The Impact of Implicit Bias in the Workplace
Companies make the mistake of believing that the work on inclusivity ends once their staff is more diverse, but the truth is diversity is just the beginning. To create a truly productive and safe workplace companies must be inclusive with their decision-making while also being willing to confront any biased behavior within their company on a daily basis.
The question that must be asked is: Once companies have been able to increase diversity and inclusion, what can be done to decrease implicitly biased behavior?
To begin answering this question it is important to understand the definitions for diversity, inclusion, and implicit bias.
Diversity in the workplace, in this case, will be defined as the focus on creating a team that is filled with people who are reflective of society and are made up of different races, gender identities, career backgrounds, skills, etc.
Inclusion in the workplace will be defined as the degree to which different groups of individuals can participate fully in the decision-making process within an organization or a group.
Implicit bias in the workplace will be defined as people’s unintentional behavior of acting on the basis of prejudice and stereotypes.
The workplace is where ideas are supposed to be shared and implemented, but what happens to an idea when the person sharing feels they are experiencing biased behavior due to their age, gender, race, ethnicity, or all of them combined?
Employers and employees may not realize it but they could be unconsciously displaying implicitly biased behaviors which are detrimental to the productivity, happiness and well-being of marginalized employees. This negative bias can lead to an unproductive workplace, increase turnover, and disrupt a company’s bottom line. According to research done by Mckinsey& Co ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform their competition with a less diverse workforce. Showing that it is always in a company’s best interest to be more diverse.
Throughout this article, we will primarily focus on unconscious bias or implicit bias.
Bias is not always bad and in certain situations, positive bias can be helpful when making basic day-to-day decisions. Implicit bias in this context is primarily an unconscious form of negative bias, which means that those perpetuating it do not realize the harm in what they are doing.
Those of you reading this article wondering if you may be the unwilling perpetrator of a form of implicit bias can find out by taking Harvard’s Implicit Association Test (IAT), which was created to detect many different forms of implicit bias. A study conducted in the summer of 2020 to examine the extent of racial bias, gathered data from nearly 3.75 million individuals across 146 countries who had taken the IAT over the past 10 years. The results showed, 1) there is significant racial bias against black people present in every country sample. 2) On average 1 in 5 residents within a country has exhibited a strong pro-White bias and 1 in 4 exhibited moderate pro-White Bias. 3) All races exhibit a pro-White bias, with the exception of Black people, who exhibit no substantial bias. 4) Supplementary data about racial attitudes in Europe support the IAT as a meaningful indicator of racist attitudes.
So how do these biases present themselves in the workplace? One of the main ways is through microaggressions. According to Dr. Derald Wing Sue microaggressions often present themselves intentionally or unintentionally verbally, nonverbally, or through insensitive slights, snubs, or insults which communicate a hostile, derogatory, or negative message targeted towards a person solely based on their membership to a specific marginalized group. Microaggressions can create hostile and unsafe working environments as they not only reinforce stereotypes but also make those at the receiving end feel undervalued.
A 2019 State of Inclusion Survey conducted by Deloitte surveyed 3,000 individuals working in companies with over 1,000 employees about their general experience in the workplace, their perception of the prevalence of bias, and whether they identified with the concept of being an ally AKA someone willing to fight against negatively biased behavior. The results from the survey showed that when it came to the perception of and prevalence of bias:
- 63% believed they had witnessed it in the past month
- 83% labeled it as a “microaggression”
- 84% reported that it negatively impacted their happiness, confidence, and well-being to a certain extent
- 33% reported when faced with bias they would ignore it
These results clearly show that bias is still very prevalent in many organizations, despite efforts to be more diverse. These acts of bias are not always obvious which means they can be complex to address. The result also further supports the idea of an inclusive workplace improving employee productivity.
Now it is time to answer the complicated question of what can be done to decrease implicitly biased behavior?
Creating an inclusive workforce is a complex process mainly due to the issues that come with changing the daily behaviors of how employees interact with each other. Negative biases are not easy to fix as they are formed over time and based on the experience and the environment a person is in. Addressing unconscious bias requires the individual to introspectively question their beliefs, values, attitudes, and perceptions. However, in lieu of asking every employee to go on an introspective conquest, in a professional setting it is preferable to encourage employees to speak up and address biased behavior when it arises rather than ignore it. Leaders must intentionally do their part in defining and promoting allyship within the workplace and be willing to set an example when it comes to addressing unconscious bias. This behavior can in turn empower other employees to feel comfortable with doing the same.
Deloitte recommended at the end of their 2019 survey on inclusion 5 ways companies can foster inclusion:
- Showcase inclusive behaviors
- Define allyship
3. Promote allyship
4. Showcase intersectionality
5. Recognize that allyship should be part of everyday behaviors.
Companies like Metta Space were created to support companies looking to revamp their approach to dealing with misconduct and work to create versatile, data-driven, and human-oriented solutions to complex problems like implicit bias in the workplace. Metta Space offers software where employees can easily and safely report biased and micro-aggressive behavior with complete anonymity. Metta Space also works to empower companies to create a step-by-step process that follows applicable laws and industry best practices while prioritizing a people-first approach.
Workplaces are never perfect, but it is important to remember that each step taken toward making them more inclusive and less biased is a step in the right and more profitable direction. If you consider yourself an ally, actions must be taken by you daily to hold others accountable for unacceptable behavior in the workplace because it is the right thing to do.
