Unconscious Bias – Fair Treatment in Performance Management

• Inclinations or preferences • Below level of awareness• Either for or against an individual or a group• Interferes with impartial judgment• Leads to disparity and unfair treatment

Primary Traits• Age• Mental/Physical Ability• Ethnicity • Sexual Orientation • Race• Gender

Biases Can Be For or Against Individuals or Groups Based On:

Secondary Traits

• Religion• Education• Geographic Location• Communication Style• Marital/Relationship Status• Appearance • Working Style• Language/Accent• Family Status• Economic Status• Traditions/Observances

Status or Affiliation• Industry• Union affiliation• Level• Company role• Location• Tenure• Management Status• Work Experience • Network • Division/Department

Behaviors or Beliefs• Power and Authority Views• Body Language• Beliefs on Time• Competition or Cooperation• Conflict Resolution• Personal Space• Individual or Team• Flexibility vs Structure

Unconscious Bias

Unconscious Bias – Fair Treatment in Performance Management

True or False: Everyone Has Biases

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When have you experienced or witnessed bias in the workplace?

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Amygdala – fight or flight impulseMesolimbic system – pleasure impulse

What was the impact to the individual and the organization?

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Unconscious Bias – Fair Treatment in Performance Management

Well Being• Reward/ Recognition• Benefits• Social Connection• Work/Life Harmony• Social Impact

Career Path• Recruiting/Hiring• Performance/Promotion• Coaching/Training• Mentoring/Sponsoring• Termination

Team Dynamics• Assignments• Processes• Idea Selection• Meetings• Conflict Resolution

Situations Where Bias Can ExistWork Outcomes InnovationRisk MitigationLearning and GrowthRelationshipsJob Satisfaction

Bias Impacts Engagement

Organizations with inclusive cultures are:

AwarenessMindfulnessEmotional IntelligenceDiverse PerspectivesStructural ChecksChampions

Ways to Reduce Bias

Unconscious Bias – Fair Treatment in Performance Management

Availability Believing examples that come to mind easily are more representative than may be true.

Bandwagon EffectDoing or believing something because others are doing it, regardless of personal preferences, beliefs or information.

Confirmation Focusing on information that affirms existing beliefs and rejects information that runs counter to existing views.

Ethnicity/Race Discrimination against individuals based on their ethnic and/or racial group.

Gender Preference or prejudice toward one gender over others.

Halo/Horn EffectAssuming that one positive or negative trait means that someone is generally good or bad.

Heterosexism & CissexismConceptualizing human experience in strictly heterosexual (male-female attraction) and cisgender (identity alignment with sex assigned at birth) terms.

Ingroup Favoring members of one’s own group(s) over groups considered as outsiders (e.g. generation, hobbies, interests, family structure, religion, etc.).

Loss Aversion Preferring the avoidance of loss to acquiring equivalent gains (e.g. giving a low performer a higher rating because of fear of attrition versus the possibility of acquiring better talent).

Recency/History EffectRelying on events that occurred more recently because they are easier to recall or events that occurred in the past before the evaluation period because they prove or disprove favorability.

StereotypesRelying on oversimplified perceptions about an individual based on group, identity (e.g. race, gender, education, profession, etc.).

Common Unconscious Biases In Performance Management

Unconscious Bias – Fair Treatment in Performance Management

Performance Management Biases Case Studies

1. Rajesh is on a review committee and several of his peers argue against Tunde being considered high potential because she is not “seen as a leader”, even though she has gotten outstanding results in the past three evaluation periods. One reviewer based his opinion solely on one recent meeting where Tunde chose to stay quiet in a disagreement versus jumping in with her opinion. While Rajesh disagrees, he feels compelled to go along with the group.

• What types of biases may exist?

• Why does it matter?

2. Linda is in the process of rating the performance for two of her managers, Juan and George. While Juan has exceeded his targets in the past year, she hesitates to give him the highest rating. She can’t help thinking that Juan is relatively new to the company and to her team. She also thinks that George, while he came a little short of meeting his goals, has worked hard for over twenty years, and has contributed so much over the years that he deserves the highest rating. She is also worried that George may leave if she doesn’t rate him high and give him a pay increase.

• What types of biases may exist?

• Why does it matter?

If you have completed the cases and time remains in the breakout, discuss whether you have seen biases such as these in your experience.

Unconscious Bias – Fair Treatment in Performance Management

The Role of People and Transformation

• Many leaders continue to be unaware of unconscious biases

• Many leaders are distracted and take shortcuts in the decision-making process

Champions for Fair Treatment

Self-Rater• Assist seeing potential biases

that could cause them to overrate or underrate

• Assist seeing how self-rating may influence manager ratings

• Tendencies of comparison with other colleagues

Rater• Assist seeing bias tendencies• Encourage exploring opposing

viewpoints• Encourage giving necessary

time and focus• Encourage them using inclusion

nudges and other aids

Coach Influence

What are you committing to do to champion fair treatment?

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What support do you need to effectively coach and influence?

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Structure• Evaluate interpretation of

competencies, rating areas and weighting to uncover biases

• Raise potential issues to P&T leadership

Calibration Meetings• Establish bias as a derailing

factor upfront to raise awareness• Establish a clear process for

discussing bias throughout the process

• Create clear norms for discussion and decision-making to mitigate power dynamics

• Establish role of P&T upfront as champion for fairness

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