As human beings, we strive to belong to a community. It’s simply in our nature. This inclination takes shape in a number of different ways, the most obvious being family and friends. But how we identify ourselves also plays a role and it’s a very fluid type of human behavior. Runners nod to other runners, Jeep drivers wave to other Jeeps, and motorcycle riders do that cool little wave whenever they see another biker.
While these are all community-building exercises, they also can be isolating at the same time. Runners don’t nod to walkers, Jeep drivers don’t wave to Punch Bugs, and motorcycle riders certainly don’t greet regular bikers on the street. So what does this mean in the context of our general, overarching community and more importantly how does it relate back to business? That’s something that I will be exploring in this piece.
The examples listed above and the general idea I’d like to discuss is known as unconscious biases. According to Dr. Renee Navarro, this can be defined as “social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing.” So, this is something that affects all of us and, unfortunately, it affects everything that we do. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how we can avoid falling into the pitfalls that make us become biased in our decision making at work.
It would be foolish to think that these biases are inexistent . “A Yale University study found that male and female scientists, both trained to be objective, were more likely to hire men, and consider them more competent than women, and pay them $4,000 more per year than women.” What is fascinating about this is that both men and women held those same biases. It shows how ingrained they can be in our understanding of differences between men and women as well as minorities.
So what can we do about it in the business world? We can start by acknowledging them. And that doesn’t mean reading this piece and accepting that unconscious bias is a fact of life. It means recognizing it on a day-to-day basis and ensuring that it doesn’t affect your decision making. These decisions could be as simple as whom to get a coffee with, to something more important like whom to promote or whom to make the project lead.
However, we can enact the most change by recognizing unconscious bias when we are reviewing candidates to be considered for a new position. You should understand the benefits of diversity and a variety of opinions and backgrounds in the workplace. It makes you more adaptable, more innovative, can lead to better customer service and can improve your branding amongst consumers and potential employees by making you more relatable to a wider breadth of communities.
In an interview, look for connections, not differences. Just because someone is a different race or practices a different religion than you doesn’t mean you don’t have common goals or identifying characteristics. You could watch the same TV show or have the same favorite band or maybe you grew up in the same town. As managers, we should be building connections, not creating more barriers between us.
Ultimately, it comes down to leadership to set the example for rooting out these unconscious biases. We have the power to change human instinct, we just need outstanding leaders to push these initiatives forward. Think about it this way: the next time you’re running, nod at that person you walk by. Who knows, maybe they’re simply taking a rest between running. You could have a lot more in common than you think.
Be Great…Today!!!
Brandon Brazeel, CPO, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP