DE&I: Combating bias at work

There are some policies in the workplace that cannot be overlooked. Some are a necessity for a connected, supportive and successful working environment. One such policy known as Diversity, equity and Inclusion (DE&I) policies. They are often in should be in place to ensure individuals from a variety of backgrounds varied and protected characteristics are included, respected and supported in the workplace. This helps cultivate a culture of openness, support and togetherness, furthering commitment and engagement between individuals in the workforce to achieve the shared goal of organisational success.

Some view DE&I policies as simply being in place to comply with UK legislation such as the Equality Act 2010. The fear is that breaking such legislation may result in reputational damage, monetary fines and even prosecution. The issues of undervaluing DE&I can much deeper than this however, as it can result in a culture of discrimination, fear and declining wellbeing, resulting in a lack of growth.

DE&I strategies are essential to an effective workforce that operates without judgement to instead focuses on effective communication and lack of bias to inform workforce behaviour and development, the key to any successful organisation.

What are the types of unconscious bias?

Biased behaviours and beliefs aren’t always obvious, even to those exhibiting the biases to begin with. Many are unconscious and can inform a person’s behaviours and attitudes without their knowledge. Unconscious bias may stem from historical factors and can lead to negative behaviours.

There isn’t just one form of unconscious bias. There is a variety of biases which can result in discriminatory behaviour or harmful attitudes which can negatively impact people’s wellbeing. Here are the most commonly known forms of unconscious bias:

Affinity bias / similarity bias

Known both as affinity or similarity bias, this type of unconscious bias can be an issue for both people in the workforce and organisational leadership teams and lead to exclusionary behaviours in different ways. In short, affinity bias refers to people showing particularly favourable behaviours towards those that are similar to themselves in specific ways. This might refer to certain personality types, appearances, attitudes, whatever it may be, and can inadvertently lead to the exclusion of others. On paper, it might make sense that people bond to those they see themselves in.

This may not seem like an issue at first, but the primary issue occurs when this type of behaviour bias is unconsciously practiced, and certain people are favoured over others without a complete understanding of those they are excluding without an awareness. In terms of the workforce, this might involve excluding people from tasks, hampering their development or in social settings at lunch leading to a decline in their mental wellbeing. With leadership teams, it can be more closely tied to hiring processes, where there may be an assessment that a person doesn’t ‘fit the culture’ of an organisation, leading to a lack of opportunity, diversity and in turn, innovation.

It can be difficult to notice affinity bias and overcome it as you will be inherently drawn to things you find familiarity with. It is always good to note these things and identify how they might be positive in the workplace and then match them up with a list of required skills and behaviour that will be conducive to success.

Confirmation bias

One of the most well-known forms of bias, confirmation bias refers to a person’s natural disposition to judge and draw conclusions about a person or situation based on pre-established beliefs and prejudices, as opposed to circumstance or character. This can play an extremely important yet detrimental role during somebody’s introduction to someone or something.

They may dismiss a person despite their ability and value to a workplace because of an issue such as their religious belief, socio-economic status, sexuality or gender. It could be something as simple as someone sharing the same name as another person you have had a negative experience with and tarring them with the same brush. Regardless of what the issue is, it is one of the key drivers of exclusion and unconscious discrimination.

Gender bias

As the result of historic factors, misrepresentation in the media and institutional structures, gender bias is a prevalent form of bias that runs so deep, that there is now UK legislation established to combat it. It refers to the bias that a person of one gender may have a preference towards one gender over others.

This can be seen with men who have historically been given preferential treatment in the workplace and still benefit from it to this day, as Gender Pay Gap data demonstrates each year. Whilst progress is being made, there is still some ways to go. This same bias still exists when it comes from those who do not identify as male or female.

When handed forms, those who identify as non-binary may feel immediately excluded as they are presented with options of ‘male or female’. It may seem harmless, but it can be hugely invalidating to those who identify as neither, so conscious efforts to be inclusive can be hugely beneficial to people’s wellbeing.

Ageism / age bias

Far too often, some people are judged on their age without any context for ability. This can apply to both ends of the spectrum with some believing a person might be too young for a certain responsibility, whilst others are judged as being too old to achieve a certain task. This is not beneficial too anyone as it not only discounts experience, it can also discount fresh ideas and innovation from either end of the age spectrum. This type of behaviour can be inherently learned and assumed due to exposure to certain types of media and upbringing, so it is imperative that this type of bias does not permeate the workplace.

