unconscious
BY KASMIN COONEY
Leadership
Workplace discrimination of any kind is counter-productive and more often than not caused by prejudice or ignorance… Or is it?
Discrimination against a person or in favour of another can in fact be as a result of a phenomenon called Unconscious Bias, the result of an unconscious process that has in fact evolved in order to make us more productive. However, because this process does not occur in the conscious mind, the perpetrator is unaware of their crime, and this is where the challenge begins!
What is Unconscious Bias?
Unconscious Bias occurs when the human brain makes rapid, unconscious decisions based on an archive of experiences and associations. We form pattern recognition habits which lead us to anticipate the same outcomes repeating themselves in the future. Working in the unconscious enables the brain to process information far quicker than if everything was considered consciously.
Micro-behaviours and bias happen as a result of our upbringing, exposure to political and social groups, the media and any other poignant or repeated life experiences. We can be biased against a diverse range of different peoples and behaviours such as gender, religious background, race, sexual orientation, age, facial features, body image/size, or even, whether individuals are introverts or extroverts.
It is interesting to know that we tend to favour people who are similar to ourselves both physically and socially, which in turn leads us to categorise those who are least like ourselves in a more negative vein.
Unconscious bias can impact badly on an organisation. It can result in a lack of inclusion, inappropriate banter, bullying, unfair selection and recruitment, inconsistent approaches to performance management, promotion and talent management, poor decision making, weak leadership and demotivated staff.
This is quite a list of key areas critical to the success of any organisation, so it is no wonder that the subject is topical amongst those involved in development and human capital management.
Unconscious Bias and Performance Management
Staff motivation, development and on-going growth is reliant on effective performance management.
However, if managers are clouded by their own perceptions and biases, rather than factual outcomes achieved by individuals in their teams, then performance management becomes subjective and as a result, pointless.
The criteria for evaluation must be measurable, clearly stated and understood by each individual.
Vague performance management criteria lacking in specific measurement is almost impossible to measure objectively and invites the evaluator to fall back on their own unconscious biases.
Performance Management and Rater Bias
Any performance management process that is based on rating scales is potentially open to ‘Rater Bias’.
Results from this type of evaluation are often far from accurate with managers either over or under rating performance, depending on their own unconscious or even conscious biases. Again, this can be minimised if more objective and measurable criteria is used in all evaluation processes.
24 | TRAINING MAGAZINE EUROPE MARCH 2015
bias barriers