Do you face Unconscious Bias at Work?

Mistakes that leaders make while managing Diversity

A few days ago, there was a widely circulated news article on a unicorn fintech company, whose (now ex) founder has been much in the news lately. One of the stories that caught my attention was on a veteran woman leader who joined the company during COVID. Shocked that only a handful of staff was wearing masks, she raised the issue and was allegedly chided by the founder. Weeks later she was terminated. One senior leader called her “a diversity hire”, and another attributed it to her “emotional baggage”

I am not commenting on the veracity of the story or merits of the hire or termination. What stood out for me was just how easy it is to diminish a woman professional and her expertise by labelling her “diversity”. Most women have suffered this labelling at least once in their careers. Years ago, when my boss smirked that I was attending an event as D&I representation, I laughed and took it in my stride, though I was gutted inside. That one statement erased all my professional achievements that should have earned me the right to be present there.

Unconscious bias has been the bane of diversity in the workplace. The most common one, of course, is gender. The bias that expects a woman to work according to stereotypes, often leaving the woman confused on what the “expected” behavior is, so that she gets her seat at the table without getting labelled aggressive.

Unfortunately, implicit bias is not restricted to gender. A young friend of mine was perplexed; he was getting accolades for his work and was ready to take on higher responsibilities. Yet when it came to his promotion, the bosses thought he was not mature enough. He was struggling to figure out what he was doing wrong. Believe it or not, he was the victim of “beauty” bias. A Duke University study found that “mature-faced” people had a career advantage over “baby-faced” people (people with large round eyes, high eyebrows and a small chin). [Source: The Real Effects of Unconscious Bias in the Workplace by Horace McCormick, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School]. So while my friend’s boyish looks worked for him socially, they were hindering his professional progress. When I pointed this out to him, he understood that there was nothing wrong in what he was doing and focused his efforts on effectively communicating with his supervisors.

What is Unconscious Bias?

Implicit biases are automatic associations and labels that the mind makes based on preferences and social norms that people have grown up with, and they lead to business leaders and team members unconsciously taking decisions that favor one set of people or discriminate against another.

Unconscious Bias is universal; every person is both the perpetrator as well as victim.

There are apparently 150 types of biases; the 5 most common ones that are commonly found in the workplace are

• Affinity : We like people who are like us, think like us, talk like us

• Beauty: We judge people based on their appearance, what they are wearing, brands they carry

• Halo / Horn: We allow strong positive or negative traits in someone to influence how we view them holistically

• Confirmation: We seek selective evidence to back up opinion that we have already formed

• Conformity: which influences people to think, behave and act because of the need for acceptance and be included in the larger group.

Why is recognizing unconscious bias important?

Unconscious bias shapes organizational culture as it unwittingly influences recruitment, promotions and employee development. In 2014, Google publicly admitted that unconscious bias was impacting diversity and their HR led major “bias-busting” initiatives. Google HR head Lazlo Bock argued that it wasn’t nice to have great diversity, but it was good for business as research showed that diverse teams make better decisions.

Impact of Unconscious Bias on organizational culture:

• Bias restricts talent from free expression, impacts productivity and stifles innovation. People are less likely to take risks and more likely to look over their shoulders and second-guess before taking any decisions. Employees stop acting from their areas of strength, as their judgements get clouded.

• Perception Management becomes as important, if not more than accomplishing job objectives, especially for those who are not naturally part of the influential cliques.

• Mental health of employees gets severely affected. In the absence of objective feedback, impacted employees suffer from feelings of inadequacy, confusion and even trauma, which they are sometimes not even able to articulate

There is no easy prescriptive solution to tackle Implicit Bias

• It starts from acknowledging the presence of bias and encouraging people to have frank conversations.

• Recognize that diverse talent is valuable, by incorporating it as part of the organization’s charter.

• Encourage and enable business leaders to facilitate an inclusive environment. HR can lead the conversations around diversity and hidden biases. Recognize not just the easy ones like gender, race or color. There are others, more subtle but just as potent. Biases leading from different backgrounds, beliefs and ideologies.

• Make unconscious bias, conscious. Most leaders believe that they are entirely objective 😀, and refuse to accept that they too are susceptible to hidden biases. Once acceptance happens, leaders will pause before acting.

• Foster a culture discouraging people from being judgmental. After we meet someone, our instinctive reaction is to form opinions, which concretize quickly. Once we have formed an opinion on anybody, then we don’t give that person a chance to change. As a result, in all our future interactions, we limit our experience of that person with an outdated opinion.

• Discourage “loose talk” on people amongst team members. It becomes serious when senior leaders talk casually about people and are uninhibited about sharing their perceptions . These conversations typically happen in informal settings, over a couple of drinks. A person who is not present is disparaged, often as a joke. The ensuing laughter contributes to the organizational prejudice against the individual.

Many companies in the West have formally recognized unconscious bias and adopted tactical steps like making the performance appraisal, remuneration and benefits approval process as objective as possible. However, these have their own limitations, and many companies have faced lawsuits on discrimination.

Also, the very process of tackling one bias may lead to the birth of other biases. Many companies are facing issues where stereotypes have been reversed — but they are equally lethal. Today’s society too mirrors this trend, with one set of people “canceling” other people, because of differing points of view and ideologies.

For organizational talent to flourish, it is necessary to facilitate an environment that is inclusive and respectful. Once individuals are willing to set aside their prejudices, judgements and past impressions, this will be achieved easily.