Dawn Lewinson
Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (ENEI)

Is unconscious bias affecting efforts to achieve greater diversity?
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The business case (rewards and benefits) of UB;
How Unconscious bias plays out in aspects of the employment life cycle such as recruitment, performance management and networking via biases such as affinity and comparison bias;
The Implications for individuals and organisations and;
Strategies that can help reduce bias

Rewards and benefits
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A bat and ball cost £1.10
The bat costs one pound more than the ball.
How much does the ball cost?

7 things you need to know about bias
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Our brains use two ‘thinking’ systems that operate simultaneously
Our brains are designed to categorise things and people
Our brains have evolved to both look for and exaggerate differences
Biases are learned through culture and experiences; they are contextual
Bias is driven by our emotions and our intuition
Being bias is part of who we are
Mind bugs leads us to jump to conclusions

Explicit vs Implicit Social Bias
(Abrams & Houston 2006) Jones, P 2005 Implicitly 3000

Affinity bias
Individuals and groups essentially gravitate to people like them…
Commonality /
Likeability
Trust Competence
1. Value the opinions of people like us
2. Work allocation
3. Feedback
4. Providing informal support; coaching, mentoring and sponsorship
5. Performance improvements

A bat and ball cost £1.10
The bat costs one pound more than the ball.
How much does the ball cost?

The impact of bias on performance management
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Criteria can be open to subjective interpretation
Factors other than performance may be called into play and influence managers’ decisions: Likeability and Trust
Staff member A
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Limited time in reviewing performance
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Helpful leading questions
Helpful ideas
Suggesting next move
Use of the word ‘we’
Staff member B
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Very detailed review of past performance
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Little time spent on future development / career aspirations
Has to defend record
Conversation is tougher

The role of social networks in promoting affinity bias at work
Cultural likeness creates trust and connectivity
Facilitates:
A. Information sharing
B. Increased visibility of one’s ‘ingroup’
C. Greater influence in decisionmaking
D. Advice & sponsorship
E. A continuous cycle of information sharing / connecting with people ‘like us’

Exploring bias within your organisational systems and processes
Reflecting on your own organisations:
1. What types of biases are evident?
2. Where are your key organisational risk points?
3. What is the impact ?
Think about
Recruitment & Selection
Work allocation
Performance management
Client engagement
Promotion and pipeline
Leadership style and behaviour
Culture
Team Relations
Information sharing

10 Bias control tips
1. Learn to question your first impressions
2. Be curious : actively seek out and value different perspectives and ideas
3. Treat people as individuals : get to know them on multiple levels
4. Expose you and your teams to positive role models
5. Widen your social network at work (and at home)
6. Reduce the effects of affinity bias through mindful work allocation, feedback and sponsorship
7. Challenge negative team assumptions and cultural stereotypes
8. Actively sponsor someone different from you
9. Develop strategies for managing your pressure points
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Don’t get anxious about difference

Rewards and benefits
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Strategies in the pipeline 2015/16
NHS Equality and Diversity Council pledged commitment to the following (subject to consultation):
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Workforce race equality standard – orgs must demonstrate progress against a number of indicators including BME board representation
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Making the Equality Delivery system (EDS2) mandatory – toolkit to help orgs improve services for their communities and better working environments
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Regulators will be the CQC

Contact: info@enei.org.uk