THE ROLE OF HR
IN MANAGING WORKPLACE BIAS
A program for the
Designed and delivered by
B e v e r l y J . G l o v e r, S P H R
OCHRS VP-Diversity
TRY TO REMEMBER…
Can you think of a time when
someone assumed that you had a characteristic,
either positive or negative,
based on a group to which you belong,
without knowing you as an individual?
Do you remember how that felt?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this training program, you should be able to:
•
Define several types of bias that could surface during the employment
lifecycle
•
Recognize how biased decision making in human capital management can
contaminate the organization’s culture
•
Identify the potential damage and legal risks associated with the unfair
employment practices that bias could engender
•
Acknowledge your own personal biases and identify measures to control
their influence in decisions and interactions in the workplace
•
Deliberately plan ways to influence management positively in such
employment processes as recruitment, selection and hiring; performance
appraisal; constructive discipline; and employee development and
promotion
•
List some ways to create a bias-free culture and identify benefits to the
organization of doing so.
ABOUT BIAS
• Often misunderstood
• Loaded with negative connotations
• Elicits thoughts of close-mindedness,
ignorance, and bigotry
• A tendency common in all of us
ABOUT BIAS
IN THE SOCIAL ARENA
May be influenced by:
•class
•culture
•race
•education
•religion
•geography
•language
ABOUT BIAS
FILTERS REQUIRED
• We all bring hidden biases to the workplace
because our brains rely on filters created from
past experiences to make sense of the
avalanche of information that comes at us each
day.
• Without these filters, we would be incapable of
the complex thinking that we take for granted.
ABOUT BIAS
FILTERS FOR SURVIVAL
We rely on three types of filters to negotiate the people we encounter:
One type of filter persuades us to rely on third-hand information—
such as the media or stereotypes—when we encounter people with
whom we have limited experience, like those with Asperger’s
syndrome.
A second filter encourages us to feel most comfortable around people
who are similar to ourselves and to more easily forgive their faults.
And a third filter tempts us to accept information that confirms our
beliefs about people who are different from us and to reject
information that contradicts those beliefs.
ABOUT BIAS
DIFFERENCE VS. BIAS
One of the challenges many workplaces struggle with is how to
acknowledge difference. Some workplaces want to act like
there are no differences—that everyone is the same. This is
simply not true. Differences are unavoidable in the workplace
and they usually make workplaces stronger. Acknowledging
differences doesn’t lead to perpetuating bias. Recognizing that
Jennifer is black is fine—assuming characteristics about her
because she is black is not. Knowing that English is Alicia’s
second language is fine—basing our assessment of her abilities
on that is not. Difference is an essential part of recognizing the
individual, but when difference is used to generalize individuals
based on what we think of that group, it becomes a bias.
ABOUT BIAS
THE BAD, THE UGLY, AND THE UNACKNOWLEDGED
The Bad: “Bad” bias is what keeps people out of our personal circles and our
institutions. People in wheelchairs can’t work here. People with accents shouldn’t
interact with the public. People with children can’t go out after work. The “bad” bias
limits people within our own assumptions. It is often the type of bias that exists within
our thoughts and that can even sometimes be uttered out loud.
The Ugly: The “ugly” is probably the easiest thing for us to identify. The “ugly” are those
statements that we know are wrong—the things many of us can’t even think, that don’t
make sense. People on welfare are lazy. Women are bad at math. White men don’t care
about diversity. The “ugly” are the ultimates, the generalizations that can’t be proven.
The Unacknowledged: The “unacknowledged” can seem positive. Asians are good with
technology. They can be self-directed. I’m Mexican and we’re always late. They can
masquerade as helpfulness. People with accents need to be spoken to slowly and
loudly. They can seem logical. African American librarians should work with African
American communities. The “unacknowledged” lead to all of the regular problems of
bias—alienation, limited opportunities, and underestimation—and because they aren’t
acknowledged and addressed they can perpetuate and spread within the workplace.
WHY IT MATTERS
BIASED HCM DECISIONS
Remarkably, until relatively recently, even in light of nearly unlimited
anecdotal and empirical evidence, we assumed our decision making
was almost always rational and optimal.
Relative to human capital management (HCM) decisions, this may
mean that someone is rejected for an interview based on the letter
font used on his curriculum vitae (CV) or resumé. It might not be a
conscious decision; the reviewer may just equate a particular style
with professionalism.
Though most would agree presentation matters, making a decision to
not interview someone based on one data point, and that data point
being a preference for Times New Roman over Cambria, could be
considered less than ideal.
WHY IT MATTERS
BIASED HCM DECISIONS – AN EXAMPLE
Typos have long been the pet peeve of recruiters, HR
professionals, proofreaders and editors. But, according
to a new study from leadership consultancy Nextions,
people are less likely to see typos in a document when
they think the author is white.
“We see more errors when we expect to see errors;
and we see fewer errors when we do not expect to see
errors.”
WHY IT MATTERS
BIASED HCM DECISIONS – ABOUT THE STUDY
Written in Black & White: Exploring Confirmation Bias in Racialized Perceptions of
Writing Skills
► Nextions consultants collaborated with partners from five law firms to draft a
fictitious research memo on trade secrets in Internet startups, as written by a third-year
litigation associate. They named the hypothetical associate Thomas Meyer, a graduate of
New York University Law School.
•
Sixty partners from 22 different law firms were asked to edit the memo.
•
Half of the partners were told Meyer (the author) was black. The others were told
he was white.
► Partners editing the memo…
•
23 women, 37 men
•
21 racial/ethnic minorities, 39 white
► Each reviewer also received the research materials used to prepare the document.
The partners were asked to edit for technical, factual and substantive errors before
grading the document on a scale of 1 to 5.
•
Nextions deliberately placed 22 different errors in the memo.
WHY IT MATTERS
BIASED HCM DECISIONS – RESULTS OF THE STUDY
Proven hypothesis: Unconscious confirmation bias in a supervising lawyer’s
assessment of legal writing would result in a more negative rating if that writing
was submitted by an African American lawyer in comparison to the same
submission by a Caucasian lawyer.
WHY IT MATTERS
BIASED HCM DECISIONS – RESULTS OF THE STUDY
“Unconscious biases can be in direct contradiction with your conscious beliefs.
Most people do not believe they are racists or biased against people of color.
However, both white people and African-Americans have all ingested the
stereotype that Caucasians are more literate, which explains why evaluators of all
backgrounds gave the white Meyer a better rating. ”
- Eric Peterson, Sr. Consultant at Cook Ross Inc., a Maryland-based diversity consultancy that
specializes in applying research on the brain to unconscious bias and diversity efforts in
organizations.
BIASES AND DECISIONS IN HCM
TROUBLING BIASES
A number of biases are especially troublesome when making
HCM decisions, including the following:
• Confirmation bias: causes us to ignore evidence that
undermines a preconceived idea.
• Anchoring: our tendency to weigh one data point too greatly
when making decisions.
• Loss aversion: the tendency to weigh potential losses greater
than potential gains.
• Status quo: the tendency to go along with the current
situation or the default option
• Framing: wording a situation in a leading way
WHEN BIAS CREATES DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination in the workplace leads to more
than just a bad day. It takes a toll on the physical,
mental and emotional well-being of employees.
