Eliminating unconscious bias provides a more ethical and respectful workplace. But, in order to eliminate unconscious bias, you need to learn how to recognize it. My name is Shelley and here are 7 Ways to Spot Unconscious Bias in the Workplace.
Unconscious bias is a social stereotype someone automatically forms about a person or group of people. It’s often unintentional and outside of their conscious awareness, so it can take time for people to realize that they’re creating unconscious biases toward others. It’s important for your team to know how to properly identify unconscious bias and immediately stop it.
When biases are eliminated in the workplace, this makes more employees feel excited and motivated to come to work, which leads to an increase in employee retention and workplace performance. You need to Implement efforts in your training, hiring and onboarding materials that communicate your zero-tolerance of unconscious bias. This will encourage a more equal and inclusive environment.
So how do you spot unconscious bias? Here are 7 behaviors to look out for.
1 – Ageism
For some reason, people tend to think that as you get older, you slow down and therefore are not as competent or capable at work. This bias favors young employees but it negatively affects women and minorities more than men. Older men are respected and thought to be wise whereas women become invisible as we age.
To avoid ageism, management should pair employees of all ages on projects and help them form working relationships. Older employees are wise and have a lot to offer younger employees to help them learn and grow. You should also ensure that your hiring practices are fair and you are not passing on older applicants. This bias can stem from thinking that an older employee is close to retirement so they are not worth hiring which is absolutely wrong. And you should foster an environment of learning where everyone learns from one another. Older employees have a lot to offer younger employees and vice versa.
2 – Beauty Bias
This affects people when they are unfairly judged based on their physical appearance. This can include height, weight, fashion, and their overall appearance. This again affects women and minorities more than men. I’m short and I can tell you from experience that when certain people encounter me and see how small I am, they immediately act as my superior. This happens to me at work and in life.
This type of unconscious bias is very harmful and you must ensure that everyone measure’s a person’s ability from the quality of their work and not what they look like. Do not make comments about a person’s appearance. This can go the other way and people who posses conventional beauty are favored for promotions.
3 – Conformity Bias
Conformity Bias is basic peer pressure and it happens when a person is pressured to agree with the opinion of the entire group, even if they have stated that they disagree. You can spot this if a person speaks up during a meeting and their concerns are discarded immediately with no discussion. When you do not listen to your employees, you are not supporting a diverse workplace.
To avoid conformity bias, you need to lead by example. Make sure everyone’s opinion is heard and valued and resolve conflict by bringing people together to discuss issues. When this is handled properly, you will reap the benefits of everyone’s differing opinions to produce higher quality products and services.
4 – Affinity Bias
People are naturally drawn to others who are similar to themselves. They may take into account age, race, gender, and sexual orientation to name a few. This is most often spotted during the interview process when a manager has a “yes” pile of resumes full of very similar candidates.
You can avoid affinity bias by ensuring that your hiring practices are fair and that you interview a diverse group of candidates. This will also help you to achieve innovation as people come together with different opinions. Innovation is not achieved when everyone is the same and agrees 100% of the time.
5 – Confirmation Bias
This happens when a person is actively seeking to confirm ideas or success they had in the past that has little to no bearing on the current situation. People have a tendency to uphold their own beliefs and values so they interpret and recall information to support their own ideas. This is extremely detrimental to productivity as it often presents itself as unwarranted optimism in project planning without calculating risks.
To avoid confirmation bias, you should build awareness and encourage all employees to keep an open mind and be open to new ideas. Business is always changing and you need to keep up with current trends. That starts with bringing in fresh ideas consistently to support growth both professionally and personally.
6 – Attribution Bias
This occurs when an employee makes assumptions about others based on their actions in order to understand why they’re acting that way. For example, if someone notices that a co-worker is not as productive as they once were, they may think that person has become disengaged from their work. This results in a toxic working environment as people downplay accomplishments of others while shining a spotlight on their mistakes.
To avoid attribution bias, pay attention to how women and minorities are treated as this type of bias affects us the most. You should shut down toxic conversations. I have experienced people spreading rumors about me at work and when management did nothing about it, I left. You will lose talent if you allow toxicity to fester and spread. And do not base hiring decisions on education or GPA. People who skip college are not less capable, they simply have a different way of learning or did not have the privilege of a paid education.
Ways to Spot Unconscious Bias in the Workplace – Courses on Pluralsight
You can learn more about ways to spot unconscious bias in the workplace in my Pluralsight course, Managing Technical Professionals. This course includes animated scenario-based training and you will watch as a management team uses best practices in conflict resolution as well as other skills to help you get your employees to perform at their highest potential. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll have the skills that you need to provide a positive and productive working environment as well as attract and retain top talent. Click the button below to get started with a free trial today!