As organisations grow, the topics of diversity and inclusion become an important component of the people strategy that cannot be overlooked. Employers need to make sure they are catering for all their people equally, as the business world continues to become more diverse, and to ensure an inclusive mindset, one that equips current and future leaders with the tools needed to deal with such diversity and which enables everyone to take a stand on inclusion.
The first stage to ensuring inclusivity is the awareness phase, and this needs to be brought about by leaders, who first and foremost, need to reflect on their own possible unconscious bias and ask themselves
'Do any of my actions, thoughts, or conversations have a bias?'.
You are likely to answer 'NO!’ or wish this is true.
Unconscious bias is not a myth but a reality that needs to be challenged by creating awareness and understanding. We need to ensure we recognise it and understand how it influences the way we work and act towards each other. Our actions, even if unintentional, can potentially impact the experiences of our colleagues, staff, clients and indeed anyone we interact with.
Research shows that our brains automatically sort information and reach conclusions without our awareness, including our perceptions and categorisations of people. The science of unconscious bias explains that we are hardwired to prefer people who are similar to us, and this can influence our behaviour and decision-making.
There are certain types of unconscious bias that are common in a business environment. Being familiar with such possible occurrences is a skill set to be developed in order to challenge non-inclusive behaviours and mitigate the impact they can have. Although there are different types of bias, confirmation bias, proximity bias and similarity bias are some of the most common.
Confirmation bias occurs from the influence of desire on beliefs and is fuelled by wishful thinking. It is when people think of an idea and eventually believe that this is true without gathering further information.
An example of this would be a person with low self-esteem prone to the idea of thinking that s/he is likely to be ignored, or unliked, by others and ends up being biased towards negative feelings or interactions, and interpreting any negative exchange as proof of this ‘fact’.
Now that we are aware of what unconscious bias is and its potential effect on others, the next stage is achieving an empathetic mindset. Developing an Emotionally Intelligent (EI) mindset is a skill that helps leaders better understand themselves and others, and lays the foundations for us to understand how we can interact most effectively in the workplace. Without EI, there is no empathy, and as such, it is essential for developing an Inclusive Mindset and eliminating most forms of unconscious bias. Empathy may be seen as a skill that is "nice to have", but we now know that it is an essential skill when it comes to managing relationships and people. Having empathy teaches us to ask the right questions, value our people more, and increases teamwork and engagement.
Finally, let’s empower ourselves to be brave, be an ally, and be role models. Let’s start by taking the time to question ourselves and be a sponsor for others in conversations we are involved in. Make it a habit to ask yourself the following question: ‘What evidence do I have to support this perspective, decision or opinion?’ Follow up by creating and thinking of inclusive practices in anything that you choose to do or say on a daily basis, especially in meetings.
People and organisations come together to demand inclusivity in different shapes and forms. Everyone must commit to valuing individual differences, giving and seeking feedback, accepting responsibility for their actions and taking a stand on inappropriate behaviours. We can't leave anyone behind. That's the world we want to operate and do our business in. Change doesn’t happen by standing still.