But how can this happen?
THE INDIVIDUAL UNCONSCIOUS
•
•
•
•
•
Buried deep within our subconscious mind, all of us
harbor biases that we consciously reject.
We act on these thoughts, often unwittingly.
We all have unconscious or hidden bias that is beyond
the reach of our normal range of awareness.
People can possess hidden negative prejudices or
stereotypes but still be consciously committed to
behaving without prejudice.
The first time we encounter someone, our brains
automatically make note of detectable human
differences.
THE INDIVIDUAL UNCONSCIOUS (CONT.)
Although we are hardwired to discriminate, we can
counter our unconscious biases by gaining an
awareness of them.
This allows and requires us to fundamentally rethink
the way we approach:
• leadership
• training
• organizational policy
• organizational culture
THE INDIVIDUAL UNCONSCIOUS (CONT.)
What we know about unconscious bias:
1. The limiting patterns of unconscious behavior are
not restricted to any one group. All of us have them.
2. A person who behaves in a non-exclusive or even
discriminatory way may not necessarily be
motivated by negative intent.
THE INDIVIDUAL UNCONSCIOUS (CONT.)
What we know about unconscious bias:
3. Acting on “unconscious” or “hidden” biases in
the workplace, however unwittingly, sometimes
creates risk for the organization by:
•
•
•
causing errors in judgment;
negatively affecting interpersonal relationships;
causing others to be treated unfairly.
“INITIAL THOUGHT” ACTIVITY
What is your initial thought when you see or hear a
reference to the following persons?
• A native New Yorker
• A person at an intersection holding a “Will Work
for Food” sign
• A person smoking a cigarette
• A homeless person asleep under a bridge
• A person with a foreign accent
• A single mother with four children
• A single father with four children
“INITIAL THOUGHT” ACTIVITY (CONT.)
For any group, did you think of the word All? Every?
They?
Were you tempted to make a blanket assumption
about any of the persons although you did not know
them?
If so, can you recall a memorable experience –
positive or negative – with someone from the group
that demonstrated the characteristic that triggered
your reaction?
THE ORGANIZATIONAL UNCONSCIOUS
•
Unconscious behavior is not just individual; it
influences organizational culture as well.
In extreme cases, it can create a culture of:
•
•
•
•
intimidation
harassment
even discrimination.
THE ORGANIZATIONAL UNCONSCIOUS
To ensure success in creating bias-free organizational
cultures, we should not rely on subjective determinations of
attitude to determine whether our organizations are
functioning in inclusive ways.
Our conscious attitudes may have little to do with our
success in producing results.
We must create objective measurements for feedback on
our performance.
THE ORGANIZATIONAL UNCONSCIOUS (CONT.)
Organizational culture is more or less an enduring collection of
basic assumptions and ways of interpreting things that a given
organization has invented, discovered, or developed in learning
to cope with its internal and external influences.
Unconscious organizational patterns, or “norms” of behavior,
exert an enormous influence over organizational decisions,
choices, and behaviors.
These deep-seated company characteristics often are the reason
that our efforts to change organizational behavior fail. Despite
our best conscious efforts, the “organizational unconscious”
perpetuates the status quo and keeps old patterns, values, and
behavioral norms firmly rooted.
DEFINITIONS
An inclination of temperament or outlook; esp : a
highly personal and unreasoned distortion of
judgment : PREJUDICE
Source: American Library Association
An inclination or preference that influences judgment
from being balanced or even-handed. Prejudice is
bias in pejorative (negative, derogatory) sense.
Source: American Library Association
DEFINITIONS (CONT.)
In human terms, bias is a subjective preference
toward a particular viewpoint or belief
that prevents an individual from maintaining
objectivity.
Carrying a bias doesn’t necessarily make one a racist, sexist, or
any other “ist.” Humans have bias toward or against all
manner of things.
Source: EAPTools.com
8 TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIAS
Bias #1: “The Bandwagon Effect”
People tend to go along with what other members of
a group are doing. (Also known as the Herd
Mentality.)
What it means to you: If you can get the “herd” going
in the right way, or give the perception that it is
moving that way by gaining influential champions
for your projects, you have a better chance of
gaining participation throughout your organization.
8 TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIAS
Bias #2: “Hyperbolic Discounting”
When presented with two similar rewards, people show a preference
for the one that arrives sooner rather than later. (To test this, ask
around your office whether people would prefer $50 now or $75 a
year from now—or how about $100 five years from now? Studies
have shown that overwhelmingly people will take the money now,
because they perceive a greater value.)
What it means to you: When providing recognition and rewards that
you wish to make a strong impact, be sure to deliver those awards
quickly, so that they are in hand while their impact is strongest—as
close as possible to the event that inspired them.
8 TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIAS
Bias #3: “The Ingroup Bias”
People naturally polarize into groups. This bias means
people tend to view “their” group as better, while
outsiders are collectively viewed as inferior.
What it means to you: To avoid the negativity, competition
and roadblocks associated with polarization, do what
you can to homogenize, tear down silos, and make your
company feel like it is one big group, not a collection of
fiefdoms or opposing teams.
8 TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIAS
Bias #4: “The Confirmation Bias”
People tend to ignore information which does not fit with their
beliefs while they weigh agreeable information more
heavily.
What it means to you: This is a great bias to remember when
performance review time rolls around. Managers will be
creating evaluations that fit with their beliefs about
employees, and possibly discarding critical information. Make
sure you provide managers with as much diverse,
crowdsourced data about employee performance as possible,
to avoid a single point of failure around this bias.
8 TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIAS
Bias #5: “Mere-Exposure Effect”
People tend to develop a preference for things merely
because they are familiar with them.
What it means to you: By increasing frequency of exposure
to a concept within your organization, you will have a
better chance of increasing acceptance and even
preference for that concept. For example, repeated
exposure to company values can help to ingrain those
values in the hearts and minds of employees.
8 TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIAS
Bias #6: “The Negativity Bias”
People pay more attention to, and give more weight to,
negative rather than positive experiences and information.
What it means to you: This bias is why the “feedback sandwich”
has grown in popularity. While sandwiching criticism within
praise is somewhat controversial, there is no doubt that
increased positive interactions within your organization can
help counteract this powerful and morale-killing bias.
8 TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIAS
Bias #7: “System Justification”
People will defend and prefer the status quo, seeing it as better, more
legitimate, and more desirable than new alternatives.
What it means to you: This bias intensifies when a system is under
threat and explains why change often comes hard within
organizations. People have a cognitive bias that prefers the system
they already have. Sensitivity to this bias when implementing
change is critical. Be sure you account for this natural resistance,
give employees a chance to air their concerns, and offer assurance
and strong evidence to support planned changes in your
organization.
8 TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIAS
Bias #8: “The Spacing Effect”
Information is better recalled if exposure to it is repeated over
a longer span of time, rather than occurring only once or
grouped together in time.
What it means to you: This means that your initiatives should be
focused on long-term, iterative campaigns and programs to
induce change, with many “touches” to encourage learning
and information retention, rather than one-time, “big-bang”
events, awards or announcements.
