Heard of unconscious bias?
Well, unconscious bias or hidden bias have come to the forefront of the work culture of the organisation. This is because of the dynamics of diversity in the work environment.
So what is Unconscious Bias?
Let’s explain it with an example.
During recruitment and selection, if someone looks or sounds like you in a series of job interviews, you’re much more likely to recruit that person.
Even if someone has a name that sounds like the candidate, the managers are more likely to hire them – and bin those with names on CVs they can’t pronounce.
Isn’t it true?
Well not always, but sometimes it does happen!
Not just names, Unconscious Bias can also have other impacts, such as who we want in our teams, who we give work to, and who you socialise with.
Thus when Unconscious Bias comes into play, the decisions may not be as robust and objective as the organisation believe them to be. So irrational, bias based decisions and behaviour are not good for business.
Unconscious Bias has potentially negative implications on recruitment processes, staff development, performance appraisals, workforce retention, leadership and customer service – and consequently for bottom-line business performance and organisation reputation.
This managing Unconscious Bias is important for the organisation.
Even, Google also raised the issue of Unconscious Bias in the public eye through a video looking at how they go about making their employees aware of their own bias.
Unconscious Bias training should be given to employees and HR managers so that the organisation is free from any kind of bias.
