How To Tackle Unconscious Bias In Your Workplace

Unconscious bias is sneaky. As much as we desire to be free of biases, they have a way into our thoughts and behaviors. But as leaders, it’s our responsibility to keep them in check. This is an extraordinary burden for people tasked with hiring, maintaining and upskilling employees; however, it can also be a privilege. Taking the time and effort to really see potential in all people is a gift that can transform workplaces, families, communities and society. But how do we tackle this responsibility? With time, care, a little neuroscience and a commitment to success.

I am fascinated with the depth of this topic, intricately unlocking how our “gut feelings” – which often guide business and personnel decisions – can be wrong. However, there are a lot of people who don’t want to believe they were ever wrong, biased or misguided. An important message is that it’s often not our fault! You can have the kindest heart and be egregiously biased. We don’t need to make ourselves or others feel defensive, regretful, or upset as we study biases. Instead, the paradigm shift can be enlightening and exciting.

Let’s look at it this way. You have the opportunity to improve your business by looking below the surface. Collectively, we can open our eyes wider to improve productivity, morale, collaboration and much more. With hard work, bias can be mitigated, and organizations can improve their bottom line.

What Is Unconscious Bias?

First, we need to clearly understand what this means. For most HR leaders, it’s a common topic. However, let’s not assume that everyone is on the same page. Of course, everyone has their own personal experiences with their own gender, race, age, belief system and other factors. Then, varying industries, company structures, and even location can play a tremendous role in how unconscious bias plays out.

In the article, “Putting Humanity into HR Compliance: Become Aware of Unconscious Bias,” “Isaac E. Dixon, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP…associate vice president for HR at Portland State University…explained that unconscious bias occurs when someone who does not know you makes assumptions about your character, intelligence or capabilities based on how you look, speak or behave. This person does so not even knowing that he or she is thinking or reacting this way.”

Because of its inherent nature, bias has traditionally been hard to define, teach and reform. It requires a delicate balance of hard questions, thoughtfulness and an open mind to our own biases and those happening around us every day. There is an ongoing need for training to apply anti-bias principles and action where we live, work and learn.

According to Harvard Business Review, unconscious bias education and training has increased because of “public outcry over racist incidents in the workplace and mounting evidence of the cost of employees’ feeling excluded.” There is a growing focus on ensuring workplaces are more, “diverse, equitable, and inclusive.”

While the act of unconscious bias isn’t new, there is a heightening awareness that demands response. And I’m here for it.

What is Unconscious Bias Training?

Korn Ferry states, “Unconscious bias training addresses how our minds have been conditioned to act when we counter people who we perceive as different from us. Our brains have learned to be afraid, suspicious and judgmental of differences because of our personal experiences and messages, both explicit and subliminal, from our parents, media and society. This conditioning may lead us to reject or misinterpret how others speak or act. At work, this conditioning may manifest in the failure to hire, develop or promote those who aren’t like us.”

According to the HBR piece, “UB training seeks to raise awareness of the mental shortcuts that lead to snap judgments—often based on race and gender—about people’s talents or character. Its goal is to reduce bias in attitudes and behaviors at work, from hiring and promotion decisions to interactions with customers and colleagues.”

Do you have this kind of training in your organization? What’s working? What have you learned?

UB Training Isn’t Enough

The research is clear: training isn’t enough. We can all agree that it’s the first step – and we applaud anyone trying to get a handle on this incredibly important topic. But the work doesn’t end with some research and education.

The Korn Ferry article continues, “Organizations need to take a more comprehensive approach to diversity and inclusion. Your leaders and employees need to be able to recognize unconscious bias and be able to counter and mitigate it. But that too isn’t enough. Your talent processes must also be fair and equitable. To do so, you need two things: what we call behavioral inclusion and structural inclusion.”

Behavioral inclusion is an interesting topic on its own. With roots in neuroscience, it aims to expose our biases and blind spots with the goal of acting differently upon our attitudes and decisions.

How is your organization making strides beyond training?

Continue to Examine Your Behavior

Esteemed leader Valerie Alexander has an excellent TED Talk on this topic, “How to Outsmart Your Own Unconscious Bias.” She playfully and powerfully explains unconscious bias and simply asks us all to continually ask questions, be kind to our allies, and understand the parts of our brain that fire up in cases of bias. She urges us to take a look at ourselves because she believes the “stumbling block to achieving true equality is unexamined behavior.”

She does a fantastic job explaining why we actually feel stress hormones when something is unfamiliar, how “fight or flight” can take place without even realizing it, and how the human brain is at the heart of this conversation.

Unconscious Bias and the Bottom Line

There is a lot of research that connects unconscious bias and the bottom line. But let’s break it down into a couple digestible points. What costs money? Advertising jobs, hiring and training.

Lack of engagement or productivity. Let’s not forget bad PR, lawsuits and negative morale. But let’s flip that to be more positive. What makes money? Fulfilled employees, teamwork, productive workforces, positive PR…I could go on.

This is telling; here’s an excerpt from “How to deal with unconscious biases in human resources decisions” from University of St. Gallen, April 2021.

“Apart from considerations of fairness and transparency, companies can reap tangible benefits from actively promoting diversity. If managed effectively, diverse teams are more likely to reexamine facts and remain objective, process information more carefully and come up with more creative solutions than homogeneous teams (Rock and Grant, 2016). Employees will be more content and motivated if promotion processes are as unbiased and transparent as possible. In turn, highly motivated and engaged employees will work harder, identify more strongly with their company and stay there longer. Thus, a climate of inclusion can decrease the turnover rate within a company, saving it from spending money on retraining new employees (Nishii, 2013).”

Constantly Shift Your Paradigm

Unconscious bias, my friends, is not just a buzz term. Here are a few tips as you forge ahead.

Become more comfortable with the unexpected. Ask yourselves how you treat people who look different than you – and even those who look the same (great example in Valerie’s TED Talk).

Slow down a bit and allow your paradigm to change. Ask yourself the difficult questions.

Check out 5 Unconventional Strategies to Use When Hiring for Diversity.

Make a commitment to drastically improve your business by consciously examining your behavior and help others do the same. Yes, it is the socially responsible thing to do. But it’s also fiscally responsible. Take a step back to reevaluate how bias impacts your life, office, department, organization. What can you do today to overcome bias, learn more about others, retrain your brain? It’s worth the effort.

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