Dealing With Unconscious Bias In The Workplace

According to Dr. Isaac Dixon, Associate Vice President for HR of Portland State University, unconscious bias happens when a person unknowingly makes assumptions as to the character, intelligence, and/or capabilities of people based on how they look, behave, or speak. As much as it is ideal for people to be free from these biases, they are nevertheless an inevitable human condition. In fact, they are part of the brain’s subtle cognitive process which causes us to make quick judgments about situations and people around us without even realizing it.

As business leaders and HR managers, however, it is one’s responsibility to constantly keep these biases in check. Not only does this affect the recruitment and upskilling of employees in organizations, but it can also influence our overall decision-making processes.

How to Deal with Unconscious Bias

Assess Yourself as a Leader

There is nothing more important in dealing with unconscious bias than acknowledging that you have it in the first place. This will allow you to think twice on your decisions and monitor your behavior by questioning your first impressions of people that affect any quick decisions you make.

Moreover, this will also allow you to know where you should start working. Assessing yourself as a leader can help you see how your actions reflect on the workplace and how your unconscious bias has affected other employees.

Be Open Minded and Let Employees Speak Up

Given that unconscious biases are often involuntary, allowing employees to be heard on matters like this will allow you to reevaluate your decisions and become more transparent in your processes. Not only can this eliminate discrimination among workers and job candidates, but it can also foster a healthy workplace environment where open dialogues are encouraged.

Aside from that, this will also allow you to get to know more about the traits of workers, what's on their mind, and their unique workplace needs. In the long run, this will not only create better working relationships among teams, but it can also help you as a leader to eliminate your assumptions towards their personalities and skills.

Make Use of Data in Your Decisions

Hard data negates unconscious biases. By basing your decisions on these, you can generate real insights and predictions based on actual events and not merely on assumptions. In the long run, this can help your company test different strategies and make choices based on proven facts rather than opinions. For example, during the recruitment process, you can implement examinations that can test the skills and knowledge of candidates rather than relying on your personal judgment based on interviews and CVs.

A Final Note: Get Professional Help

Some career coaches in Dubai have opened workshops to help leaders overcome attributes that affect their businesses adversely rather than help its success. Not only did this allow them to implement value-driven leadership, but it also enabled them to foster a workplace culture free from bias and discrimination.

For career coaching in Dubai, reach out to us at Unlocked Potentials.