ATTRIBUTIONAL BIAS IN THE WORKPLACE
BIAS ERRORS
Two different types of bias errors
Self-serving bias - where individuals attribute positive
dealings to their own character and negative
dealings to external factors
Fundamental attribution error - when an individual
assigns blame or a cause of something to the
person and does not take into account external
issues
WHERE BIAS CAN SHOW UP
A. Organizational Culture
B. Recruitment and Hiring
C. Performance Appraisals
D. Promotions
E. Leader Development
A. BIAS IN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Discrimination in the workplace leads to more
serious consequences than just a bad day.
It takes a toll on the physical, mental and
emotional well-being of employees.
A. BIAS IN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
(CONT.)
Two broad categories of overt discrimination that
can be found in an organizational culture are
threats and intimidation.
These may be evidenced by such offenses as
sexual harassment and discrimination in
employment practices.
There also are more subtle forms of discrimination
that are more challenging and harder to detect."
A. BIAS IN RECRUITMENT & HIRING
Bias in recruitment and hiring can manifest in ways
that reflect:
•
patterns of discriminatory employment
practices,
•
imbalanced representation at various levels of
the organization or in various roles or functions,
and
•
unfair treatment of employees in the workplace.
B. RECRUITMENT & HIRING - (CONT.)
“Height, weight, race, gender—even how similar a
person is to their manager—all may impact lifetime
earnings through salary, raises and promotions.
It’s probably no surprise that most CEOs of Fortune
500 companies in the United States are men.
But 58 percent of those are 6 feet tall or taller, even
though in the general population, only 14.5 percent of
men in the U.S. are this tall.
B. RECRUITMENT & HIRING - (CONT.)
APPEARANCE BIAS EXAMPLE 1
Consider a 2003 study that showed men’s earnings,
when controlled for education and experience,
increased an additional $789 in pay per year for each
increasing inch in height of the individual.
Is there a cultural bias that leads us to view taller men
as more authoritative, competent, and capable?
It appears to be the case!
B. RECRUITMENT & HIRING - (CONT.)
APPEARANCE BIAS EXAMPLE 2
A female shows up to the interview in a tidy dark suit, polished
pumps, understated pearls, studious-looking spectacles—and a
head bursting with fuzzy, matted black-and-blond dreadlocks.
In her world her hair is a social statement—a rejection of
conventional, Western mainstream beauty standards. In your
world she looks like a Hydra.
Would you be justified in concluding that clients might think this
woman is lazy or rebellious? Or could you have a hidden bias?
B. RECRUITMENT & HIRING (CONT.)
APPEARANCE BIAS EXAMPLE 3
A black job applicant looked perfect on paper—talented,
educated and with excellent references. But when she showed
up for an interview, the HR person thought it looked as though
she’d just woken up. He said her hair was very bushy and wasn’t
styled.
The next manager who interviewed the woman decided not to
hire her. He secretly would have preferred her hair straightened
to look more ‘white’ and less ‘ethnic.’
C. BIAS IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS
Halo Effect – An employee is rated highly in all areas because of one thing they do really well. I’ve seen this happen with sales
people. She hits the numbers and senior leadership loves it. But behind the scenes, she creates havoc and doesn’t have the
respect of her co-workers.
Horn Effect – On the flip side, an employee is rated as a poor performer because of one thing they don’t do well. For example,
the administrative assistant who is great at everything but filing. It piles up because he puts it off – resulting in the
company hiring a temp to get the filing caught up. In all other areas, he’s a rock star.
Purposeful Bias – In rarer cases, manager bias in performance reviews is not a natural “filling in” of previous expectations but is
instead purposeful sabotage. This occurs when a manager feels threatened by an employee who shows talent, defiance of
business orders or ambition to reach a higher level in the business. To protect their own positions or keep negative
opinions from reaching higher levels of the hierarchy, these managers give employees poor appraisal scores.
Appraisal Bias- In many instances, the appraisals themselves are biased toward a particular type of position. Many companies
use only one type of appraisal form, but one form rarely applies well to every type of employee. For instance, a form that
emphasizes creativity and communication allows an employee in marketing to score very well but an employee in
production to score poorly, based simply on the requirements of the different positions.
C. BIAS IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS (CONT.)
Self Bias – Employees can also suffer from a type of self-fulfilling prophecy. In general, if performance
appraisals show that an employee is performing very well, that employee will continue to perform well
and could even perform better. If the review shows poor performance, the employee will continue to
perform poorly. Like the managers themselves, employees tend naturally to change to fit the perception
that the performance review creates.
Contrast – This occurs when the manager compares an employee’s performance to other employees instead
of the company standard. When employees are ranked in comparison, someone must end up at the
bottom, even if they are exceeding the company standard. The problem isn’t the employee – it’s the
goal or standard that has been set.
Leniency – A manager gives everyone on their team a satisfactory rating. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this occur a
lot when a manager has a large span of control coupled with a common review date. The manager has
dozens of reviews to work on and a heart full of good intentions. But somewhere around review
number 17, the manager gets burned out and starts giving everyone a satisfactory response because it
doesn’t require any written supporting statements.
Recency – The employee’s most recent behavior becomes the primary focus of the review. This can go both
ways. A poor performer does something terrific and their past performance is forgotten or an excellent
performer makes a mistake and it weighs down the rest of the review.
D. PROMOTIONS
Similar bias crops up when managers select people
for job advancement.
Research shows that white men get more
promotion opportunities than white women or
men and women of color.
E. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Organizations of all sizes and industries face a
range of leadership development challenges that
can:
• reduce the effectiveness of mid-level
management
• rob high-potential employees of critical work
experience, and
• deplete resources for employee development.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
Among these challenges, two stand out:
• A narrow image of what talent looks like in terms of gender,
race, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation.
• The shortfall of experienced managerial talent for senior
leadership positions.
Rapid changes in aging workforces around the world and
scientific and technological advances often outpace the
education and abilities of qualified workers, further
compounding concerns associated with managing talent and
developing leaders.
SELECTED CATEGORIES OF BIAS
1.
2.
3.
4.
Age
Disability
Veterans
Gender
1. A G E D I S C R I M I N A T I O N
AGING U.S. WORKFORCE
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008)
estimated that:
• the number of older workers 65 and over
would increase by 80% in just the decade
between 2006 and 2016, and
• workers between 55 and 64 would increase
37% during that period.
AGE DISCRIMINATION
According to cognitive theory, age discrimination is
more likely to occur when:
• someone’s age is noticeable,
• the person is perceived in ways consistent with
age-related stereotypes, and
• those stereotypes clash with stereotypic
expectations of the job or role held by the
individual
AGEISM
Age discrimination, or “ageism,” can take many
forms, but often involves:
• feeling singled out, isolated, or treated poorly
as a result of ageist attitudes (e.g., people
should retire by age 60) and discourse (e.g.,
jokes),
• being discriminated against in training, hiring,
promotion, and firing decisions.
AGEIST PERCEPTIONS
The same level of memory performance by young
and older individuals tends to be perceived
differently, with memory failures being attributed
to:
• a lack of ability for older individuals but
• a lack of effort for younger workers.
Stereotypical expectations about the elderly are
often to blame for such age discrimination.
AGE STEREOTYPES
Most age stereotypes ascribe negative characteristics to older
individuals. Examples:
Older workers
• have lower ability
• are less motivated
• perform at lower levels than younger workers
• are resistant to change and less adaptable
• have lower ability to learn and develop.
