Unconscious bias at work and what to do about it

Last week I was fortunate to have a few days off in Mexico. On arriving at customs, I was asked to press a button. This then produced a random, computer-generated result – green light for go, red for stop and search. What a brilliant way to ensure a complete lack of bias, unconscious or otherwise. Other countries should follow suit.

This got me thinking about bias at work. It might be conscious bias, for example where someone might suggest a male colleague for promotion over a woman because they ‘prefer working with men’, or unconscious bias, which operates outside a person’s awareness and control. Unconscious biases are inadvertent mental shortcuts that help people to make decisions, filling in gaps in their knowledges about a person or group of individuals. Whether you realise it or not, unconscious biases influence the way you think and the way you interact with colleagues.

Why it happens

The way people are brought up often automatically stamps the propensity towards bias onto them since negative biases can be conveyed through gestures, body language, and facial expressions. Children then pick up on these nonverbal cues from adults, which lead them to form their own biases. Also, the brain is wired to fill in the gaps in knowledge and experience of a person by adding bias from previous life experience. For example, assuming an older person isn’t tech savvy because your Aunt Flo can’t operate the iPhone you bought her last Christmas.

A disaster for engagement and retention

Biases can lead to skewed judgments and reinforce stereotypes, which, if you think about it, means that unfair judgements are made every day about individuals’ abilities, performance, potential and so on. For example, one study by the British Medical Journal?showed that height and body mass index can determine social-economic status and earning power, particularly for women, where overweight and short women are at a disadvantage against tall and thin men, earning less than their lighter and taller colleagues.

And of course, this isn’t ‘just’ about gender, race and appearance. There’s the ‘halo effect’ whereby someone might look up to someone who went to a private school, for example, and the ‘horn effect’ where someone with a regional accent, for example, might be looked down upon. Or how about name bias where, for example, someone might say they have trouble remembering or pronouncing non-Anglo sounding names.?Then there’s affinity bias where someone favours someone who supports the same football team. Confirmation or conformity bias? Where people surround themselves with people who will agree with their thinking.

A common example of bias in action is around flexible working. As more flexible working practices are introduced, allowing employees to accommodate their personal needs, this is sometimes, unconsciously, perceived as a lack of commitment by other employees.

There’s a lot to think about.

What to do about it

Awareness is key. Fairness starts with acknowledging the problem and its implications for individual, team and company. Being clear that some form of bias is natural for most people is a good place to start. Then it’s about supporting and educating people to take responsibility of this awareness and for learning how to overcome any potential unfairness.

Opening up ongoing dialogue at work is essential so that examples of bias can be raised and dealt with appropriately.

The Mexican customs button experience reminded me how very important systems are. You could educate those customs officers every day for 10 years, or you could provide a system whereby bias is impossible. ?

In the people space, therefore, software that allows people to drive the dialogue at work that will enable them to thrive is no longer a nice to have – it’s become essential for any business that is serious about engagement, retention and the diversity, equity and inclusivity agenda. The key is to offer the same opportunities to everyone to build the employee experience, journey and progression that’s right for them.

I might be biased, though Purple Cubed 's new Talent Toolbox facilitates all of this and more – see video here .