With Yuzu, you have concrete solutions to overcome these biases and sustainably place the right talent in the right positions.