However, there is extensive research that refutes these stereotypes,
indicating instead that job performance is unaffected or even improves
as employees age.
2. D I S A B I L I T Y D I S C R I M I N A T I O N
HIRING THE DISABLED
Bias clearly surfaces in hiring people with disabilities.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
released research in 2012 that found that:
• More than half of organizations don’t actively
recruit people with disabilities
• 42% don’t train HR staff and supervisors how to
effectively interview those with disabilities, and
• 60% lack senior managers who demonstrate a
strong commitment to disability recruiting.
3. V E T E R A N D I S C R I M I N A T I O N
VETERAN BIAS
Discrimination against veterans has become a growing
problem.
On April 25, 2014, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a
Republican, signed into law legislation making it an
unlawful employment practice for an employer to
refusing to hire a person on the basis of his or her
status as a U.S. military veteran, National Guard
member or reservist.
The new law went into effect July 1, 2014.
VETERAN BIAS – A TRUE STORY
Republican Rep. Martin Carbaugh, the bill's sponsor, told this
true story about his friend, a veteran.
After failing to get responses to job applications, Carbaugh’s
friend resubmitted his resume—minus the reference to his
military service—to a company that previously rejected him,
and got called for an interview “almost immediately.”
“Our veterans are expected to come home and rejoin the civilian
world as productive members of our society, but this
treatment from employers makes the task infinitely more
difficult,” Carbaugh said.
4. G E N D E R D I S C R I M I N A T I O N
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER BIAS
Companies cannot control many of the rapid workforce changes
related to aging and scientific and technological advances, but
losing talent due to gender inequities is a challenge that
organizations can confront proactively and head-on.
To do so, they must recognize how embedded biases in their
own talent management practices may support barriers to
women’s development and advancement.
Only then can organizations begin to address the uneven playing
field and build a system that values all its employees.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER BIAS (CONT.)
Both women and men were shown to perceive:
• “taking care” behaviors as the defining qualities
of women leaders and
• “taking charge” behaviors as the defining
qualities of men leaders.
CATALYST STUDY ON GENDER BIAS
The Think-Manager-Think-Male perspective refers to how perceptions of
leadership are stereotypically masculine—as either predominantly
associated with men (higher percentages of men than women in
leadership positions) or with task-oriented traits (perceptions of men as
“doers” and action oriented).
20 Researchers have found that stereotypes often leave women in a double
bind where their behaviors and characteristics are either defined as too
feminine or too masculine.
Catalyst has also found that women who try to conform to traditional—that is,
masculine—leadership behaviors are damned if they do, doomed if they
don’t.
CATALYST STUDY ON GENDER BIAS – SURVEY DATA
Leadership Characteristics
N=86
Source: Warren, Anita K., 2009, “Cascading
Gender Biases, Compounding Effects: An
Assessment of Talent Management Systems,”
Catalyst Study.
THE CLASSIC DOUBLE BIND FOR WOMEN
BEING BOTH COMPETENT AND WELL LIKED
People tend to view women in “masculine” fields, such as most STEM fields, as either competent or likable
but not both, according to Madeline Heilman, an organizational psychologist at New York University.
In 2004 Heilman and her colleagues published the results of three experiments addressing the double bind
facing women in masculine fields.
The researchers found that when success in a male-type job was ambiguous, a woman was rated as less
competent than an identically described man, although she was rated equally likable.
When individuals working in a male-type job were clearly successful, however, women and men were rated
as equally competent, but women were rated as less likable and more interpersonally hostile (for example,
cold, pushy, conniving).
This was not found to be true in fields that were “female” or gender-neutral. Heilman and her colleagues
found that both competence and likability matter in terms of advancement, but women were judged to be
less competent than men were in masculine fields unless there was clear evidence of excellence, and in that
case, women were judged to be less likable—a classic double bind.
In a follow-up study, Heilman and Okimoto (2007) found that successful women in masculine occupations
are less likely to be disliked if they are seen as possessing communal traits such as being understanding,
caring, and concerned about others.
PENALIZED FOR SUCCESS
Heilman’s interest in examining how women in
male-type fields can be penalized for their success
was sparked when she co-authored an amicus
brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Price
Waterhouse v. Ann B. Hopkins (1991).
RISKS OF PERSONAL BIASES AT WORK
Allowing personal biases to influence workplace
decision making and interactions can
cause errors in judgment
negatively affect interpersonal relationships
cause others to be treated unfairly
in extreme cases, create a culture of intimidation
or harassment.
THE PROBLEM WITH HOW WE THINK
Basing decisions solely on intuition can be problematic. Making
hiring, promotion, and bonus decisions based on gut instinct
carries with it the potential for including a lot of bias and
incomplete information.
The fact is that most workforce management decisions are rife
with potential biases, and making these decisions with the
assistance of analytics can help eliminate many of these biases.
This is not to say that there is no place for “expert” intuitive
knowledge.
WHERE HIDDEN BIAS LURKS
• Hidden bias often convinces people of what is
“good,” “right” or “professional.”
• People typically are unaware that they have a
preference. They simply see it as the ‘right’
way to work.
• A leader may unconsciously structure a team
around his/her own bias toward a particular
workstyle and negatively perceive others
whose preference is different.
WHERE HIDDEN BIAS LURKS
Despite companies’ efforts to eliminate bias in hiring
and promoting, many managers are not aware of the
hidden biases they have when it comes to:
• clothes
• hairstyles & headwear
• height, weight, & age
• Race & gender
• disability
• marital status
LEGAL JEOPARDY
Such hidden bias can have legal repercussions. In
October 2013 the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued a Mobile,
Alabama-based insurance-claims company, alleging
the company discriminated against a black applicant
based on her race when it rescinded her job offer
after HR staff met her and told her she must cut off
her dreadlocks, which she refused to do.
IMPACT OF WORKPLACE BIAS
When bias becomes discrimination, it takes a toll
on the physical, mental and emotional well-being
of employees resulting in:
• self-doubt and lack of confidence
• withdrawal, detaching oneself from the job,
(leading to internal bitterness and anger)
• hopelessness, mistrust, despair and alienation
• Stress and depression at work & home
THE DEEPER IMPACT OF UNCONSCIOUS BIAS IN THE
WORKPLACE
In addition to the previous examples around recruitment and hiring, performance reviews,
promotions, etc. unconscious bias has an impact on diversity.
•
•
Unconscious bias creates hundreds of seemingly irrational circumstances every day in
which people make choices that seem to be driven by overt prejudice, even when they
are not.
There are still cases where people are consciously hateful, hurtful, and biased. These, of
course, must be monitored and addressed. But it is important to recognize that the
concept of unconscious bias does not only apply to “them.” It applies to all of us.
Each one of us has some groups with which we consciously feel uncomfortable, even as we
castigate others for feeling uncomfortable with our own groups.
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
Many employees possess inconspicuous identities that are stigmatized. At work, a context
wherein impression management concerns are salient, these individuals face decisions
about when, how, and to whom to disclose their concealable stigmas with important
consequences for the way individuals experience work.
Some attributes are so noxious that their bearers are denigrated, devalued, and detested.
