Ask anyone whether they hold racist, sexist, or otherwise biased views toward marginalised groups in society, and they will instantaneously tell you they don’t. Companies have made diversity and inclusion a centre point of their People Management processes for decades, to ensure a fair go for all employees and applicants regardless of their race, gender, age or sexuality. It has been established in Western Society that marginalising and discriminating against different groups is wrong.
We are great at putting initiatives in place to stop discrimination and adept at telling others how inclusive we are, but discrimination happens regardless. This is because while we claim to be egalitarian, research has found many of us hold an ingrained bias toward marginalised groups that we may not even be aware of[1].
This is known as unconscious bias. It forms outside the individual’s awareness and can lead to recruitment, promotion, and management decisions that discriminate against applicants or employees despite the manager’s belief that they treat others equally.
Studies have identified examples of unconscious bias within the workplace which include, but are not limited to:
+ Stable, negative attitudes toward older workers, despite self-report measures showing no bias[2]. These can include stereotypes about being too rigid, slow, or technologically illiterate, and can prevent members of these age groups from gaining employment or promotions.
+ Negative attitudes and bias toward different racial groups, despite self-report measures showing no bias. This can include rating different ethnic job applicants as less qualified than others, despite both applicants being equally qualified for the position[3]
+ Less than half straight respondents feel comfortable listening to LGBT workers discuss topics such as dating, despite 4/5ths of the same respondents claiming their LGBT colleagues should not have to hide who they are[4]. This can lead to LGBT workers feeling uncomfortable in the workplace, therefore affecting engagement and performance.
The persistence of this unconscious bias in the workplace means that many organisations miss out on the benefits of a diverse organisation. These include, but aren’t limited to the following[5]:
+ Increased productivity
+ Reduction of discrimination related lawsuits
+ Increased creativity
+ Improved business image and marketing
Less organisational diversity reduces innovation, limits performance, harms the company image, and impacts the bottom line.
What then, is the best way to overcome our cognitive biases and move beyond subjective management decisions?
We recommend managers implement objective, data-driven approaches to employee management that are not influenced by bias. Tools such as Psychometric Assessments, which have been statistically proven to assess all test takers equally, are able to cut through subjectivity and deliver bias-free measurement of employee’s cognitive and personality traits.
For recruitment, they provide reliable measurement of ‘fit’ to nominated job roles, as well as structured interview questions to avoid bias from influencing interview questions, techniques and outcomes. For employee development, they provide practical management suggestions tailored to each individual worker, delivered in a way they will respond to. For promotion and succession planning, they can reliably identify who would be the best employee to move up, regardless of gender, race, or age group they belong to.
If you would be interested in learning how you can remove subjectivity from your management decisions and unlock your company’s full potential, please contact the author at michael@peoplogica.com.
[1] Dovidio, J.F., & Fiske, S.T. (2012). Under the Radar: How unexamined biases in decision-making processes in clinical interactions can contribute to health care disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 102, 945-952.
[2] Malinen, S., & Johnston, L. (2013). Workplace Ageism: Discovering Hidden Bias. Experimental Aging Research, 39(4), 445-465. DOI: 10.1080/0361073X.2013.808111
[3] Bartlett, K.T. (2009). Making Good on Good Intentions: The Critical Role of Motivation in Reducing Implicit Workplace Discrimination. Virginia Law Review, 95(8), 1893-1972. Retrieved from Google Scholar.
[4] Boyde, E. (2016, October 16). Employers battle ingrained prejudice against LGBT staff. Financial Times. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y3gqs6v2
[5] Green, K.A., Lopez, M., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2002). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, challenges, and the required management tools. The University of Florida, 1(4), 1-3.
Written by Michael Mancinone
