Confronting Bias In The Workplace

People like to think they are unbiased, especially leaders. And why not? Bias connotes prejudice, discrimination, and antagonism—none of which look good on a job application or dating profile, and definitely, have no place in leadership.

Nobody wants to think they are biased. Everyone wants to believe that their decisions are based on irrefutable facts, but it’s not so easy to draw the line between subjective and objective when you are in the middle of it.

What can you do about it?

Confronting an issue that exists in the subconscious can seem like an impossible task, but it’s not. The first step to confronting unconscious bias is to admit to yourself that you can be harboring these biases. When you remove the barrier of denial, you can effectively examine your own judgments. Are your likes and dislikes based on objective fact or your own subjective experience?

At FranklinCovey, we are especially focused on confronting bias in the workplace because bias, in all its forms, wreaks havoc on engagement. Just imagine being passed over for a promotion because of bias. How engaged will you be going forward? Just imagine being marginalized based on your education. How engaged will you be?

If you want to build a culture of inclusion, one with high engagement, and one that reaps the rewards of true diversity, you’ve got to seek out bias and address it. If you can’t spot bias in your workplace, maybe someone you work with can. Ask them if they have seen bias or experienced bias.

Sharpen your habit of examining your own decisions, judgments, and conclusions, through practice. Making a conscious effort to improve is the first step toward confronting bias.

Download our guide, Manage Your Biases to Better Manage Your Team, to learn some strategies for identifying your biases as a leader and what you can do to manage them.

Previous Video

Attribution Bias In The Workplace

Attribution bias is the tendency to have different rationale for your own behavior versus that of others. I...

Improve Your Decision Making By Knowing Your Team's Stories

Cultivate meaningful connections with the members of your team to significantly improve your decision makin...

Manage Your Biases To Better Manage Your Team

Download Guide

Return to Home

We enable greatness in people and organizations everywhere.

Confronting Bias In The Workplace

Previous Video

Next Article

Confronting Bias In The Workplace

Previous Video

Next Article

Other content available

Unconscious biases affect how we make decisions, engage with others, and respond to various situations, often limiting potential, inhibiting performance, and leading to poor decisions.

Written in an approachable and practical style, The Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias gives readers the tools to reframe bias, cultivate connection, and create high-performing teams at work.

Research has shown that organizations that address bias achieve better organizational results. Jimmy McDermott shares how addressing bias impacts engagement, performance, and impacts the bottom line.

Until recently, having a diverse workforce was seen as desirable but not necessary. It could be acknowledged with a handful of initiatives to make progress for the future, but times have changed.

Combat the unconscious biases that are affecting decision making in your organization.

Attribution bias is the tendency to have different rationale for your own behavior versus that of others. Irene Stone shares ways to identify and address attribution bias in the workplace.

Cultivate meaningful connections with the members of your team to significantly improve your decision making and consequently, their engagement.

Bias can be a heavy word. People often conflate it with prejudice, racism, discrimination, or sexism. But bias, on its face, is not inherently good or bad.

Identity matters. Each of our unique identifiers is a lens through which we experience life. Brandon Stone explains how some identifiers grant advantages and disadvantages.

When it comes to our biases, it’s important to get feedback on how we are perceived and how our actions and decisions might be impacting others.

Effectively addressing bias means being both bold and careful. Sydney Eichers shares some ways to be bold and courageous to address bias in the workplace.

Bias isn’t just about ‘disliking’ someone, or something, it is equally about favoring groups or individuals over others.

How we cope with bias can be different in every situation. Kory Kogon shares some ways to act with courage when addressing bias.

If you think that unconscious bias only applies to interpersonal relationships, think again. Bias can have a massive impact on your organization’s ability to innovate effectively.

Kory Kogon discusses negativity bias in the workplace and how to avoid it by not allowing one negative thing to override many positive things.

You’ve decided to take bias seriously, but don’t know where to begin. Here are some tips to help you succeed in identifying and addressing bias in your personal and professional life.

Mike Hassett explains three common bias traps where we are more prone than usual to rely on biased thinking.

Everyone has biases, whether they are conscious or conscious, but where do they come from? Bias is often traced back to these five things.

Pamela Fuller, FranklinCovey’s Inclusion and Bias Thought Leader and Global Client Partner, answers the question of whether or not everyone is biased.

Gender and race aren’t the only areas where people commonly harbor unconscious (and conscious) biases. Here are some other common (and lesser-known) areas where bias comes into play.