In addition to visible characteristics that give rise to stigmatization such as race and gender,
unobservable attributes including values and beliefs, sexual orientation, religious
affiliation, and personal experiences can also be stigmatized.
Unlike individuals with visible stigmas whose main goal is to attenuate interpersonal tension in
social interactions, people who possess concealable stigmas have the option of hiding that
part of themselves in order to avoid interpersonal derogation, discrimination, or other
negative repercussions.
The main goal of people with concealable stigmas is to manage stigma-related information—to make decisions about when,
how, where, and to whom to disclose their concealable identities (often referred to as “identity management.”)
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
VIRTUAL SOCIAL IDENTITY
In Western culture, the way people think about identity and
differences is formulated largely along visible lines.
For example, skin color, facial features, dress, and hair are used in
combination with other factors such as preconceived notions of race, a
person’s name and accent, apparent social class or education, to
determine a person’s racial identity.
In general, people take each other’s social identities at face value
based on cultural norms of expected behavior and assume
membership in particular identities in the absence of visual or
behavioral cues that would alert them otherwise.
Examples of common virtual social identities are heterosexuality and
able-bodiedness.
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
THE TRADITIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF STIGMA
The traditional perspective is that visibility is a key dimension of
stigma so that people with concealable differences are relatively
better off.
This view focuses on the social reactions of others to a person
with a stigma and on the fact that invisibility helps the
stigmatized individual avoid problematic social interactions that
may occur because of the stigma.
However, for people with invisible differences, issues arise prior
to any social interaction.
These issues are psychological, occurring within the individual as
s/he considers how to manage his/her stigma in public.
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
MOTIVATIONAL BASES FOR STIGMA MANAGEMENT
On the one hand, individuals are motivated to be authentic in their
interactions in order to maintain and verify their sense of self and build
open relationships with others.
Revealing a stigmatized identity may be necessary to gain benefits afforded to
members of a particular social identity group (e.g., same-sex partner
benefits, disability accommodations).
On the other hand, concerns about how one is perceived by others are
particularly salient in workplace contexts where most employees attempt
to make positive impressions on supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates.
Moreover, the likelihood of experiencing discrimination may increase when a
stigmatized identity is confirmed.
Employees with concealable stigmas must weigh these opposing forces,
conscious or not, in deciding how to negotiate the “disclosure dilemmas”
presented by each new social situation.
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
CONSEQUENCES OF WORKPLACE STIGMAS
The literature on organizational diversity
documents how women, racial minorities, older
workers, and others bearing a stigmatized identity
have suffered:
• Job loss
• Limited career advancement
• Difficulty finding a mentor
• Isolation at work
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
SAMPLE SCENARIOS
1) A candidate is interviewing for a tenure-track position with the department chair. As a way
to ease into the conversation, the chairperson mentions that it looks like the candidate has
recently gone on a vacation, since his skin looks tan. Strangers frequently make this
comment to the candidate because he is multiracial and appears to be Caucasian except for
his tanned-appearing skin tone. The candidate must decide whether or not to reveal his
multiracial background and risk offending the chair by making her appear naïve.
2) A woman with MS (multiple sclerosis) is asked to take notes on a flipchart in front of a
group of people she doesn’t know at a work-related conference. On this particular day, her
MS symptoms are flaring. Her hands are shaky and uncoordinated, and it is quite difficult
for her to write quickly and legibly. Instead of declining the request or explaining her
situation, she muddles through the awkward task and wonders what the others think of her.
3) Persons in a mixed-race marriage may seek to keep this aspect of their lives hidden at work
to avoid stigmatization and discrimination from others who may view the relationship as
deviant or abnormal. They may isolate themselves and their spouse to keep the
relationship hidden in the event of work-related social activities that include family and
significant others.
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
THE PASS/REVEAL DILEMMA
A person with an invisible stigma must decide over
and over again whether and how much to disclose
at work about a concealable difference.
Example:
A person who already revealed that he has epilepsy to a colleague
or project team must decide again and again whether to reveal his
chronic illness to new people and, if so, how, and when to do so.
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
PASSING
Passing – a cultural performance whereby one member of a
defined social group masquerades as another in order to enjoy
the privileges afforded the dominant group
Tactics of Passing:
• Fabrication – deliberately providing false information about
oneself to others; creating a new identity through deception
• Concealment – actively preventing others from acquiring
information about oneself; hiding personal information
• Discretion – avoiding queries related to the invisible identity
or social group membership in question
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
WORKPLACE EXAMPLES OF PASSING
Passing leads to a person being classified incorrectly by another
person as someone without a devalued social identity.
Examples:
• Chronically ill passing as healthy
• Gay passing as heterosexual
• Multiracial passing as white
Passing may be intentional or occur unintentionally as the result
of another’s mistaken assumptions.
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
REVEALING
Those who reveal disclose an identity that otherwise
would be invisible or unrecognizable to others.
• “Coming out” is a term commonly used to describe
revealing stigmatized differences.
• Totally “in the closet” – tell no one
• Partially “out” (revealed) – tell a select number of
people who keep the secret among themselves
• Entirely “out of the closet” – reveal the difference
indiscriminately
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
CONCEALABLE IDENTITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Identity management consists of more than a
dichotomous decision of whether or not to disclose.
For example, three overarching strategies for gay and
lesbian workers may be:
• counterfeiting (i.e., fabricating a false heterosexual
identity)
• avoiding (i.e., eluding questions about personal
life), or
• integrating (i.e., revealing an LGB identity)
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
CONCEALABLE IDENTITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES (CONT.)
Identity management strategies involve not only behaviors designed
to reveal or conceal one’s stigma but also behaviors that involve information
seeking through “testing the waters” or signaling a potential stigma.
Signaling – indirect, strategic behaviors that allow individuals to gauge the
confidant’s reaction before actually disclosing and to “backtrack” if it becomes
apparent that negative reactions to disclosure are probable.
Examples:
•
Straddling the line between going public and remaining private about
one’s invisible social identity
•
dropping hints
•
providing clues
•
sending implicit messages
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
4 REASONS WHY STIGMAS AT WORK MATTER
1. Identity management decisions are often
psychologically and physiologically destructive,
an implication that is relevant to both
organizations and their employees.

Disclosure decision-making processes can result in deleterious
(toxic) repercussions via psychological strain, emotional
stresses, and stress-related illnesses.
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
4 REASONS WHY STIGMAS AT WORK MATTER
1. .
2. The workplace represents a context wherein all employees’
experiences are typified by concerns about interpersonal
impressions. Thus, the linkages of interest here may be even more
impactful in workplace than non-work settings given the salience
of impression management concerns for employees with
concealable stigmas who must manage the impressions they
make on coworkers, clients, subordinates, and supervisors while
believing that those same colleagues could reject them if made
aware of their hidden identity.

Furthermore, these concerns are likely exacerbated in organizational settings given the
wide range of high-stakes consequences that could potentially result from a negative
interaction with another person at work, including outcomes related to performance
evaluations, compensation, and/or promotion decisions.
1. …“IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
THE
4
WHY STIGMAS AT WORK MATTER
2.REASONS
…
3. Although the specific characteristics that are
stigmatized may vary across time and culture, the
need to manage interpersonal elements of
concealable stigma is constant.