Halo effect

This is often seen amongst those in higher positions and in terms of the world around us, is particularly prevalent with celebrity driven culture. The Halo Effect references the concept of angels having a halo atop their heads, the concept being that people may place others on a pedestal, expecting more from them. This may be due to learning some information about them, i.e. if they went to a prestigious school or are from an affluent background. Or it might be due to a person being in a specific position of power or influence, leading others to expect more and for them to not have any faults. This can mean those in positions of leadership in the workplace, but a primary example can be seen with celebrity culture today, where they are expected to be leading figures on all things morally correct, and may be ‘cancelled’ if they fall foul of this expectation.

Horns effect

The reverse of the Halo Effect is the Horns Effect. Once a piece of information about a person or situation comes to light, they are immediately viewed in a negative light, regardless of other merits or characteristics. In some instances, the piece of information might make a person irredeemable in some people’s eyes, for example, if they have committed a heinous crime, but in other instances it might be something as simple as disagreeing with a person over a film, TV show, sports team or music taste, it can be extremely limiting to inclusion and innovation.

Attribution bias

This type of bias can be a little more complex as many people believe in the term “actions speak louder than words” and attribution bias is based on the premise of trying to make sense of a person’s behaviour. The distinction and complexity however comes from judging a person’s behaviour without understanding or hearing their reasoning.

An example of this is if a person arrives late, another person will make a harsh judgement of them without knowing what caused their lateness and not giving the opportunity for them to provide their reasons. It is for this very reason that a combination of behaviours and reasoning should be the basis for assessment rather than one or the other.

Appearance bias / Look bias

Appearance bias encapsulates a variety of different biases. These biases include:

Beauty bias: The belief that those a person deems as attractive is successful whilst believing that others who they perceive as unattractive aren’t as competent and they will not have anything in common with.

Height bias: This is as simple as assuming someone who is the right height is an authority figure, those that may be deemed too tall or too short aren’t as competent or able to perform certain tasks to a required level.

Weight bias: The assumption that someone who may be overweight is lazy and unsuitable for a role or those that they perceive as underweight are weak, ill and cannot handle physical or mental responsibilities.

Appearance bias is typically derived from the same place as confirmation and affinity bias. Focusing on differences and perceiving them as negatives assumptions and pre-established beliefs, rather than basing an assessment on a person’s character and merit.

Culture bias

It is common to see some forms of bias towards those of a different sexuality, ethnicity, gender or religious background. Whilst for some, this may be an active form of discrimination, for others, it may be a belief that has become normalised due to their upbringing and surroundings. They may hear anti-trans sentiment in the media, encounter casual homophobia regularly, leading to unconscious bias against members of the LGBTQ+ community. The same principle can be applied to those who may be from a specific religion, where negative depictions have led to an unknowing perception, leading a person to distance themselves from a said group. Culture can be any number of things, and differences and how a person might learn about them can create an inherent and unknowing bias due to differences between each.

Racial bias

Much like culture biases, racial bias is based on the differences between one ethnicity and another. However, the differentiating factor between culture and racial bias is that culture bias may be based on understanding and perception, racial bias may encapsulate some of this but may also simply be based around ethnic bias.

An example of this might be a white person in a workplace feeling that somebody who is black is cannot carry out the role, with an unconscious belief about them and their community based entirely around their skin tone, disregarding any information presented to them. This type of bias can be tied to media depictions, upbringing and historical factors which may be missing context or has been misrepresented. It may not always be malicious, but it can be one of the most damaging unconscious biases and there must be conscious efforts made to overcome and eliminate such bias.

How to make the workplace inclusive

Once an organisation and its leadership teams are aware of the different types of biases which could put them at risk of creating an exclusive working environment that lacks diversity, they can begin to work towards creating a cohesive workforce. This new environment and the individuals within it will look to thrive on togetherness and using differences to fuel innovation, creativity and eventual results. Here are just a few strategies which can be used to cultivate an inclusive attitude and atmosphere in the workplace:

