Conflicts of interest in recruitment may arise when an assessor knows a candidate, either professionally or personally, that may result in a pre-determined view about any aspect of a candidate’s suitability.
Conflicts of interest will be quite common and are not in themselves a problem, however the recruitment process must effectively identify and address all conflicts of interest.
After completing this section, you will have:
- a set of questions to determine the possible impact of a declared conflict of interest.
- an understanding of how a conflict of interest could be managed.
Actions
- Ask each assessor to review the names of the shortlisted applicants to identify any potential conflict of interest.
- To support you as a hiring manager to make decisions about the possible impact of any declared conflicts of interest, ask the following questions:
- how would others judge my actions and decisions?
- how could my actions and decisions impact others?
- do I need to ensure the relationship is declared as a conflict of interest?
- should I discuss this with someone else?
- Discuss these questions and consider if the following actions would address the conflict of interest:
- reduce involvement of the assessor in discussions about, and the rating of, the particular candidate who has moved from shortlisting to the next process
- include an independent third party to participate in, oversee and/or review the integrity of the decision-making process.
- If these actions are not practicable or if the conflict of interest is too great, it may be necessary to remove the assessor from the process.
Speak with your human resources team in your agency if you need assistance about conflicts of interest.