A large but immeasurable proportion of employees bear some
kind of concealable stigma or work alongside someone who
does, whether it be a past experience (e.g., childhood abuse,
rape/sexual assault) or an employee’s family background (e.g.,
child of same-sex parents).
THE “IDENTITY MANAGEMENT” PHENOMENON
1.
2.
…
…
4
3.REASONS
… WHY STIGMAS AT WORK MATTER
4. Disclosure is not a one-time, dichotomous
decision but a more nuanced, multifaceted
process involving momentary choices to
conceal, reveal, or signal a concealable
attribute -- a complex, enduring phenomenon.
REWARDS OF ADDRESSING BIAS IN THE WORKPLACE
Unconscious patterns have an enormous impact on both our individual behavior and on
organizational behavior.
Only when we find the courage and curiosity to engage in a seemingly contradictory path—
consciously becoming aware of and addressing something that is, by nature, concealed—can
we begin to see more clearly into our leadership blind spots.
Awareness and improvement does not happen overnight. Increasing our diversity,
inclusiveness and cultural competency require us to undertake a long journey of continuously
challenging our perceptions and slowing down our impulse to judge instantaneously and
reactively.
Ultimately, the result will be greater opportunity for all with more engaged individuals and
more profitable organizations.
REWARDS OF ADDRESSING BIAS IN THE WORKPLACE
ADVANTAGES OF A BIAS-FREE WORKPLACE
The primary advantage is that employees feel their
work environment is a safe one, free from unfair
treatment, discrimination and harassment.
Other benefits include an enhanced business
reputation, high job satisfaction among employees
and low exposure to legal claims arising from
unfair employment practices.
A. START WITH YOURSELF
MANAGE YOUR BIASES
Learn to distinguish between a “hidden” or “unconscious” bias and a reliable
“gut instinct” or “first impression.”
•
Sometimes we may make an accurate observation and should listen to
our unconscious bias.
•
We should develop an awareness of our biases, identify and check them
as they surface (rather than unknowingly being driven by them).
EXAMPLE:
•
Someone who is unaware of their bias may automatically discount a
candidate for an invalid.
•
Someone who is aware of their bias may investigate further and ask the
right questions to evaluate the true value of the candidate.
A. START WITH YOURSELF
MAKE BIAS AWARENESS A LIFELONG HABIT
Knowing our biases gives us the power to weaken them
and to control the behaviors they engender.
Researchers believe that people who are aware of their
implicit biases can, if they wish, choose to suppress their
expression by paying attention to their behavior in
situations that allow possible discrimination.
Would you dare take the first step to discover yours?
A. START WITH YOURSELF
UNDERSTAND YOUR BIASES
To overcome unconscious and hidden biases, it is very important to understand them. Here are two
methods to try and explanations surrounding each:
1 - Consider various ways you can gain some insight into your bias.
We often hold onto our biases because we feel they make us what we are. However, this is ultimately
deceptive, as a bias is not what or who we are. Indeed, our biases change often. The difficulty of letting
go of a bias is in direct relation to how precious it is to us.
People of similar thinking often pool together. Although there is nothing wrong with this, it could produce
a form of peer pressure. People select their partners, friends and associates according to personal biases
and often train each other to adopt personal biases without realizing. Likewise, many employers
unfortunately look for employees with similar thoughts and feelings.
Bias and prejudice may often have been based on something someone told you, or that you heard as a
third party. As such, they're not always your own original opinion but one you have adopted. The older it
is, the more trickier it may be to overcome its influence.
Sometimes a bias reappears in the mind on impulse, due to seeing or hearing of something related to the
object of your bias. Very often there is an emotion behind your bias, such as greed (wanting something to
be, something to happen), hatred (rejecting or wanting something to go away etc.), or just ignorance of
the object itself.
A. START WITH YOURSELF
UNDERSTAND YOUR BIASES
2 - Explore the dynamic of biases. Investigate your bias through relaxed concentration. Another good method is to discuss it
with a friend, counselor, or a psychologist.
Bias is often complex. Every interaction and experience we encounter is measured by the mind in order to analyze and
determine it. This determination can be a bias on its own (either a new one, or reinforcing an old one), but this determination
depends on pre-existing biases and assumptions as well as experiences that you have developed over your lifetime.
The process of measurement is almost exclusively related to the past, specifically information we have heard or been influenced
towards by other people, or our own experiences. If a mind is free from such bias and assumptions, it will typically approach the
event with a clean slate, but with the clear intention of determining what it is. Recognizing this dependence on the past, or that
the reflection of the past we measure against is not actually the thing we experience right now is a very useful way to overcome
bias.
People seldom like those who are secretive about their feelings or are neutral because they cannot easily categorize, predict or
rely on such people to be manipulable to suit their own agenda. Being able to rely on another person is important, but requires
trust (which often is built on finding common biases and prejudices as a way to identify with a person.
The flipside is the case when a person sees someone with skillful, beneficial or admirable qualities and feels inclined to adopt and
practice these same positive qualities. This is usually called positive influence but it works in the same way as its opposite case
(when someone adopts harmful or unskillful biases from negative influences). We model our good behavior from qualities we all
have, but only from seeing others do them in a normal environment. Adopting biases is a way to be accepted by others, be it for
better or worse, but can also be a way to improve oneself if the biases are of the positive kind.
A. START WITH YOURSELF
WORK ON YOUR BIASES
1 - Recognize that the specific bias exists. This is the beginning
stage to enable you to overcome it.
If you can, this means admitting there is a bias, as in really
admitting it, not just thinking there is a bias.
Often this is very difficult for most people to do honestly, as it is
somewhat of a humbling act. But doing this will help you to
A. as
Start
with
Yourself
explore it more in depth,
you
are
prepared to be more open.
By recognizing your bias and what it relies on to stay in the
mind, you are one step closer to getting rid of it.
A. START WITH YOURSELF
WORK ON YOUR BIASES
2 - Consider why it is usually so difficult to remove biases. There are often three main problems at play:
A. You often feel distant and uncomfortable with the fact that the object of the bias simply exists. This can be
because you don't actually know anything about the focus of your bias. You might have heard plenty of
negative stories about what you have a bias of, but how much of that is true or relevant?
B. As you identify with your prejudices, it can feel like you are surrendering part of yourself up, or betraying
your cultural identity for someone else you don't know. These issues are often the main cause why many are
reluctant to overcome their bias. Of these problems, the exact same question has to be asked as that of the
bias––is it causing you more harm than good?
C. You may feel you have a bias but have not really come to a conclusion that it should be abandoned.
Consequently, many parts of your mind will struggle against overcoming them as the bias is still attractive to
certain parts of the mind.
A. START WITH YOURSELF
WORK ON YOUR BIASES
3 - Ask yourself questions. This is an effective way to not only gain an insight but to lessen the grip the bias
has on you. Whenever the thought or bias arises, you can ask yourself: "Is this bias of mine fair, relevant or
even worthy of having?"; or, "does this prejudice own me?"; or, "does this help anyone?"; or, "OK, it's a
prejudice, but what is this prejudice, how did I get it, why is it so powerful, why do I find it important?". This
can help you understand as well as let go of the thought as it no longer seems attractive.
