Unconscious bias is an aspect of our behaviour and thinking which may prompt us to behave a certain way with some individuals. We’re usually unaware of our unconscious bias to people of some races or to the opposite gender which may be deemed discriminatory.<\/p>\n

This unconscious behaviour is triggered by our brain which makes quick judgments and assessments of people and situations. It is influenced by our past experiences and cultural environment, and even our personality make-up. While taking a closer look at this unconscious bias may be an option in our personal lives, it becomes a problem when this bias creeps into our workplace.<\/p>\n

Where is there so much talk about diversity these days? Why is the importance of having diversity in terms of gender, color, race, and geographical regions, in the workplace stressed upon?<\/p>\n

The answer in one sentence is: Innovation for competitive advantage.<\/p>\n

The need of the hour is for different ideas to come together to build and do things differently. According to a MBA case study, the decline of Nokia’s profits pointed to all the top executives being Finnish, of a similar age group and background, hampering their ability to adapt to situations and a change in business environment beyond their comfort zone. So when the sentiment in the outside world was changing, they were caught unawares.<\/p>\n

Whether we accept it or not, we’re all more comfortable working with people who hold similar world views as ours and, as a result, we end up with inevitable blind spots. What is the solution then? Simply, the answer lies in hiring people with different frames of reference from our own, or at least, in finding a way to bring their point of view to the table. In the late 1990s, Infosys had a program called ‘Voice of Youth’ designed to bring the insights of the under-30 crowd to the attention of the 50-something executive team.<\/p>\n

We operate out of a reality that exists in our heads, formed by our own values, beliefs, experiences, memories, events, amongst other things. It is easier to accept people that may have realities as close to our own. This means, we may relate more to people similar to us, and having some resistance or hesitations to belief systems of people different from us.<\/p>\n

Unconscious bias is then a perception ingrained so deeply through conditioning that it acts up and prompts us to behave in a certain was with some people, without quite realising it. For example, there may be an unconscious tendency to clutch your belongings if you see a disheveled man in a dark alley as opposed to what you’d do when you see a well-dressed person. This unconscious bias can pass off as self preservation in some situations but when it manages to creep up at the workplace with colleagues, subordinates, or even seniors it can pose as a problem.<\/p>\n

Everyday we make countless decisions without realising it. As human beings, we are constantly taking in information through our five senses and processing it at an average rate of about 4 million bits of information per second. A vast majority of this information absorption and assimilation takes place unconsciously. The inverse (processing all this information consciously) wouldn’t be sustainable or practical. Therefore, in order to discern and utilise relevant information, our nervous system filters it. The brain creates shortcuts and uses past knowledge to make assumptions.<\/p>\n

Studying the unconscious decisions we make can be critical when it comes to designing products or software used, but more importantly, it is critical when trying to uncover precisely what\u2019s wrong with our workplace today.<\/p>\n

Bringing about awareness about this topic is clearly strategically timed given that many companies have come under fire recently for the lack of diversity in their ranks. Challenging unconscious biases is one attempt at making hiring managers aware of the hidden preferences they bring to decision making when picking someone for the job; ones that stand in the way to hiring the best people for the job.<\/p>\n

Most of us believe that we are fair and unbiased. We believe we are good decision makers, able to objectively decide on job candidates and reach a rational and ethical conclusion that is in our and the organisation\u2019s best interests. However, contrary to this, more than two decades of research confirms that in reality, majority of us fall short of this perception.<\/p>\n

A study out of Yale University asked science researchers to rate two candidates for a lab manager position, a male and a female, both with the same qualifications. Participants, including both men and women, rated the male candidate as more qualified and were willing to pay him a higher starting salary compared to the female. This translates into a huge issue in the workplace. Is there a way to change unconscious biases that influence who we hire, promote, and most value at work? There is certainly no simple approach.<\/p>\n

A closer examination of your interactions with colleagues from diverse backgrounds or those who hold different viewpoints, and using that to examine your own beliefs is a good starting point at understanding your own unconscious bias. Until this is practiced and propagated in companies, diversity will just be a term used for lip service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unconscious bias is an aspect of our behaviour and thinking which may prompt us to behave a certain way with some individuals. We’re usually unaware of our unconscious bias to people of some races or to the opposite gender which may be deemed discriminatory. This unconscious behaviour is triggered by our brain which makes quick[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[31,12,66,63],"yoast_head":"\n