1. Clear policies

Hoping for an inclusive environment is simply not going to cut it. Actions need to be taken, and procedures need to be followed. This isn’t to be interpreted in an authoritarian manner, but having the initial guidelines in place can help shape workplace culture which will then begin to alter unconscious behaviour and attitudes. These policies might be based around recruitment strategies aiming to eliminate bias and hire the best candidates whilst introducing further diversity. It might be encouraging open communication through regular one-to-ones where people can air concerns, leading to a safer, more inclusive environment that encourages positive mental wellbeing. This will lead to greater success as well as legal compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

2. Regular training

Ensuring leadership teams within an organisation receive regular DE&I training keeps them up to date with new developments surrounding the topics of diversity, inclusion and unconscious biases. They can begin to better what understand what issues impact various groups of people and how to combat them, such as microaggressions, what are the different types of protected characteristics and so forth. From here, they can begin to not only impart knowledge on to the workforce to further positive attitudes and behaviours in the workplace, creating a self-sustaining environment of support.

3. Collect workforce feedback

Having the processes in place and the information of what may be having an impact on DE&I is only part of the battle. To truly create an environment of support, workforce wellbeing surveys need to be conducted regular to collect individual sentiment. This enables leadership teams to see below the surface and recognise issues which could be affecting individuals and then begin to amend them. Much like a risk assessment, wellbeing surveys can act to identify hazards which could lead to lower productivity and issues which could negatively impact workforce menta health.

How can monitoring forms and surveys help?

Monitoring forms and surveys are the tools that would not only be used to collect feedback from individuals regarding their concerns and feelings for issues in the workplace, but also used during the recruitment process.

This can help organisations to not only track how their people feel about issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, but also to track workforce demographics and assess where they may be faltering in terms of representation and diversity. If feedback from the forms and surveys are demonstrating trends in specific demographics where an issue might be raised, leadership teams can then begin to work on this and alter the culture. As an example of some of the questions seen in these surveys, they may include the following:

• Age

• Sex/gender

• Ethnicity

• Disability status

• Religion or beliefs

• Sexual orientation

• Marital or civil partnership status

• Caring responsibilities

• Socioeconomic background

After that, more specific questions may be posed around concerns, what they feel could be improved, if they are satisfied with the culture of organisation, if they feel personally represented or not, allowing leadership teams to identify trends and address issues.

If employees feel excluded

Despite best efforts, there may be a situation where an individual feels excluded in the workplace. This may be for a variety of reasons. It could be due to unconscious bias, it could be due to active prejudice, or it could simply come down to organisational culture and a lack of policies. Regardless of what the initial cause of the exclusion may be, it is crucial that leaders are able to identify the cause and amend it by finding a solution, as if it is impacting one person, it is likely others share the same sentiment.

This feeling of exclusion can be particularly damaging to a person’s standard of wellbeing, which leads to a downturn in team cohesion, efficiency and productivity. Organisations and their leadership teams cannot rest on their laurels and assume the feelings of one individual is an isolated incident. They have to work quickly to address the issue and prevent it from becoming an ingrained part of the organisation. If they fail to do so, it can result in individuals becoming disengaged, workforce discontent, increased costs due to reduced productivity and increased absences as well as higher turnover rates. As well as the on the level of how exclusion impacts individuals in the workforce, it can also result in violations of UK legislation, such as:

The Equality Act 2010

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

How an Employee Assistance Programme can help with DE&I

Promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the workplace requires consistent and dedicated efforts, with leadership that has the skills and awareness to recognise how important diversity and inclusion are to the wellbeing of their people. With HA | Wisdom Wellbeing’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), leadership teams can access a management support line and counselling to assist them to implement effective DE&I policies within their organisation. Using our 24-hour helpline, management and employees can access expert advice and solution-based counselling with BACP accredited professionals to support them through any issues they may be struggling with.

For further support, using the Peak Performance EAP, leadership teams will also have access to Life and Leadership Coaching courses, individuals can better understand the challenges they may face in life and how to overcome them. Covering a range of topics including communication, personal and professional relationships, stress management and a range of other topics, your people can feel supported and be equipped with the knowledge to overcome workplace prejudice and issues of exclusion.

Conclusion

DE&I policies in the workplace have become a heavy topic of debate as of late, but they are necessary for creating workplace cohesion. No working environment can reach its ultimate potential when people feel excluded and their wellbeing is negatively impacted. It is not just a personal issue; it will have a ripple effect and impact workforces as a whole. Working towards a consistent and reliable DE&I strategy will only boost team cohesion and workplace engagement.