4 - Meet the object of your bias head on with an open mind. The most effective (and hardest) way to get
around it is to meet it face to face. Say you have a bias against a certain religion or nationality. Find out if
their society or embassy is holding an open day and then go and meet people of that group. Your bias might
be unjustified and you might meet some new friends at the same time.
•
Look for the humanity in the object of your prejudice. Everyone is human and has feelings, thoughts,
wishes and dreams. It's just that everyone identifies with their own culture and at some time in
history, their culture was isolated from yours and developed differences.
•
Use movements of time to your advantage. Biases have their roots in time, which means they are
subject to change as well as modification. With each passing month or year, or a special date such as a
birthday, you can use these measurements of time to choose and commit to leave the past behind
and look at the future with a clean slate.
5 - Ultimately take things a step at a time. It becomes easier the more you want to let go of the bias. The
whole process of overcoming a bias is to understand what a bias is and how you got it, whether they are for
your benefit and well-being or will make you cold-hearted and cruel. Finally check your own feelings about
subjects regularly. Doing this can allow you to start to build practice and skills in letting go of the bias, able to
overcome it through investigation and attention.
6 STEPS TO CHANGING BIAS
1. Reflect. Spend time reflecting on the biases that you might have—almost everyone
holds some form of bias. Think through how those biases might have been formed
and if there is any sound logic or reason to them.
2. Confront. Consider why you might be holding onto a bias. Is it because of fear—a
preventative measure based on a bad experience? Is it because of security--a crutch
that helps you feel better about yourself? Is it avoidance—a way to dodge difficult
situations with groups you don’t understand or that make you uncomfortable?
3. Engage. One of the best ways to eliminate a bias is to prove it wrong through
personal experience and engagement. We’re all professionals and we can draw on
each other to help improve our workplace. Engage in a conversation with someone
different from yourself. Get to know them as an individual and take note of how they
dispel the biases you might hold.
4. Commit. Commit to experiencing individuals, not groups. Remember that
everyone is a unique individual, not a stereotype of a group. Make your relationships
about the individual, not about group membership.
5. Maintain. Keep making connections with individuals—embrace each opportunity
to meet and experience a new person and appreciate the differences and unique
elements that make that person who they are.
6. Discuss. Talk about your experiences with bias and with overcoming
biases. Encourage others to talk about their experiences. Use discussion to help point
out lingering blind spots and to continue building a bias-free workplace.
HOW CAN THE HR PROFESSIONAL HELP?
A. Start with Yourself
B. Use Best Practices
B. USE BEST PRACTICES
CREATE AN OPEN & TOLERANT CULTURE
All employees benefit from an open and
tolerant workplace in which employees are
judged on the quality of their contributions.
Following are some suggestions for helping to
create such a culture.
B. USE BEST PRACTICES
HOW TO CREATE AN OPEN & TOLERANT CULTURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
Recognize Your Biases
Walk in the Shoes of Others
Observe the Message, Not the Messenger
Practice Tolerance
B. USE BEST PRACTICES
RECOGNIZE YOUR BIASES
Because the workplace employs individuals of such diverse backgrounds, it necessarily follows
that some individuals will carry conflicting values. If employees are unable to tolerate these
differences, the workplace turns into a never-ending battleground, dragging down the
productivity and morale of all involved.
Some biases are so subtle that they can escape your attention. It pays to occasionally inventory
your process regarding how you came to a particular opinion or conclusion.
From snap decisions based on how someone is dressed to assumptions based on an
individual’s accent, ingrained biases have a way of creeping into our everyday thought
processes.
Awareness of the natural human tendency toward these biases is the first step in limiting
them.
B. USE BEST PRACTICES
WALK IN THE SHOES OF OTHERS
Try to view things from the perspective of the
individual toward whom your bias is directed
Think about how your own background and
manner could be similarly viewed in a negatively
biased manner.
This role reversal may yield a useful personal
insight that can help you overcome your bias.
B. USE BEST PRACTICES
OBSERVE THE MESSAGE, NOT THE MESSENGER
The most effective way to tune out unwelcome
biases that may lead you to false conclusions is to
focus on the message rather than the messenger
or the manner in which it is delivered.
B. USE BEST PRACTICES
PRACTICE TOLERANCE
Tolerance does not necessarily imply approval.
Tolerance is:
 an acceptance and respect of another’s right to come to his or her
own conclusions.
 merely practicing good manners
 showing awareness of the sensitivities of others
 making commonsense efforts to avoid offending them
5 SIMPLE STEPS TO ADDRESS AND REDUCE
UNCONSCIOUS BIAS
Step One: Admit biases are learned early and are counter to our commitment to fair and just treatment. Point out subtle
stereotypes used by peers and in the media. Surround yourself with tools and cues that help remind yourself and others that
equality matters and is hard work to achieve. If people are aware of their hidden biases, they can monitor and attempt to
ameliorate hidden attitudes before they are expressed through behavior. This compensation can include attention to language,
body language and to the stigmatization felt by target groups.
Step Two: Create environments where different views are welcomed. Think positively, particularly about people of whom you
have previously been critical. Ask yourself: Is your negative view based on anything deeper than their overt behavior? Are you
misreading their behavior or attitude?
Step Three: Build integrated teams. Create policies and cultures that require colleagues to treat one another with courtesy and
professionalism. By including members of other groups in a task, people begin to think of themselves as part of a larger
community in which everyone has skills and can contribute. Such experiences have been shown to improve attitudes across racial
and cultural lines and between people old and young.
Step Four: Use your imagination. There is evidence that unconscious attitudes, contrary to initial expectations, may be malleable.
For example, imagining strong women leaders or seeing positive role models of African Americans has been shown to, at least
temporarily, change unconscious biases. Using your imagination to create and frame a positive outcome can assist you in
uncovering new possibilities for progress.
Step Five: Volunteer together. When people work together in a structured environment to solve shared problems through
community service, their attitudes about diversity can change dramatically. An understanding of unconscious bias is an invitation
to a new level of engagement about diversity issues. It requires awareness, introspection, authenticity, humility, and compassion.
HOW TO DEAL WITH UNCONSCIOUS BIAS IN THE
WORKPLACE … FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
There are a number of strategies that will help us create workplace cultures in which employees can
actively “unconceal” perceptions and patterns that have been hidden.
1. Recognize that as human beings, our brains make mistakes without us even knowing it.
2. Reframe the conversation to focus on fair treatment and respect, and away from discrimination and
“protected classes”.
3. Ensure that anonymous employee surveys are conducted company-wide to first understand what
specific issues of hidden bias and unfairness might exist at your workplace.
4. Conduct anonymous surveys with former employees to understand what were the issues they faced,
what steps could be taken for them to consider coming back, whether they encourage or discourage
prospective employees from applying for positions at your company and whether they encourage or
discourage prospective customers/clients from using your company’s products or services.
10 STEPS TO DEAL WITH UNCONSCIOUS BIAS IN THE
WORKPLACE … FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
5. Offer customized training based upon survey results of current and former employees that includes
examples of hidden bias, forms of unfairness that are hurtful and demotivating, and positive methods to
discuss these issues.
6. Offer an anonymous, third-party complaint channel such as an ombudsperson.
7. Initiate a resume study within your industry, company and/or department to see whether resumes
with roughly equivalent education and experience are weighted equally, when the names are obviously
gender or race or culturally distinct.
