Why are we hard wired to discriminate against others?

Direct Discrimination

Very few people I have met would be deliberately, or consciously, racist or discriminate in any way. That would be ‘direct’ discrimination e.g. not employing someone because they are black, or may have babies etc.

Indirect Discrimination

Often it is ‘indirect’ discrimination that causes problems for employers. It occurs when you apply a criterion or practice that is harder for some groups to comply with than others. A crude example would be specifying all applicants must be over a certain height, which is not aimed at a particular individual but is generally more difficult for females and some racial groups to comply with than white males.  

The legislation in this area is unforgiving and makes it clear that when considering liability it is irrelevant whether or not the individual intended to discriminate.

Unconscious bias

Unconscious bias i.e. having bias that you don’t mean to have, and actually aren’t even aware of hence the term ‘unconscious’ bias, can lead to a company being found liable for both direct and indirect discrimination for the actions of offending employees even if they  did not intend to discriminate.

Unconscious bias occurs when someone forms an initial opinion or judgement about an individual e.g. due to their appearance, which can then impact upon their view of this individual overall and how they interact with them.

In an effort to overcome unconscious bias, many companies and even the House of Commons have been rolling out training programmes for their employees recently. Described by some as ‘political correctness gone mad’, ironically unconscious bias training seems to have been demonised due to peoples’ unconscious bias! i.e. they have made incorrect judgements about what will be covered on the course based on their assumptions and prejudices rather than facts or evidence.

After researching it widely for my previous employer I found that the depressing truth about unconscious bias is that whether we like it or not we all do it. It is impossible to get by in life without forming views, making assumptions and using those to judge a situation or person and make quick decisions. We are conditioned to do this e.g. to like those who look, act and sound like ourselves, and to be suspicious of those who are different.

Mankind has always done this and for the most part has needed to do so to survive. Stone age man had to quickly assess any other human they met and decide if they were a threat. They didn’t have time to challenge themselves as to whether their decision was a fair one for fear of being bludgeoned to death if they got it wrong. It is only in the last one percent of human time on earth that this has been turned on its head and we are now expected to ignore those instincts to be suspicious of individuals who are different to us that served us so well for thousands of years.

Moving on from stone age man, to illustrate our modern dilemma and desire to be inclusive and fair to all, consider two examples of how we sometimes make such snap judgements about people, influenced by our unconscious bias:

First of all, imagine you need to query a problem with 2 different companies and so you call their customer service departments. The first is answered by an individual with a foreign accent working in a foreign call centre, the second is answered by a UK call centre employee who speaks the ‘Queen’s English’. What are your first thoughts when the call is answered by these 2 individuals, both of whom you have never met before but have the same job and you have no reliable evidence of which will provide better service?

The second example, if you are old enough to remember, is to think of your reaction when Susan Boyle walked on to the Britain’s Got Talent stage. What were your initial thoughts about this lady and how good a singer she was likely to be?

With both of these examples most of you will have made a quick judgement that led to an unfair outcome, influenced by your unconscious bias and that is what the training is trying to help people to tackle.

But tackling it is not easy. Realistically, attending a course then flicking a switch to change the way we think so we can develop into pure and immaculate human beings is not an option for most of us, all we can do is be aware of our own bias and learn to challenge ourselves when making  decisions to try and ensure that they are based on evidence and fact, and not influenced by our unconscious bias.

A half day course is clearly not going to achieve that on its own, as to change the way we act and think when it is hard wired into us and we have been acting like that all our lives is very difficult.

Having said that, if it is done well, such a course can be a good first step to help people be aware of and understand their bias so they can challenge themselves and others if a decision seems to be based on gut feel or stereotypes rather than the facts.

In my opinion there is some good news though regarding bias, although it’s not a popular view at present and hopefully I won’t be ‘cancelled’ for expressing it. I feel that if you look at Britain since e.g. the fifties, as a nation we have been working hard on both conscious and unconscious bias with great success, we have evolved impressively although we still have some way to go.

Our society has been transformed since then and we should recognise and be proud of the strides we have made whilst developing into one of the most fabulous, multi-cultural, welcoming, accepting and tolerant societies in the world.

Clearly progress is not quick enough for many and there is still work to do. Statistically in the UK you are more likely to be a FTSE 100 CEO if you are called Steve than if you are from an ethnic minority background!

Regrettably it can’t be denied that there are still individuals in our society who consciously discriminate against others and that is an issue we need to face, but for the vast majority of us tackling unconscious bias is the next step in this evolution towards a truly tolerant society where everyone is valued for what they can contribute and some groups are not favoured over others.

Getting back to how we can work on our unconscious bias, after rolling out the initial course that will help us to understand the issues it is then a matter of personal reflection, working on any areas where we may have bias, and challenging ourselves and coaching others regarding views we hold and decisions we make. Like that elusive golf swing we may never be perfect but awareness, challenge, and practice will improve it.

