Antonio's current obsession

  For some of you reading this, I bear bad news. A burgeoning body of research has confirmed that bias is all over us humans like a rash. Always has been always, will be. There is no getting away from it. We are all biased. The challenge for organisations is how to keep your people working happily with one another irrespective of skin, sex, class, age and so on. If our workplaces are riddled with the bias bug we can never reach the potential that many companies are now starting to see by skilfully managing diverse workforces. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that innovation, new and emerging markets, and attracting and keeping your best people are only some of the benefits of kicking bias out of your headspace.

Bias is not always laced with malintent. It serves as a survival function, which helped our humble cave dwelling ancestors categorise threat from safety. Due to our limited ability to process the mounds of information flying in at us per second, our brains cleverly make shortcuts to help us quickly detect who’s in the in and out crowd.

For those of you thinking that bias has just got to go, there is good news abound. We are able to control our unconscious biases. When people take the time to form accurate impressions of others and when we look at people as individuals rather than as a herd of people we don’t know or don’t really want to get to know, we engage in what psychologists call individuation. Basically it means stripping the stereotypes back and sticking your spectacles firmly on your face to see more clearly who they are rather than what group they belong to. Examples of counter-stereotypes and thinking about what motivates individuals will also help our biased little brains control for stereotypical thinking.

So the question now remains, how do you reduce bias in the culture you’ve worked so hard to embed in your thriving organisation? Depending on what floats your bias boat, you may be thinking about compliance monitoring, updates in the latest legal prophylactics, or validating your selection and assessment procedures as a starting point, right? Well these are certainly orthodox mechanisms you can put in place to reach the equity grail. However training your people about unconscious bias and micro behaviours is another significant leap you could take into the bias busting vortex. Micro behaviours are the non-verbal, verbal, unconscious and conscious ways we deliver messages to people. At one extreme when you put a smile on someone’s dial, you are showing micro affirmations (that’s the good stuff). On the other hand when you freeze someone out like Jack Frost, you are showing off your micro inequities.  These interactions, usually at the micro level, can be summed up by the following statement: “it’s not what you say; it’s how you make me feel”. Training people to be aware of their subtle non-verbal cues has the ability to transform your people from biased to brilliant and boost your bottom line.

So, the upshot of all this is that, whilst we are all prone to bias, it does not always come from a dark place. We need to give ourselves a break and realise that it’s a natural extension of our need for identity and belonging. So now that we’ve given ourselves a break, it’s time for organisations to accept the challenge to foster an organisational climate and culture that encourages and accepts peoples’ differences. The benefits to business are patently clear. And if you’re thinking about where to start, then start with yourself and a good cup of honesty; it really is the best policy in this case.