1. Overcoming Bias in you workplace
Your opportunity to make a difference!
Thank everyone for coming
Safe environment
Everyone has biases, no finger pointing, assumptions...focus on self and how to improve
How many of you listened to the podcast from BBC? The Why Factor, Unconscious Bias

2. Poll Have heard of unconscious bias but don’t know much about it
Pretty familiar with unconscious bias and how it works
Personally experienced some sort of bias
Witnessed or overheard someone else experience bias
Personally intervened when witnessed bias
Can identify which biases you have
Say:
Raise of hands…
Don’t know much about - what do you want to know more about?
Familiar - give me an example?
Personally experienced - tell story?
Witnessed or overheard - What did you hear/what did you do?
Intervened - what did you do?
Identify bias - what is it? Do you know how it was developed?
What type of bias have your experienced, witnesses, or intervened with?

3. Learning Objectives
Explain unconscious bias & how it impacts you and others around you
Identify different types of bias and learn how to overcome it
Reduce workplace stereotypes and be an advocate for change
Learn to advocate for yourself and others in ways that are non- threatening and easy
Read:
Explain unconscious bias
Understand how it can negatively influence workplace decisions
Identify individual bias and how to adjust it
Reduce workplace stereotypes and be an advocate for change
Ensure the best talent is;
Being hired
Being included and contributing ideas
Being fairly recognized and rewarded opportunities

4. Unconscious Bias @ Work - Making the Unconscious Conscious
Facilitator Notes:
What resonated with you in this video?
I really like this video because it demonstrates how important unconscious bias is in the workplace regarding recruiting and hiring the best talent (like Enrico who was autistic and struggled during the interviewing process). It also discusses how you as an individual can grow and develop by eliminating incorrect assumptions and sticking with data and facts.
T.V Raman (blind man with different cultural background) used his own disability to ensure he thinks about every user and what their experience may be like based upon their ability, inability, special ability, or disability.

5. Conscious vs Unconscious Bias
Bias is a subjective preference toward a particular viewpoint or belief that prevents a person from maintaining objectivity.
Implicit or unconscious biases are attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.
Activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control.
Facilitator Notes:
Refers to attitudes and beliefs we have about a person or group on a conscious level. Explicit bias tends to show up most as a result of a perceived threat. However, some explicit and implicit biases can be positive but be careful that it is still a bias and could offend.
Unconscious bias is when our mind makes snap decisions for us based on filtering all of the information that is coming at us all day long. (i.e. avoiding cars, ordering coffee, where to sit on the bus). Most of what we feel and decide is driven by unconscious processing.
*What is an example of favorable vs unfavorable UB?
Workplace Tolerance Bias Awareness (2008 EAPTools.com)
Understanding Implicit Bias (Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity)

6. Unconscious Bias Affects?
Our Perception – how we see people and perceive reality
Our Attitude – how we react towards certain people
Our Behaviors – how receptive/friendly we are towards certain people
Our Attention/Listening Skills – who we pay attention to and actively listen to what certain people have to say
Our Micro-affirmations – how much or how little we acknowledge and include people in certain situations
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

7. How it is formed
Unconscious bias is formed simply from being members of our society.
It is influenced by;
Our background
Cultural environment
Personal experiences
Biased media
Repeat exposure to stereotypical associations and prejudices that become engraved in our long-term memory
We all have some form of unconscious bias
Facilitator Notes:
I talk about how this starts as we are toddlers and then our parents were programmed as toddlers, and grandparents were programmed as toddlers, etc. This information came from our parents, teachers, friends, media, books, and their parents, teachers, news/media before them and so on and so forth.
Unconscious bias is influenced by our;
background, environment and experiences. (i.e. where we lived, what our neighborhood was like, rich or poor, blended family, etc)
Personal experiences:
Media: politics, crime, justice, etc.
Associations and affiliations: church, community service, military, sports, etc.
Anybody want to add anything?
Unconscious bias doesn’t make us bad it makes us human. It’s what we do to change our behavior that will help us expand our thinking and diversify our thoughts.
Just because we all have unconscious bias doesn’t mean we can ignore it. It is imperative that we consider our biases for the good of our company, industry, and our society.
Storey, S. (2016). Making millions from theory. Huffpost Business.

8. The rock star was unhappy about the amount of alcohol at the party
The nun was unhappy about the amount of alcohol at the party
The Rock Star & The Nun
After weighing all the circumstances, the CEO decided to terminate a few employees
After weighing all the circumstances, the DRUG DEALER decided to terminate a few employees
The Drug Lord & the CEO
Unconscious Bias

9. The Problem

10. FIX THE ENVIRONMENT, NOT THE PEOPLE
Minority Groups Aren’t Broken
Majority Groups Aren’t The Enemy
Culprit = Societal Biases We All Share
We Can Take Action Together
FIX THE ENVIRONMENT, NOT THE PEOPLE
Facilitator Notes:
Read slide and reinforce how the problem is our societal biases

11. Importance of Diversity Balance
Better innovation
Stronger problem solving
Higher team productivity
Increased sales revenue
Bigger market share
High profitability
Greater return on equity
Lower attrition rates
Facilitator Notes:
What we aim for is a diversity balance at SendGrid. If we are going to live into our potential being a diverse workforce, this is imperative.
We need to create an environment where diverse teams feel comfortable presenting ideas, raising their voice whether it be in agreement or a differing opinion, and are welcomed and appreciated for their experiences.
Do:
Ask a few people to give examples of when they have seen positive impacts of diversity balance.
Let’s move on and look at the different types of unconscious bias in the workplace.

