What will it take to Break the Bias?
There are some fairly horrific events happening in the world – today is a celebration for all women in the world ………in particular to hold space in our hearts for every girl and woman that is suffering, hurt or not in a safe place right now, that time will help to heal and a better future lies ahead.
The theme for IWD2022 is #BreakTheBias – if all of us took on the moral responsibility to address our own biases and be brave and call out, comment on or make clear we’ve noticed bias when it happens, we could create the gift of an accepting, warm workplace for everyone to thrive in.
Acknowledging how pervasive and unconscious our biases, helps to reduce judgement when we want to tackle them and their effects. We’ve all inherited parental, societal or learned biases, whether they’ve been identified or not. Some behaviour can be pretty shocking.
What can I do?
Heightening awareness and challenging some of our deep-rooted biases are ways we help.
What assumptions am I holding as truths? The bottom line is, would I treat this person or group with the same consideration and kindness I’d like to have shown to me, without preconceived attitudes?
In the presence of bias, instead of lashing out in judgement, we can come from a stance of humility-and-striving-for-better, and make a non-confrontational point which will be received much more positively.
Leadership has a big role to play in inspiring a fair and inclusive workplace.
The only certainty in organisations is change. It can be difficult for people to remain open-minded about change. They can become fearful and turn to self-protection. This is when unconscious bias is at its most potent. The leadership challenge is to break through these unconscious biases and help people rise above them.
Breaking the bias in the workplace is much more than gender balance. However, it feels relevant to reference given it is IWD. We are making progress and there is more to be done: the CSO Gender Balance in Business Survey 2021* found 21.8% of board seats and 29.7% of senior executive positions were held by women. But just 13.4% of CEOs are female.
What will help to break the bias in the workplace?
· Enable each person to examine their own prejudices by raising awareness. This can be done by regular talks, training and discussions. However, our learned responses and assumptions have roots and don’t dissolve easily. Discussion, dialogue and meaningful intent needs to be regular and consistent.
· Figure out where biases are most likely to happen in your company – hiring, promotions and who gets the pay rises are examples of when bias can creep in. Once we understand how it manifests, what steps can be taken to minimise?
· Ensure diversity is front and centre of hiring and promotional decisions.
· Use data points to guide decision making to ensure a shift to a more diverse and inclusive workforce
· Create an environment where it is safe for people to talk, speak up and challenge bias. Invariably policies, practices, values and behaviours all help here. The simplest acts, like early morning meetings, unintentionally can cause exclusion.
· Hold people accountable in particular leaders to ensure bias is not influencing decisions. Leaders must hold themselves account as they are the ones that invariably set the tone and influence the culture in an organisation.
‘Every leader casts a shadow, so be aware of the fact that people will do what you do.’ – David Novak
· Finally, set clear diversity and inclusion goals to ensure that everyday actions and decisions are making a difference.
We’re in it together
At the end of the day, a golden rule that will mitigate against bias is to strive for a workplace where everyone feels comfortable and included regardless of background. It’s up to all of us to uphold this ideal. In small gestures, meaningful actions and genuinely altruistic intentions.
‘The culture of any organisation is shaped by the worst behaviour the leader is willing to tolerate’ – Gruenter and Whitaker
*https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/gbb/genderbalanceinbusinesssurvey2021/
** https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2017/01/03/gal-interrupted-why-men-interrupt-women-and-how-to-avert-this-in-the-workplace/
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Astute Consulting is a boutique consultancy firm specialising in people and organisation change. Our service offering includes:
· culture change
· leadership coaching
· connecting business and people strategy
· transformation and change
· organisation restructures
· optimising performance and getting the best from people