Unconscious Bias!

Unconscious Bias is something that we all need to be aware of because it affects us all.?

how it affects us and how we might be affecting others?

What is unconscious bias??Unconscious bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our views, our actions, and our decision-making ability.?

?It also impacts hiring and evaluation processes and contributes to the lack of workforce diversity. Everyone is biased someway, and the word bias immediately makes some people feel as though they're being attacked. (Check yourself too!)?

Tackling unconscious bias is necessary to level the playing field. Every decision made about a person from the time we're hired to the time we're promoted, passed over, get fired or quit, each decision costs us and the company money.?

Understanding we’re all biased

According to studies in cognitive science,

Ask anyone if they're biased, and very few will admit it. And those who do are unaware of just how deep the bias runs. So pinpointing bias is hard but not impossible.?

Let`s talk about the types of bias :

Affinity bias

Affinity bias is the tendency to warm up to people like ourselves. We favour those who have something in common with us. And for most of the parents, the child who plays the same sport they did in high school, or who has their creative gene, is usually the one with whom they can relate the most and are closest.?

So how does this equate to unconscious bias in the workplace??

Unconsciously, the person with whom we have a perceived affinity will automatically have an edge over the others whether they deserve it or not. Reducing our unconscious bias as we interact with others at work can be accomplished by creating standard processes that will help us to pause before we react in favour of, or to the detriment of someone in a review process. Working off a structure that we can apply to everyone will help to lessen the influence of bias in our decision-making processes.?

Standardization also slows down the process so that our automatic and unconscious gut reactions can be replaced with methodical and deliberate action.?

Think about the last time you chose someone to work with. Why did you choose that person?

Halo bias

First impressions have a lot to do with the Halo Effect. The Halo Effect is our tendency to think everything about a person is good because our first impression of them was good. And the same thing happens at work.??

If you're a manager, review your process for evaluating work and put checks and balances in place. Did the person to whom you assigned the work do the work? There's nothing wrong with liking the people!?

Perception bias

Perception bias is the tendency to form stereotypes and assumptions about certain groups that make it difficult to make an objective judgment about individual members of those groups.?

we apply the same logic to people we work with.?According to a study led by researcher Moss-Racusin, and published in the proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences, there is an assumption that men are better suited to science and technology-related projects than women. So how does this affect women?

As an example: when hiring for a web engineer, an SEO analyst, or a data scientist, if eight out of 10 candidates are male, it's difficult to put aside the perception that men do these types of jobs, and hire a woman. Our experience has shown us that men work in these roles, not women, so we gravitate towards the perception we're used to. While there are many programs in place to increase the number of women in these fields, the disparity cannot be addressed until women are perceived as just as capable as men in traditionally male-dominated fields.?

The problem lies in the bias that makes those assumptions in the first place, and not as much in the hiring process. The bias is based on a stereotype rather than fact.

Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is described as seeking out evidence that confirms our initial perceptions, ignoring contrary information.

It's slightly like a debate. Each side prepares for their argument with facts, figures, and studies that will support their position. And they'll disregard or find fault with the opposing viewpoint to win the debate.?

Confirmation bias can make a bad situation worse because we double down and dig in our heels. We seek out information and evidence that justifies our position or makes us feel like we were right all along.?

Groupthink

Was high school fun for you??

For most people, it was a time of desperately trying to fit in. And if you were considered part of the in-crowd, you spent most of your time trying to stay there.?

You may have found yourself agreeing with things your friends said or did because you thought everyone else did too, and you didn't want to stick out.?While in hindsight, this can seem like deliberate behaviour, and not something outside of our control, at the moment, the behaviour is instinctual, and that's what makes it unconscious bias.?

?There is a genuine leap that is made by our brain which is caused by our desire for self-preservation. This type of judgment can lead us to make grave mistakes.

The bandwagon effect, or groupthink, occurs when individuals try too hard to fit into a group, by agreeing with the majority, or by stifling opinions that may differ from the group. It doesn't even have to occur in large groups. It happens in smaller groups, too, between co-workers, and even among family members.?

In the 1950s, in a series of psychological experiments, researchers found that people were willing to go as far as giving a wrong answer to conform to the rest of the group.?

Well, what does this mean for organizations??It means that people are willing to go along to get along.?

Creativity and independent thought can fly right out the window, and you end up with a pool of people who may have all agreed with an idea, even though those in the room knew that idea was terrible.