Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility: Supporting Leaders to Address Unconscious Bias in the Workplace
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) have become cornerstones of successful human resource practices. Organizations that embrace truly diverse workforces – respecting differences and race, age, gender, religion, and culture – become stronger for it. Teams that cultivate fairness in processes and opportunities help make everyone feel valued, accepted, and included. IDEA policies benefit both operational workflows and ultimate outcomes.
However, unconscious bias is an often overlooked hindrance to IDEA plans. Implicit, underlying stereotypes unwittingly shape our understanding, actions, and decisions. No matter how open-minded and receptive to diversity we might be at the surface, this kind of bias lurks in our subconscious, often overriding our conscious thoughts in decision-making processes.
Case in Point: Handling Conflict
If you’re at a coffee shop or a restaurant and your order comes out wrong, you might react differently based on the person serving you. Depending on the person’s age, race, beauty, height, or weight – you might respond differently without even realizing it.
Depending on the server, some people may unleash an inner “Kevin” or “Karen,” loudly and indignantly demanding a replacement order, stat! With another server (who looks different), they might accept the wrong order, shrug, and walk away. Many things could affect the interaction, but unconscious bias occurs more often than we realize.
You can see how this plays out in the workplace as well. Assignment reviews may vary based not on the work but on the characteristics of the people involved. Staff may get hired or promoted based on factors beyond merit. Ill-advised decisions reverberate throughout an organization, affecting productivity, retention, and morale.
To counteract unconscious bias, leaders must bring hidden biases to light. The solution is increasing self-awareness and knowing one’s triggers and tendencies to become mentally hijacked.
Coaching and training can provide impactful solutions for leaders exploring, addressing, and overcoming unconscious bias. Teams working with trained experts in discrimination can root out hidden biases and foster a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse work environment.
Understanding Unconscious Bias
We all harbor unconscious bias (or implicit bias), whether we recognize it or not. The human brain takes mental shortcuts—automatic, rapid-fire judgments and assessments-–of people and situations based on our past experiences and our culture.
Affinity bias leads us to favor people who seem similar to us. It can unintentionally lead a hiring manager to choose a candidate who shares the same hobbies or comes from the same university, even over more qualified candidates.
Confirmation bias refers to interpreting information that confirms existing beliefs, while attribution bias pertains to attributing behavior and outcomes to situational or personal factors.
Leaders must identify these biases not as signs of intentional discrimination but as unintentional obstacles to building diverse teams. Once identified, we can align systems and organizational culture toward true inclusivity.
What’s at Stake in Rooting Out Bias
Organizations that work to root out unconscious biases can reduce tensions, avert bad press, and avoid litigation. Beauty product retailer Sephora and coffee chain Starbucks famously closed their U.S. stores in May 2018 to conduct anti-bias employee training following racial profiling blunders. Their decisions to close thousands of stores demonstrated each company’s commitment to more inclusive and accepting work cultures. Had they conducted anti-bias training sooner, they might have avoided needing to take such drastic measures.
Companies that address implicit bias create a more inclusive and fair work environment, encouraging employees to stay with the organization longer. With reduced bias, employees are more accurately judged on their skills and contributions, leading to better chances of promotion and further boosting job satisfaction and retention across teams.
We all have biases. Yet working toward a bias-free environment encourages diverse perspectives, helping the company understand world events and trends from multiple viewpoints. Enhanced understanding of various cultures, traditions, and beliefs not only serves employees but opens up new avenues to serve a diverse array of customers in the global marketplace. Companies with broad perspectives and an enhanced understanding of global contexts are better situated to spot new opportunities and increase profits.
Coaching Helps Individuals Avoid Unconscious Bias
One effective tool to address unconscious bias is coaching on professional development in IDEA. Whether through one-on-one, group, or peer coaching, we can help one another better find and address blind spots.
Such coaching uses questioning, listening, clarifying, and reframing biases to promote self-discovery and behavior change. Layers of hidden prejudices peel back through constructive dialogue. Workers can avoid the mistakes and microaggressions that are all too common in workplaces today.
With heightened self-awareness, leaders can develop strategies to counteract previously unseen biases. More objective, fair, and equitable leadership decisions can result from coaching.
Workshop Training Bolsters Teams Against Systemic Bias
Top-level organizations often implement mandatory unconscious bias training for a more inclusive work environment. Training provides all the members of an organization with specific knowledge or skills aimed at increasing self-awareness.
Being open to different training modes can enrich leaders’ understanding of unconscious bias and offer pathways to mitigate its effect on decision-making. In-person workshops offer experiential learning through role-plays or simulations. Seminars provide research-based presentations on bias in the workplace. Several platforms offer online courses that educationally expose participants to their biases.
When implementing coaching and training programs, leaders need to communicate the “why” and the “what” clearly.
IDEA training programs help teams:
Discuss what IDEA means in today’s workplace.
Develop new ways of thinking about and addressing diversity concerns, internally and externally.
Take concrete action to change organizational culture to serve all stakeholders better.
Share the objectives of such programs and expected outcomes. Review them over time.
Are your Anti-Bias Strategies up to date?
Regularly reducing bias can build employee confidence, create a sense of belonging, increase engagement, and increase retention. Feedback enhances the effectiveness of IDEA programs – and, more importantly, can create a more welcoming, considerate environment for all.
Training must be viewed as an ongoing practice rather than a "one-and-done" event. The conversation around IDEA constantly evolves, with new ideas, terminologies, and challenges emerging. One-time training cannot stay relevant with the changing trends.
Also, be careful not to stop at “awareness.” Instead, provide employees with clear strategies to change behavior. Help teams manage, measure, and track their progress in this area.
Unconscious and implicit bias concepts are often misunderstood and may require reinforcement over time to be fully understood and integrated into a company's culture. An effective work culture takes time to build.
Conclusion: The Best Leaders Proactively Address Hidden Biases
In the constantly changing global business landscape, leaders need to take the reins on unconscious bias. It’s not just about checking a box; it’s about maintaining a diverse and balanced team that promotes creativity and innovation.
Leaders play critical roles in recognizing potential pitfalls of unconscious bias and, most importantly, doing something to address the issues proactively.
Want to talk about it?
Please get in touch with Pivotn for strategies and guidance to reduce potential discrimination, including unconscious or implicit bias. We have trained executives and coached employees on addressing such issues. Ensure you’ve done your due diligence to vet hidden bias within company-wide policies and among individual employees in the current environment. Pivotn helps leaders create more fair and equitable environments, including IDEA leadership training and workshops.
