Subconscious Bias

The human mind works quickly at the workplace coping with deadlines and making decisions, often in an atmosphere of uncertainty. A recent article in Forbes/Tech introduces a software product capable of identifying job candidates from diverse cultural backgrounds. It was a move to address the problem of unconscious bias in the workplace by choosing people from different backgrounds. They were offered emotional intelligence inputs and trained to work with each other right from the start.
The solution was bound to have long-term positive effects and even corporate giants like Google announced a 20% yearly increase in diversity at the workplace in 2015. However, technological advances tend to appear suddenly and without warning. Bias in offices
Here is where unconscious bias creeps in and needs urgent solutions to create an environment that promotes productivity. In a desperate attempt to make sense of what happens at the workplace, the mind creates good and bad tags for objects and even persons influenced by cultural environment, social background, and experiences from the past. For example, a visual sign of insensible bias activity is a disproportionate appointment of males and females on a job selection panel and excluding factors like cultural diversity.
Bias Directly Affecting Functionality At The Workplace
There are nearly 150 different types of unconscious bias in the workplace making it a daunting task for organizations to address and resolve all of them.
However, types of Bias that can cause serious damage to the working environment include:
• Working with assumptions and stereotyping people according to groups, negatively impacting relationships with individual members within the group.
• Developing a tendency to establish working relationships only with people we will think are similar to
• Be a good listener and try to actively participate in improving procedures and processes.
3 Vital Reasons For Unconscious Bias Training
1. Decisions often take a backseat when organizations have to deal with urgent situations affecting business. People usually try to find something positive and then work towards improving the process. People involved in the process find it difficult to change.
2. People must be exposed to situations they cannot visualize. Nonperformance due to insensible bias just cannot be ruled out, and unless they are able to confront such situations with an open mind, likelihood of the same negative situation arising in future cannot be ruled out.
3. Business opportunities increase through efforts of highly motivated leaders such as management teams, executives, business owners, sales and marketing managers. When unconscious bias in the workplace creeps into such high-profile teams negatively impacting interpersonal skills and development strategies, results could be damaging to future prospects.
Urgent measures are therefore needed including coaching to recognize and spark emotional intelligence as well as emotional literacy at the