One of the worst things you can do to yourself as an evaluator of talent in any industry is to come in with a preconceived notion, and to array your work based on those priors. For change to happen, we must be willing to explore methods that help eliminate bias in people management and lead the way in meaningful progress towards greater organizational diversity in our places of work. Here are some ways to create a more gender-diverse workplace: Set gender-neutral recruitment standards: Define the ideal candidate profile ahead of time and evaluate all candidates against those standards. The good news: Once youre aware of your unconscious biases, you can take steps to mitigate their effects. Soon thereafter, her lack of leadership abilities rattled the staff beyond belief. By building awareness around our own individual biases and working collectively as a team to address them, we help combat stereotypes that happen in (and outside of) work and create a more diverse, welcoming, and effective work environment for all. (Shes a bad person because X). . Unconscious biases are mental shortcuts that aid decision-making as the brain processes millions of pieces of .css-1h4m35h-inline-regular{background-color:transparent;cursor:pointer;font-weight:inherit;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;position:relative;color:inherit;background-image:linear-gradient(to bottom, currentColor, currentColor);-webkit-background-position:0 1.19em;background-position:0 1.19em;background-repeat:repeat-x;-webkit-background-size:1px 2px;background-size:1px 2px;}.css-1h4m35h-inline-regular:hover{color:#CD4848;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1h4m35h-inline-regular:hover path{fill:#CD4848;}.css-1h4m35h-inline-regular svg{height:10px;padding-left:4px;}.css-1h4m35h-inline-regular:hover{border:none;color:#CD4848;background-image:linear-gradient( 3 Steps for Addressing Unconscious Bias at Work - SHRM 1 - Ageism. At work, confirmation bias might slip in when youre building product roadmaps, conducting user research, or recruiting a candidate. One of the most infamous examples is unconscious bias, which can cause a variety of workplace tensions and may be difficult to root out. One immediately catches your eyethe candidate also went to Northwestern (Go Wildcats!) Using Employee Financial Wellness Benefits to Attract and Retain Talent, 6 Steps HR Should Take for Great Salary Negotiations, How to Build an Employee Training Program Thats Right for Your Business, Remote Work Discrimination and How HR Can Prevent It, HR Burnout Is Real and Not Going Away: How to Cope, Content Curation Strategies for Corporate Learning, Creating thorough employee surveys to help gauge workplace biastypically anonymous so that employees feel comfortable being honest in their responses, Implementing blind recruitment hiring practices that hide names, age, gender, and other factors that can create unconscious bias, Using gender-neutral language in workplace memos and recruitment, Holding regular diversity events as part of the organizations community involvement, from supporting pride days to celebrating important holidays in other cultures. For instance, a team member is happy to receive a meets expectations on their performance review. It is easy to express yourself in your language than any other. Drive employee impact: New tools to empower resilient leadership, 2 new features to help your team gain clarity and context in the new year. The affect heuristic occurs when we rely on our emotions to make decisions. A common misperception is that, while women are skilled in role-specific tasks, they are not fit to manage people, lead, or collaborate. This can be particularly challenging to deal with because those showing unconscious bias tend to believe they are acting correctly and may have not had their notions challenged before. What is it that caused you to pass over that applicant? It takes more effort to recognize (and shift) our unconscious biases. Gender bias is the tendency to favor one gender or perceived gender over the other. For example, a manager who excels at project management has higher standards for this skill and gives harsher ratings to team members for this skill. Boost productivity and promote innovation. With job postings, employ the usage of gender neutral language to attract the consideration of diverse candidates. In this section, well go over some of the most common biases that affect us at work, and offer specific examples and tips to help you avoid them. Your recruiter sends over resumes for 3 candidates youll be interviewing today. Biases in the hiring process. Create diversity goals: Set qualitative gender diversity goals to create a more gender-balanced team. Even though they got a decent review, the team member judges themselves more critically since their comparison standard is their colleagues results. Sources of rater bias may come from other biases, such as the halo effect, affinity bias, and confirmation bias. The key details of interpersonal communication are what help to differentiate its importance from everyday communication in the business setting. Encourage outside-the-box thinking: Create an environment that celebrates creativity and innovation. Do your research: Conduct your own research on a given topic to identify other credible sources or experts and see whether their suggestions align with your managers suggestions. Beauty bias is when we unconsciously make a judgment about someone based on their physical appearance. 