Unconscious Bias and Its Impact in the Workplace
I believe this is a very timely, relevant, and necessary topic. Yes, in this current climate, it couldn’t be more important to talk about unconscious bias and its impact in the workplace. Bias is a fact and it is something we all have. It is a part of our human makeup, it’s a part of our brain, and it is how we’re hardwired. It plays out in the workplace and impacts our decision-making everyday interactions. I want to share some strategies and tips with you for how you can address and mitigate your bias, and hopefully become more aware of what yours are so that you can also address them and move from having that unconscious bias to being more inclusive. Global research, as well as our US census data, tells us that right now we’ve got 51% of women in the global workforce and that we also have five generations right now working alongside of each other. There are seven billion people on the planet and, out of those seven billion, at least one in seven people has a disability, visible or invisible. We’re living in the era of disruption and the three Cs, which are accelerated change, overwhelming complexity, and increased competition—as you think about that, the greatest amount of competition that we have is talent. We’ve got different personalities, different communication styles, different needs, backgrounds, expectations, different faiths and different religious beliefs, and different values. We are certainly living in a more global, diverse, hyper-connected, but also multi-generational, multicultural, multiethnic, and now, a much more virtual workplace. I am certainly seeing companies focusing on this more and more, recognizing that the workplace is really complex. Let’s talk a little bit about implicit bias. Implicit bias is defined as an unconscious opinion and it can be positive or negative. I want you to think about some positive examples of bias or unconscious bias. We make decisions all the time, sometimes based on that. Positive stereotype or unconscious opinion are stereotypes, attitudes that we have about people or certain groups of people. Recognize that these messages, these rules, these stereotypes, and these opinions about other people were learned at a very young age and the more that they were reinforced through school and life experiences and the relationships that we had perhaps with our immediate family, but also with our extended family, our friends, our community, our places of worship, and certainly those things that we saw on TV and read in the newspaper and heard on the news. These are all the things that have shaped and formed who we are and they have created what we call “schemas” or “lenses.” The filters and the lenses through which we see the world are some of the non-conscious assumptions that we have simply because they have been reinforced over time through by all of those areas that I just mentioned: learned rules, our families, relationships, community, media, as well as experiences. We know that there’s been messages historically that have been taught from generations and passed on from generation to generation. They become so ingrained into who we are, so subconscious, that we’re not even aware that we have them anymore. I am someone that has been shaped and formed by all of my experiences, all of the messages that I heard, all of the things that I have been taught and read and heard, all of those things now create who I am, so I actually see the world as I am rather than the way the world really is. We believe that the way that we see the world is the way that the world really is. We assume sometimes unconsciously that everybody should see the world the same way. “I see the world out of a red-colored lens and you see the world out of a blue-colored lens and we’re trying to convince each other to see the world, the way that we see the world, when the beauty of all of this is that we get to see the world the way that it really is, but we learn from each other and we broaden our perspectives, we broaden our lenses and our frameworks in which we see the world. That’s how we become more effective at working across difference. But the more that we try to hold on to our differences and the way that we try to make our differences be the reality, be the truth, the more that we isolate people and the more that people feel a bit more excluded.” There are two parts of the brain that inform our decisions, our interactions, and this shapes our ability to truly accept or not accept differences, to truly make great decisions, biased decisions, or unconscious decisions. The amygdala is what I consider the back part of your brain. The amygdala is really where the biases lie. It’s unconscious. This is what we call the “fast brain.” Bias is a quick, snap judgment that we make. It’s a tendency and an inclination that we have to have to be able to interact with the world. Quick responses are important to survive, to be protected from anything harmful and dangerous. That’s where it lies is in our amygdala, in the fast brain, the unconscious. The other part of the brain is the prefrontal neocortex and what brain scientists say is our “slow brain.” This is also what we call the conscientious brain. This is where we are certainly being more reflective, more conscientious, and where we’re slowing down and being more aware of information. This is where we slow down and analytical thinking happens. This is where critical thinking happens because we’re slowing down, we’re processing, and we’re pausing to make a more informed decision. When we’ve got to make those kinds of decisions about people we hire, who our go-to people are, who we pay more, who we pay less, who we promote, what feedback we give to this person or do
There is Still Work to Be Done