8. Launch a resume study within your company and/or department to reassign points based on earned
accomplishments vs. accidents of birth.
9. Support projects that encourage positive images of persons of color, women, etc.
10. Identify, support and collaborate with effective programs that increase diversity in the pipeline.
HOW TO BECOME BIAS-FREE IN YOUR WORKPLACE
Creating a bias-free workplace takes more than just posting an equal opportunity statement on your employment
applications. Becoming bias-free requires a truthful assessment of your workplace policies and practices to ensure you
are being fair to applicants, employees and customers.
Step 1 - List the areas in your workplace where you believe bias currently exists or areas subject to biased attitudes of
employees and supervisors. Assess everything from your employment practices to your customer services policies.
Look at the composition of your customer base to determine if you are offering products and services that
complement or serve the diverse needs of your customers. For example, if your retail store is located in a diverse
community, ensure you carry products that appeal to a wide range of customers.
Step 2 - Examine your company’s recruitment and selection processes. Review your processes from an applicant’s
point of view. Determine if your application process is too complex for applicants whose computer and technology
proficiency may be relatively low. Give applicants the option of a traditional paper application, if possible, or provide
an address for applicants to submit a hard copy cover letter and resume.
HOW TO BECOME BIAS-FREE IN YOUR WORKPLACE
Step 3 - Evaluate your leadership training and employee development programs. Include training for supervisors on
how to minimize and eliminate bias in assessing employee performance. Provide examples of supervisor bias within
the context of your performance management system. Hold supervisors accountable for conducting performance
appraisals in as objective a manner as possible.
Step 4 - Develop training for employees on how to prevent bias from creeping into their interactions, as well as how to
recognize and report biased behavior. Incorporate training on nondiscrimination laws; however, expand the definition
of personal characteristics underlying distinctions that create biased attitudes. For example, look beyond
characteristics such as race, color, sex, national origin and religion and include class, generation, language, work style
and personality as additional factors that create differences among employees and customers.
Step 5 - Check your physical surroundings for working conditions that suggest employer bias based on position or
status. For example, maintain working conditions for front-line employees that are just as comfortable as the working
conditions for executives. If executives and high-level managers have access to the executive dining room, provide an
employee cafeteria that all employees can use.
MINIMIZE AGEISM
Older workers tend to perform at higher levels than younger workers, so they
are a valuable asset to organizations. However, when older workers experience
age-based discrimination, they are more likely to quit their jobs, taking their
institutional knowledge and expertise to competing firms.
The good news is that organizations can do something about this: when they
cultivate inclusive work group climates, and encourage line managers to
develop supportive, high-quality relationships with all workers (including older
workers), older workers will tend to experience less age-based discrimination
and be more likely to stay.
When organizations take measures to reduce age-based discrimination, they
lower not just the strategic liability associated with losing high performers but
also the legal liability associated with discrimination.
MINIMIZE AGEISM
Three forms of inclusion as contextual factors that might
affect experiences of ageism:
1. the inclusiveness of workers’ unit climates
2. inclusion in the unit manager’s ingroup
3. inclusion in the unit’s age cohort.
These three forms of inclusion matter to the extent that
they affect the likelihood that people engage in the type of
stereotypical thinking that results in ageism.
HOW TO AVOID BIAS IN SELECTION
•
•
•
Use multiple interviewers with diverse backgrounds and different perspectives. This
helps ensure that more valid and legally defensible hiring decisions are made—and that
the impact of any biases held by individuals or groups is minimized.
Use structured, rather than unstructured, interviews, in which all candidates are asked
the same questions regardless of demographic characteristics or appearance.
Unstructured interviews accurately predict on-the-job performance only 20 percent of
the time, while structured interviews do somewhat better, at 50 percent.
Set up a blind applicant-review system. A 2004 study of job candidates with white- and
black-sounding names by the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business found
uniform discrimination across occupations and industries. Federal contractors and
employers claiming to be equal opportunity employers discriminated as much as other
employers. As a way to counter this bias, employment lawyers recommend masking the
names and addresses of applicants before circulating resumes.
HOW CAN THE HR PROFESSIONAL HELP?
A. Start with Yourself
B. Use Best Practices
C. Use Your Influence
USE YOUR INFLUENCE
SET THE TONE
As an HR leader, you can work with employees, managers, and executives to set a tone of
respect and anti-bias in your workplace.
Interrupting early. Workplace culture largely is determined by what is or isn't allowed. Speak
up early and often to build a more inclusive environment.
Using or establishing policies. Call upon existing and possibly forgotten or ignored policies to
address offensive language or behavior. Encourage employees to work with HR to create
new policies and procedures, if needed. Provide anti-bias training.
Going up the ladder. If behavior persists, take complaints to management. Find allies. If your
boss is biased, consider options based on his or her temperament and the office
environment. If you're uncomfortable confronting the boss directly, consult HR
harassment policies to see if they apply.
Banding together. Like-minded colleagues may want to form an alliance to ask the colleague
or supervisor to change his or her tone or behavior.
USE YOUR INFLUENCE
LET’S WATCH OUR LANGUAGE
Watch out for loaded language used in various
contexts—staffing, performance reviews and the
identification of high-potential employees and
succession planning or leadership candidates.
Most obvious examples involve using words to describe
expectations about how people will behave, rather than their
actual behavior.
“Joe Smith is lazy” is a much different assessment than “Joe Smith
did not complete a single task on time, thereby failing to meet his
goals.”
USE YOUR INFLUENCE
LOADED LANGUAGE (CONT.)
A more subtle example might relate to the verbs
managers choose to describe employee
performance.
Writing that Joe Smith “exhibited good teamwork skills” suggests
that although Joe has demonstrated these skills in the past, he may
not necessarily be expected to do so in the future.
Writing that Joe “is a great team player” is a broader statement
about Joe, not just his demonstrated behavior, and implies that he
may be expected to be a team player in the future.
USE YOUR INFLUENCE
HELP CREATE A CLIMATE OF INCLUSION
Inclusive climates are characterized by the belief that people’s diverse
backgrounds are a source of insight and skill that should be utilized to adapt
and improve the organization’s strategic tasks .
In order to successfully resource diversity for learning, employees are expected
to expend considerable effort exploring their differences and exhibit a deep
commitment to educating and learning from each other.
This is made possible by fairly implementing HR practices such that
demographically-based status differentials are eliminated.
However, equitable HR practices alone do not define inclusive climates.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN INCLUSIVE CLIMATE
The organization’s norms and values encourage employees to enact their
“whole selves” so that employees feel psychologically safe to engage the core
aspects of their self-concept at work without suffering unwanted
consequences.
In inclusive climates, the openness of the work environment to learning about
people’s different identities should help promote the development of crosscutting ties that reduce the salience of demographic boundaries among
employees.
Inclusive climates are also characterized by active efforts to seek and
incorporate diverse perspectives in decision-making in order to facilitate
collective learning and improve strategic functioning.
CONCLUSION
TODAY, WE TALKED ABOUT…
•
Bias – what it is and why it matters
•
Unconscious bias – individual and organizational
•
Types and categories of bias
•
Where they show up in the employment lifecycle
•
The risks of bias and rewards of addressing it
•
The “Identity Management” phenomenon
•
How HR Can Help