156 likes, 19 comments - (@sobrietyisthenewdrunk) on Instagram: "I was what is called a "high . What are Cultural Barriers? 5 Critical Barriers In Workplace The halo effect refers to our tendency to make positive assumptions about a person based on a single positive trait or behavior theyve displayed. This halo is based on the hiring managers academic preferences. Common examples found in the workplace include: Gender bias: Gender bias occurs when one gender is preferred over another in the workplace. Every culture has a language of its own so that the people associated with it can communicate their thoughts and interact with each other successfully. This idea could be a result of a person's belief that a person's age is related to their work abilities, knowledge, or skill. 1.) Implicit bias happens under the surface of our conscious train of thought. Authority bias. It may involve other biases such as gender, age, and appearance. Workplace and marketplace issues all create a business case for why organizations should pay attention to how race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and identities can be managed so all employees can be successful, contributing members of their organizations. Use up and down arrow keys to move between submenu items. Although theres gratification in validating a current idea, its important to consider the potential consequences of following through with the idea. Whether we realize it or not, unconscious stereotypes shape our perceptions of an employee's capability. Standardize interview questions: When recruiting new talent, come up with a list of standard interview questions to prevent asking off-topic or pointed questions that may or may not confirm your beliefs about a candidate. 293 likes, 14 comments - Chittajit Mitra (@cj_mitra) on Instagram: "#BookReview : Guilt & Other Stories by @dekaa78 & translated from Assamese by @phukanmitra #Publ." As evolutionary shortcuts for our brain, they happen most when were working under pressure, multi-tasking, or trying to process a lot all at once. Be Attentive. Everyone knows about it. Its especially important to be aware of these biases during the hiring process since they can impact the success of your future team. Get more information on our nonprofit discount program, and apply. Nobody likes to admit theyre wrongconfirmation bias is how our brains look for information to back up what we believe to be true. But its important to keep in mind that unconscious bias will also affect the way that employees think about and treat customers or business partners. "I'm an expert. Reflect on your biases and be proactive in identifying the negative stereotypes you have about others. Since emotions may cloud your judgment, its important not to make decisions in the heat of a moment. Becoming aware of the biases we hold is the first step in training our brains to think and react differently. This has also given rise to the term lookism, which is discrimination based on physical appearance. When unconscious bias shows up at work, folks unintentionally get left out or feel like outsiders. Fuel belonging, build culture, and work more effectively together Read More With burnout now classified as a medical condition by the World Health Organization, how should you better support your team?Read More Be strategic about team culture to keep your team alignedRead More 14 Unconscious Bias Examples at Work: How to Spot Them. Take time to get to know everyone on your teamthe more you do, the more common ground youll find (Pro-tip: Spend ample time reviewing resumes ahead of timefamiliarize yourself with any similarities you share so you can be mindful of them and avoid clouding judgment, Select a diverse interview panel to ensure different backgrounds are represented and no one gets more sway, If youre interviewing for culture fit, define specific qualities that make someone a culture fit and why theyre valuable to the company (We meshed so well! doesnt cut it), You really like a particular candidate, so subconsciously give them easier questions that play up their strengths, rather than explore potential weaknesses, Build rigor into your research processes and employ, Use interview and research questions to disconfirm the evidence, rather than reinforce what you already know, A teammate calls another a co-worker unprofessional based on how theyre dressed, A hiring manager shares some preconceived notions about a candidate because they have a lot of tattoos, You sometimes feel like a coworker doesnt have their sh*t together because theyre always wearing a sweatshirt and pony tail on Zoom, Consider phone screens instead of video calls for the first round of the interview process, Talk about beauty biascreate a structured interview process that brings awareness to it and does its best to avoid it, A manager commits their team to an unrealistic timeline because the rest of the leaders in the room were fired up about it, A IC doesnt ask for help with something theyre struggling with since theyve never seen others on the team do the same, A teammate avoids speaking their concerns