It’s an honor to be published in the Tampa Bay Business Journal Jan. 15, 2021. Check out the article here: Companies that promised to review policies in 2020 in the wake of social unrest now face showing results in 2021. If 2020 will be remembered for anything other than the coronavirus, it will be for protests that spread to cities and towns across the nation in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. Months of marches were held in both Tampa and St. Petersburg. While the initial purpose of these marches was to spur government reform regarding policing, calls for equality and racial justice soon spilled over into other facets of life, including entertainment, education and business. Businesses ranging from the largest public companies in Tampa Bay to mom-and-pop stores put out messages of support and pledged to do better. Seven months after the protests began in late May, the organized marches have mostly died down. Progress has been made in some areas, but both sides — advisers and the companies themselves — know there is still plenty of work to be done in 2021 and the months ahead. “There are companies that are forward-thinking companies, and some companies … [that] are doing better but recognize they have a long way to go,” said Shirley Davis of SDS Global Enterprises, a Tampa Bay-based corporation that works with businesses to create more inclusive cultures. “There is still work to be done.” The momentum of the summer is waning a bit, said Cal Jackson, the director of Diversity and Inclusion global programs for Tech Data Corp. “There are still groups that are underrepresented in our organizations and what I feared is starting to happen: It can’t be a news cycle and there are unfortunately, police events that bring things back into the radar.” The slow march of progress Even before 2020, businesses were looking to diversify their ranks — both in leadership and among the workforce — and Tampa Bay was no exception. This has especially been the case when it comes to gender diversity. As of January 2021, 19 of the region’s 20 largest public companies had at least one woman on their board of directors, according to data provided by the companies to the Tampa Bay Business Journal. A majority of the 20 largest public companies had at least one ethnic minority on its board of directors, a group that primarily was comprised of Asian-Americans and African-Americans. But the majority of board members in Tampa Bay are white men, as is most of the leadership at those companies. That might be one possible explanation as to why many Tampa Bay companies tiptoed around this summer’s events and the issues they raised. Only three of the region’s largest public companies — Raymond James, Bloomin’ Brands and Welbilt — released statements concerning the racial unrest over the summer. Only nine of the companies have a diversity policy on their websites. And only a handful of companies have announced actual action taken to improve diversity within their company, such as creating a pledge to the Black community or hiring an executive to oversee diversity and inclusion. “We did an internal promotion… and created a new position: VP of diversity and inclusion, in order to formalize that process,” said Joanne Freiberger of Masonite International, adding that Carlini Rivers took over the position in November. Rivers had been with Masonite since 2016. But most companies have shied away from such actions, and most frustrating to SDS’ Davis are executives who are still unwilling to acknowledge that there are racial issues within the business world, let alone address them. “What’s disappointing is we have too many leaders … who turn this work into a political statement. ‘If we say Black lives matter, then we’re saying all lives don’t matter,’” she said. “We still have people who are resistant to it, who resist it in a way that sabotages and derails the spirit behind it. And regardless of the political, inclusion is a good business strategy.” Moving forward But perhaps that paints a bleaker picture than reality. Talking honestly about race can be a prickly issue that many companies would prefer not to discuss publicly. But Davis said interest in her company’s services has been robust. “I’ve been in this work for 20-something years, I worked in HR for Fortune 500 companies, and in that time frame I have not had that much demand and as many requests as we did in June and July,” she said. “It was amazing and at the same time, it was well overdue.” She said it started with helping companies craft statements during the summer protests, but continued on to holding listening sessions. Davis said she was impressed by the number of organizations that really did want to change how they operated, by conducting diversity audits and committing to making long-term changes. It starts at the top, Jackson said, quoting a story Tech Data CEO Rich Hume told him. “He said, ‘I saw just how our board of directors changed in regard to its dynamics and how they were innovative and their discussions as we put more women and more diversity on the board.’” It is important for companies bringing in formalized D&I practitioners and programs to continue progress in 2021, but the work isn’t just about racial equity, he said. It’s also about building environments of inclusion because that can boost the bottom line, not just promote good corporate citizenry. “We do this in our workplace for organizational effectiveness,” Jackson said. “[This work] decreases attrition, and makes us a progressive company so that we can always get great talent that wants to come work for us.” And, in a strange way, the pandemic has helped to achieve those goals, he continued. “It has pushed us to the realization that we can work and telework and we can have roles everywhere, and that gives us a humongous net that we can throw out now for phenomenal talent and not just based upon the location of where we need people,” he said.