• Understanding bias in the workplace is the first step to managing it.
• Biases can affect our actions which can have a real impact on people
• If left unchecked, biases can create unhealthy environments
• Bias – prejudice in favor or against one thing, person, or group
• Conscious bias (explicit)
• Unconscious bias (implicit) – social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individual form outside of their own conscious awareness
Unconscious bias is much more prevalent and may show up more under stress
• Height and weight.
myriad characteristics, including:
Skin color, gender and age are generally what people think of when they
consider biases, but individuals can harbor unconscious prejudice about
• Introversion and extroversion.
• Marital andparental status.
• Foreign accents.
• Where someone attended college.
• Disability status (for example, the use of a wheelchair or cane).
• Hobbies or extracurricular activities.
ACCORDING TO DELOITTE’S
2019 STATE OF INCLUSION SURVEY, 64 PERCENT OF WORKERS SURVEYED
“FELT THEY HAD EXPERIENCED BIAS IN THEIR WORKPLACES DURING THE LAST YEAR AND OF THOSE, 61 PERCENT FELT THEY EXPERIENCED BIAS IN THE WORKPLACE AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH.”
Microaggression is a term used for brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.
Subtle, nuanced, vague . . . .real!
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• Every member of the organization has a role to play as an active bystander and to intervene in situations where exclusionary behaviors are observed.
• Making sure that employees understand their role as an active bystander and providing them with information, resources and support can help them determine how to intervene in situations they observe based on their own comfort level with certain types of responses.
As behaviors that either support or detract from an inclusive workplace are observed, all employees should feel empowered to speak up.
• We all have implicit biases that affect the way we live and work in the world.
• Identifying how these biases may negatively affect workers and the bottom line is pivotal in the development of workplace equality.
• Bringing awareness to our unconscious biases and taking actions that cross-check our initial assumptions can help to limit negative consequences.