about a potential candidate because the rest of the team seems to really like them, As a leader, model going against the grain for your teamif youre having a hard day, say so; if you disagree with something everyones fired up about, constructively share why, A teammate tells you youre too young for a role, despite being qualified for it, A manager focuses on on younger employees when it comes to growth, development, and other learning opportunities, Your teammates make jokeseven ones that feel playful and kind-spiritedabout getting older, retirement plans, or anything related to age, Promote and reward folks at your organization based on performance, not tenure, Advertise open positions in a variety of places so you get a diverse pool of candidates, Be conscious about language in job descriptions: words like energetic and tech-savvy can be read as youthful qualities and can easily be swapped out for dedicated or loyal or speaking to the specific technical qualifications the role requires, Review your companys website, social media, and content to ensure people of all ages are represented through images and examples, Your manager thinks a someone on the team is checked out because they routinely show up 20 minutes late, You assume a coworker is shy because they rarely speak up in meetings, Your team is reluctant to move a candidate forward because her video background during the interview seemed messy and chaotic, Get to know your coworkers on a deeper level, Try phone screens instead of video ones to avoid making any assumptions about what you see, During performance reviews, a manager unconsciously downplays someones accomplishments because the review theyd read prior exceeded expectations, You unknowingly make a judgment about a teammate who asked for help during standup only because the person before them shared that their work is well ahead of schedule, Use a clear rubric for performance reviews, interviews, and sharing progress with the teamand be aware of the role contrast effect can play in all three, Give yourself ample time to complete performance reviews and, if possible, break them up with other tasks in between, Leave feedback right after an interview ends rather than waiting and grouping feedback for several candidates together, A recruiter is unconsciously more likely to advance a candidate named Molly Smith over a candidate named Ftima Rodriguez, A teammate unknowingly assumes a candidate named Barbara is older than the rest of the pool and plans to ask a few extra questions to make sure shes up-to-speed on technology, Remove identifying information (like names) from resumes, exercises, and work samples, Ask the same interview questions to every candidate and only probe deeper when its essential to the requirements outlined for the role, Select a hiring panel that includes folks from diverse backgrounds and experiences to help counter any instances of unconscious bias that might slip in, You sometimes think your teammate who wears a suit jacket is more competent than the one who wears a sweatshirt, Your manager loves how a candidate answered one of their interview questions, and is really pushing to move them forward despite some obvious gaps, Your team goes with Tylers idea for product direction because his last idea was so successful, You rule out a candidate because they answered one question not to your liking, You ignore Tylers product idea because his last one was a bust, Create clear criteria for each open job rec and a system to evaluate candidates for each, Train your team on questions to ask during interviews that challenge their own assumptions, Create a regular practice around sharing workchampioning wins alongside the learnings from failures so both are valued, A candidate knocked it out of the park with first round interviews and the team remains excited about moving forwardeven though they did a poor job on the follow-up exercise, To shape the product roadmap, a your team lead keeps bringing up learnings from user research, even though new information has proved them incorrect, Evaluate candidates separately at different stages of the interview processif your team is large enough, use different interviewers at different stages, Use a clear rubric for performance reviews, interviews, and team roadmapping that always takes the latest information into account, Train your team on anchoring bias and have conversations as a group to work through it, A leader adds a controversial comment to a Google doc and teammates pile on in support, despite some of them disagreeing with it, The way you feel about a particular candidate shifts because you heard your CEO recommended them for the role, In interview panel meetings, have the leader or manager speak last, When sharing feedback on a product or in a Google doc, have whoevers in a leadership position share theirs last, Your manager promotes a teammate because they crushed it on their most recent project, forgetting that every other deadline that quarter was missed, When hiring, you tend to think more highly of the person you last interviewed because its fresh in your memoryeven if someone else was a better fit, Put clear structures in place to evaluate performance reviews, hiring, and promotions, Leave feedback immediately after you interview a candidate whenever possible.