12. Types of Unconscious Bias
Page 7 of workbook has descriptions and a place to take notes.

13. How it shows up in the workplace
Unconscious Bias shows up in the following areas;
Recruiting & Selecting
Employee Development
Performance Management
Teams
Facilitator Notes:
Unconscious bias in the workplace shows up while most in 4 distinct areas: recruiting and selecting, developing employees, during performance management and in teams. This affects the way managers grow and lead teams, the way employees work with each other and the way the business innovates and thrives.
We will discuss what this looks like in the workplace more as we review each bias that is being covered today.

14. Types of Bias
Micro-inequities - Subtle, unintentional and unconscious gestures, different language, tone of voice or treatment of specific groups of individuals based on our unconscious bias or assumptions
Stereotype - Categories used to generalize and judge individuals or groups based on race, gender, ethnicity, culture, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities and age. Implies that all people in the group are the same without knowing them.

15. Making it past first round of auditions increased 50%
Facilitator Note:
U.S. orchestra revealed women’s odds of making it past the first round of auditions increased 50% with blind auditions

16. https:://managingbias.fb.com/
Resumes with white-sounding names received 50% more calls for interviews than identical resumes with black-sounding names.
Facilitator Note:
Race bias:
» Resumes with stereotypically white names, such as Emily and Greg, receive 50% more call backs than equivalent resumes with stereotypically black names, such as Lakisha or Jamal.
h t t p s : / / m a n a g i n g b i a s . f b . c o m / h t t p s : / / m a n a g i n g b i a s . f b . c o m / h t t p s : / / . f b . c o m /

17. Workplace Stereotypes

18. Types of Bias
Conformity- Caused by group peer pressure that resembles groupthink or “following the herd”
People think and behave like those around them rather than using their own personal judgment
Self/Social Comparison- Comparing others to ourselves or vice versa
Promotes judgmental, biased, and superior attitudes towards others
Self/Social Comparison
Caught up in the “how” someone is working versus the outcome
“She’s not organized” vs. “Her process/structure is different”
Perceiving others do not work as hard as you and therefore, aren’t as hungry
“He is always leaving right at 5pm so he must need more work”
Thought highly of a candidate until reviewing feedback from interview committee and you change your mind
Employee is labeled and treated a certain way by the rest of the team; negatively impacts manager with employee development decisions
Manager allows opinions of others to affect the employee/manager relationship
Strained work relationships
Lack of empathy and understanding towards people

19. More Bias
Affinity- Drawn to someone because you share similarities, have a connection, or think they are “like me”
Confirmation- Look for ways to support our beliefs or perceptions
Make an assumption about someone and subconsciously look for evidence to back it up
Tend to be storylines we create about someone or something and look for ways to validate our story
Overlook and ignore information that doesn’t support their assumptions
Hard on candidates with different backgrounds; easier questions if they are more like you
Overlooking candidates for ones that are like you
Assign special projects to specific individuals - usually the same people get the choice projects
Rating someone low because of one thing you don’t like or because they aren’t like you
Micro-cliques form around “like” groups
In other words, we seek out and find what we are looking for to support our beliefs or perception. This is used every time we have a bias (conscious or unconscious) because we are seeking to confirm it’s okay that we feel the way we do.

21. Active Bystander Intervention
Active bystanders are people who;
Will point out bias and non inclusive behavior
Are effected by what is said or done either to them or someone else
Is a supervisor and should be making every attempt to break bias in the workplace
We can’t assume it is solely the responsibility of managers

22. Bystander Involvement
Be visible
Join a group or non-profit supporting underrepresented groups
Wear stickers or t-shirts supporting certain groups
Continue to support company initiatives for Diversity & Inclusion
Bring it up
Share articles, television/movie snippets or stories with your team to start a conversation
Point it out
Speak up on behalf of someone or point out privately
Discuss with manager or HRBP to address perceived behavior

23. Group Discussion Is it Bias? Should you address?
How can you intervene?
What gets in your way?

24. Interrupting Bias

25. In Summary
We all have some form of unconscious bias; learn to make it conscious
Diversity balance creates innovation, solutions to problems, increased productivity, and lower attrition rates
Unconscious bias can impact recruiting & selection, employee development, performance management, teams, and employee engagement

26. Next Steps Make the unconscious conscious and identify your own biases
14 IAT assessments
Be a part of the conversation and engage in building an inclusive culture where you work
Be an advocate
Talk to your team about this training and potential biases amongst the team
Commit to addressing any bias that needs immediate attention
Provide one “ah-ha” moment from the training
Tell me what you are going to do differently

27. Resources
BBC World Service: The Why Factor, Unconscious Bias
Participants take a minimum of two quizzes prior to class. ml
National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT)
g-box-series-full-series

28. From the Mouth of a Child…..
Majority of our biases are formed when we are very young. Watch this short video of a girl who is tired of what commercials and department store merchandising is insinuating.

29. Thank You!