Driving Inclusion effectively — Strategies to tackle Unconscious bias
I was invited to moderate a panel discussion on ‘Unconscious bias’ at a Diversity and Inclusion conference recently. It is a topic of great interest as it aligns with my passion for diversity and plays a key role in driving inclusion. Unconscious bias tends to undermine diversity and inclusion efforts. In order to tackle unconscious bias, organizations should recognize the existence of inherent biases and make a conscious effort to eliminate such bias.
Here’s a quick definition before we get started. As per Wikipedia, Unconscious (or implicit) biases are learned stereotypes that are automatic, unintentional, deeply ingrained, universal, and able to influence behavior.
Unconscious bias tends to affect all of us and our teams. And if it goes unaddressed, it has a huge impact on work culture and on employee experience. Unconscious bias could creep in even before a person is recruited and it may well play a part in who gets recruited and who doesn’t.
Hence, all organizations focused on driving diversity and inclusion, should make a conscious effort to tackle unconscious bias. Here are a few strategies to tackle unconscious bias across the employee life cycle.
Recruitment:
In order to build a diverse workforce, organizations could address unconscious bias during recruitment in the following ways:
1. Masking personal information on profiles — Personal information such as name, date of birth and address tend to reveal a candidate’s gender, religion, age and economic status. Once eligibility is determined, masking these details at shortlisting stage, eliminates any chance of unconscious bias and ensures candidates are shortlisted based on merit
2. Creating a diverse interview panel ensures that the selection proves remains unbiased
3. Clarity of communication in the referral policy — Referral policies and campaigns should encourage employees to refer diverse profiles as long as they meet eligibility criteria. Many referral campaigns ask employees to bring their clones and that is counterproductive from a diversity standpoint
4. Ensure diversity at senior leadership levels to showcase a diverse and inclusive organizational culture
On-boarding:
The inclusiveness of an organization is evident from the moment employees are on-boarded. Here is what can be done to eliminate unconscious bias and encourage inclusion from the very beginning.
5. Include pictures and examples of a diverse workforce in On-boarding presentations and training content
6. Ensure that the on-boarding team is diverse, so that new candidates see a cross-section of employees
7. Make sure to cover diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives as part of the organizational culture module during on-boarding
Talent Management:
In order to drive inclusion effectively, unconscious bias needs to be tackled on a day-to-day basis. Here are a few ways to do that:
8. Conduct training on handling unconscious bias for all employees across levels. Create hypothetical cases for employees to understand how to tackle unconscious bias in typical work scenarios
9. Let leaders talk about the benefits of a diverse workforce and showcase the value realized through diverse teams
10. Constitute a panel that employees can approach for assistance and guidance in resolving tricky situations around bias or micro-aggression
11. Formulate a policy and define processes to handle micro-aggression and unfair treatment at the workplace
12. Conduct training prior to performance appraisals and share pointers on how to avoid bias
13. Include a diverse panel to review promotion nominations. If possible, consider eliminating names, gender and age details from nominations in order to ensure an unbiased review
14. Create appraisal guidelines for women who go on maternity break. Ensure that women are evaluated for their performance during the time they spent at work, without any influence of the maternity break
15. Ensure all projects and onsite travel opportunities are presented to all eligible employees without any bias creeping in from the manager’s side
16. Showcase the diversity of newly promoted candidates at leadership levels, in order to highlight inclusion and eliminate any notions of bias
Exit Process:
Exit interviews are a good way to ascertain any instances of bias and micro-aggression.
17. Ensure exit interviews have specific questions around any bias the employee may have faced
18. Departing employees could also have suggestions on what can be done better. Ensure to record and act on valid suggestions
True inclusion is accomplished when the organization creates a level playing field and ensures that all employees feel at home, while at work. Tackle unconscious bias head-on, help employees embrace diversity in their teams and showcase business benefits derived through diversity and inclusion.
