Understanding unconscious bias is key to creating an inclusive workplace and to making the best business decisions. This course explores the concept of unconscious bias, the science behind it, and how it can affect the way employers hire, evaluate, and treat employees. We will also discuss strategies employers can use to reduce unconscious bias and create a more inclusive workplace.
Learning Objectives
- Uncover unconscious processes at play in decision-making, including during hiring, candidate selection, and performance assessments and how these automatic processes can adversely impact ourselves and others, particularly minority groups
- Strategize to reduce/eliminate the impact of inaccurate biases in decision-making
- Understand how to recover from a mistake rooted in unconscious bias in a way that builds trust, respect, and a foundation for an inclusive workplace
Major Topics
- Unconscious bias, including the five defining characteristics of unconscious bias
- The real-world impacts of unconscious biases, including impacts on racial minorities, women, and older workers
- The concept of microaggressions, with examples
- An effective strategy for adult learning that can be applied to change unconscious biases, which can also be used to learn other skills
- A framework for handling mistakes and using them to build trust and respect in the workplace. We call this the “oops, did I just say that?” section.
