What is Recency Bias? Definition |Example| Process to overcome it.

Appraisal time is underway. Are you making decisions about your employees based on their current performance without reviewing them? Or are you an employee who has observed your colleague getting more hikes based only on their recent performance? If yes, then you may be a victim of recency bias tendency.

Now, you might be wondering what exactly recency bias is and why it is essential to understand. More importantly, how can you navigate this situation with confidence?

Understanding and overcoming recency bias is not just a challenge but an opportunity to enhance your decision-making skills and contribute to a more inclusive and equitable workplace.

In this newsletter, we are removing the veil from that matter by describing the definition of Recency Bias with examples and the process of overcoming it. Let’s discuss it together.

What is Recency Bias?

Recency Bias is a common human tendency in which people focus on recent events or experiences over those that have been occurring for a long time. This type of tendency can influence decision-making, create misconceptions, and increase misunderstandings in daily life.

What is Recency Bias in the Workplace?

Recency bias in the workplace is a tendency that can be seen in employees or employers when they start to rely on recent events, experiences, or performance instead of the performance that has been going on for a long time. This bias can manifest in various aspects of the workplace, including performance evaluations, promotions, project prioritization, hiring decisions, conflict resolution, and training opportunities.

For instance, if a manager gives a promotion to an employee who has recently performed well in a project, overlooking the consistently good performance of another employee, that's a clear example of recency bias.

Top 7 process to overcome recency bias tendency at your workplace

Overcoming recency bias in the workplace requires deliberate effort and a commitment to fair and objective decision-making. On the one hand, the presence of a recency bias tendency can lead to employee loss; on the other hand, the absence can significantly enhance the percentage of employee engagement and company productivity, fostering a more inclusive and equitable workplace.

Let’s have a look at seven processes to help mitigate its influence:

1. Structured Evaluation Criteria

Integrating transparent evaluation criteria can mitigate the tendency for recency bias in the workplace. By following the method, employers or management get a comprehensive view of performance rather than a quick overview of recent events alone.

Additionally, considering their short-term and long-term performance indicators, the process helps organizations define a specific metric and benchmark against which employees can be evaluated,

2. 360-Degree Feedback

360-degree feedback can be effective in overcoming the recency bias in the workplace. It is a type of response received from multiple sources, including peers, managers, subordinates and colleagues.

With this method, employers gain a more balanced and holistic perspective on an individual's performance, which helps them analyze the performance and provide feedback in the right way.

3. Historical Performance Review

The historical performance review process ensures that employees' performance reports are reviewed and analyzed over a long period, such as quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly, and decisions are made accordingly.

Through the method, employers receive genuine employee reports that help generate detailed performance data for employees over a period.

Management can plan to integrate employee performance-tracking tools or performance management software to overcome the recency bias also.

4. Delaying decisions

Avoiding delaying the decision-making process while generating the employee performance report is one of the promising techniques for overcoming recency bias. If a manager or high-level authority takes a brief cool-off period before making a decision, it provides extra hours to employees to polish their excellence over expertise.? This results in an unfair decision during the report generation process.

A quick yet genuine decision can help mitigate the influence of recency bias by encouraging more thoughtful and deliberative decision-making processes.

5. Diverse decision-making panels

?Decision-making panels or committees are composed of individuals with diverse perspectives and experiences, which minimizes the impact of individual biases, including recency bias.

Encourage open discussion and debate to challenge assumptions and promote a more balanced evaluation of options. This will increase employee engagement and productivity.

6. Training and Awareness Programs

This strategy involves conducting training sessions and awareness campaigns among employees and managers about cognitive biases, including recency bias. These programs aim to increase understanding and recognition of biases, thereby minimizing their influence in the workplace.

Organizations can plan for numerous strategies and techniques for recognizing and mitigating biases in decision-making processes to promote a more objective and inclusive workplace culture.

7. Regular Performance Check-ins

Regular performance checking weekly or monthly throughout the year can mitigate recency bias and help generate a balanced employee performance report. The process doesn’t betray those employees who have consistently performed well.

In The End

Recency bias presents a significant challenge in the workplace, leading to skewed decision-making and evaluations based on recent events rather than holistic performance assessments.

?By recognizing the presence of recency bias and implementing strategies to mitigate its influence, organizations can promote fair and objective decision-making, foster a more inclusive work culture, and ensure that employees are evaluated based on their overall contributions and potential rather than short-term outcomes.

This proactive approach enhances employee morale and engagement and contributes to the organization's long-term success and sustainability.