April 11, 2022 BY WorkSocial Press and Editorial
In an effort to make organizations more diverse and inclusive, leaders across the globe are adopting unconscious bias training (UB training). UB training or UBT helps reduce bias in behaviors and attitudes – often based on gender, age, and race – about people’s character traits and talents.
For example, your team lead using a phrase you don’t prefer could be the result of a past experience with an ex-manager from your previous organization, leading you to nurture unconscious biases or false assumptions about your current team lead. Why does this happen? It’s because our background, moral values, cultural environment, and personal experiences influence the choices we make. With these ideologies in place, we begin to create unconscious opinions without even realizing it, which negatively impacts hiring, promotion decision-making, and future engagements with customers and fellow coworkers. In fact, as per a survey conducted by Deloitte, 68% of employees reported that experiencing or witnessing bias at the workplace affected their productivity.
Unconscious bias is simple, you just need to take the time to understand the definition of unconscious bias, the types of biases, and ways to avoid it in the workplace.
Unconscious biases are essentially learned stereotypes. Often these stereotypes are unintentional, deeply ensconced within our value system, and have the power to influence our attitude and behavior. For example, if your car breaks down, chances are you’re most likely to approach a man rather than a woman for assistance. While this unconscious bias may seem harmless, problems may arise when it makes its way into the workplace.
There are 5 different types of unconscious bias. Let’s understand how to tackle them in the workplace.
1. Affinity bias
Affinity bias is the tendency to like other like-minded people. These similarities can be based on gender, age, race, and more. Affinity bias is most often seen during interviews.
How to avoid: Organizations should work towards hiring a diverse staff to promote inclusion.
2. Perception bias
Perception bias is the tendency to make snap judgments based on assumptions and stereotypes that are often wrong. These judgments can be based on gender, age, height, and more. For example, when you host a party after work, and you deliberately refuse to invite a fellow employee because you believe they do not have the same interests as the rest of the group.
How to avoid: Request peers for input on any preference tendencies.
3. Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek confirmation about pre-existing assumptions and ideas, even if it means ignoring good ideas. Confirmation bias is also known as cherry-picking, or simply doing whatever it takes to win an argument.
How to avoid: Keep an open mind to new ideas and build awareness of this bias.
4. Halo effect
The Halo effect is when a single positive attribute has the power to influence our assessment of irrelevant factors. In simpler terms, the Halo effect is the tendency to think that everything about a person is great simply because you like that person. This cognitive bias can lead to animosity in the workplace, especially when favored employees are on the receiving end of more perks. For example, when your co-worker is always perceived in a better light regardless of what they do because they have a closer connection with their team lead than others.
How to avoid: Think about the decisions you’ve made about people without giving them a second thought. Question your decision. Was it favoritism?
5. Gender biases
Gender bias is similar to the Halo effect. The tendency to favor one gender over another is called gender bias. According to a recent survey by Headstart, 42% of women in the United States have encountered gender discrimination in their workplace.
How to avoid: Gender bias can be avoided when employers think about whether a gender swap matters with respect to the position at hand.
Each bias is unique in its own way. Business owners have the power to raise awareness of unconscious bias by encouraging interaction among people from different groups. A coworking and shared office is one such space where diverse groups of people, freelancers, corporates, remote workers, and other consultants work together in a communal setting. This not only helps reduce stress levels when around people who are different from us, but also widens social networks and promotes diversity and inclusion.
1. When do unconscious biases happen the most?
Believe it or not, unconscious biases can happen anytime, anywhere without you even realizing it. However, the two common times when unconscious biases happen the most are during the hiring process and during promotions decision-making.
2. Is unconscious bias illegal in the workplace?
Unconscious bias is different from employment discrimination and as such, is not illegal in the workplace. It’s also because employee discrimination happens consciously whereas unconscious biases happen without us even realizing it, making it harder to recognize and address.
3. Why is unconscious bias training essential in the workplace?
Unconscious bias training helps raise awareness that unconscious bias exists, thus helping combat the future influence of unconscious bias.
www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/new-deloitte-survey-finds-organizations-inclusion-efforts-may-not-be-addressing-one-of-the-biggest-barriers.html
www.headstart.io/insights/gender-bias-in-the-workplace-why-does-it-still-happen/
www.easyllama.com/blog/unconscious-bias-in-the-workplace
www.togetherplatform.com/blog/unconscious-bias-in-the-workplace
www.hbr.org/2021/09/unconscious-bias-training-that-works
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