One of my favourite quotes of all time is from Ghandi, who said ‘be the change you want to see’, and that is so relevant to reducing or eliminating any unconscious bias that we have.

Some of the most common forms of unconscious bias are:

Affinity bias

When we have a preference for, and reward, certain characteristics e.g. people who speak the same, had a similar upbringing etc. You often find that senior management in an organisation are all very similar types of characters, and that is then perpetuated by middle managers, who develop and cultivate these traits as that is how you progress in the company. Another example is that managers who didn’t go to university tend to be more open to employing candidates who also don’t have a degree.

Halo bias

Where we overplay the significance of a particular feature e.g. we automatically assume the guy in the smart suit with neat hair and a tidy desk will be impressive at his job, before we have even spoken to him.

Horns bias

The opposite of halo e.g. if someone has a particular accent, facial piercings or even supports a different football team. Having said that it is perfectly acceptable to discriminate against Manchester United fans as they clearly have flawed judgement (YNWA) 🙂

Confirmation bias

Where you look for evidence that your initial impression – which may have been influenced by unconscious bias – was correct, thus proving how great your ‘gut feel’ is. A common example is where a candidate is late for an interview, even if the reason is genuine the interviewer often looks for evidence to confirm their first impression that the individual is unreliable or disorganised.

Clearly there is a moral case for tackling unconscious bias in the workplace, but Is there a business case? As you would expect, my answer is a resounding ‘yes’!

Not doing so can lead to ineffective and incorrect decisions and also mistrust and lack of respect for decision makers, especially from the younger generation currently joining the workforce. Generally they are far less tolerant of any form of discrimination than previous generations.

Also the resulting lack of diversity within an organisation from not tackling unconscious bias could become a real issue that gets worse over time, especially when compared to competitors that have been proactive in this area.

Traditionally the ‘high potential’ employee in Britain that all companies wanted to employ, even if they didn’t want to admit it, would be a white non-disabled well qualified straight male in his 20’s. However, as you will have read, the demographics of the UK working population is rapidly changing e.g. a third of all workers are now aged over 50. This ‘demographic timebomb’ means that the pool of intelligent white males in their 20’s with bags of potential that came through in the baby boomer generation is now a smaller pond, shrinking fast.

Many of those baby boomers are now in senior management positions, often looking to clone themselves in their recruitment due to affinity bias. Unconscious bias training should lead to a more open mind about what a high potential individual looks like, resulting in a far bigger pool of high potential individuals to recruit from.

Also there are clearly skills shortages in the UK, which are likely to increase if we don’t broaden our minds to employing more diverse groups in specialist or senior roles. If there was no unconscious bias against certain groups would we have skills shortages? Research is starting to show clear evidence that diverse groups often make better decisions than a group of similar people, especially as more females become senior leaders.

Finally regarding the business case for tackling unconscious bias, there is the risk of being taken to a court or Tribunal for discrimination, either by employees or individuals who feel they have been discriminated against in the recruitment process.

At 186hr we would be delighted to support and advise your company to work on unconscious bias or any other diversity and inclusion project. It is an area we are passionate about, specialise in, and one where we have a lot of experience. 

Redundancies are a big issue for the country at present, and there is a real risk that redundancy processes and decisions will be influenced by unconscious bias, which may lead to claims for unfair dismissal and discrimination. We offer a free guide showing the 8 Steps to Making Redundancies which will help you to carry out this process in a fair, structured and professional way free of unconscious bias.

Now we’ve explored what unconscious bias is, and the business case for reducing it, I’ll finish by looking at what actions a company can take to help them tackle this issue.

As explained above, the first step is likely to be training. The initial population to be trained would normally be the managers, especially those who recruit new staff, with a short course including some general content to set the scene and explain what unconscious bias is, then specific training regarding unconscious bias in recruitment, promotion, pay and bonuses and any other areas relevant to your specific company.

Once trained, the next stage is for a HR consultant to help the senior team to agree actions that will help to reduce any bias in the company e.g. involving multiple interviewers in recruitment with different backgrounds, blind recruitment where HR remove certain details such as names, gender, age, race from application forms, ‘positive action’ such as adverts that reach the wider community rather than just the traditional areas recruits are found. You may even wish to consider a requirement for shortlists to include minimum numbers of female or BAME candidates, although be careful to avoid ‘positive discrimination’ unless you can show that your actions are a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’.

Finally, after some time has elapsed for the actions to bed in, there should be a comprehensive review of how successful they have been, and a plan to build on successes and tackle areas that have not been as effective as hoped.

As part of your unconscious bias plans, or as a stand alone initiative, you may also wish to roll out Diversity and Inclusion Training throughout the company to help the organisation’s culture evolve to be more inclusive and tolerant. This is an area 186hr specialises in, contact us to discuss your training requirements, which can be delivered via Zoom or in person after lockdown.

If you would like to discuss unconscious bias, redundancies or any other HR matters further please contact us today.