Part One, Examine Dimensions

ILRHR527: Countering Bias in the Workplace for HR

Cornell University ILR School

Part One, Examine Dimensions

In this part of the course project, you will identify the dimensions of diversity that matter most in your society and in your organization and think about any organizational disruptors that may exist.

First, you will identify what’s going on at the societal level in which you’re working. Consider the socio-historical landscape. The sets of dimensions that matter will vary by country and perhaps by region. In some parts of the US, for example, one religious group may be dominant and being part of that religious group may be significant in terms of networking or having access to people in decision-making positions.

Second, you will reflect upon your organization and identify who, in terms of the dimensions of diversity, enjoys the greater privilege.

Finally, you will consider your organization and identify what, if any, disruptors there are for each privilege. Disruptors are the forces that change or shake up our old ways of behaving, acting, and doing business. For example, in a business owned and operated by women, a disruptor exists in terms of gender.

Complete the grid below.
Dimension of Diversity / In my society, who has greater privilege? / In my organization, who has greater privilege? / In my organization, are there disruptors? What are they?
Example:
Gender / Example:
Men / Example:
Men / Example: We have a woman CEO and CFO, and 40% of our board is women
Gender
Race/Ethnicity
Dimension of Diversity / In my society, who has greater privilege? / In my organization, who has greater privilege? / In my organization, are there disruptors? What are they?
Religion
Education (both level and type)
Body type
Member of organized labor
Age
Sexual orientation
Work history
Note any other dimensions of diversity you think are significant:

Part Two, Recognize the Effects of Unconscious Bias

Now you will take steps to recognize unconscious bias and how it affects the way that people perceive, evaluate, and react to others. You will look at your organization through “bias glasses,” using your newfound awareness to identify evidence of unconscious bias that you might not have recognized before. (Remember as you work through this project that identifying evidence of unconscious bias is not a criticism of the organization or of individual employees.)

Complete the grid below.
Examples of evidence of unconscious bias: / Note your observations: / How does this affect the way that people perceive and evaluate others? Note your ideas:
Example: Lack of women in leadership roles / Example: We only have one woman in an executive leadership role, and this has been the case for several years. Furthermore, she and the other women who are relatively senior are clustered within HR. There are no women in visible leadership positions in other functions. / Example: I think the fact that there is only one woman in senior management sends a message to employees that women are not perceived to be as competent or able to handle those roles, and that this particularly the case in functions like operations and sales that are more “male-typed.”
Do you see any evidence of a likeability penalty?
Do you see any evidence that lower status groups are interrupted more, talked over more, given fewer chances to speak up in meetings?
Consider how success and failure are evaluated. Have you seen evidence that higher status groups are given more benefit of the doubt than lower status groups? Is the success of lower status groups more often attributed to the help of others or lucky circumstances? Or perhaps is the failure of lower status groups seen as confirming doubts while that of higher status groups is assumed to be due to unfortunate circumstances?
Examples of evidence of unconscious bias: / Note your observations: / How does this affect the way that people perceive and evaluate others? Note your ideas:
Do you see evidence that all groups are not represented in senior leadership?
Do you see any evidence that lower status individuals are penalized for not participating (while higher status individuals are celebrated for participating) in “communal service behaviors”?
Do you see evidence of artifacts that might be reinforcing unconscious bias? (One example of artifacts could be hallway portraits of the organization’s board members who are all white men.)
Consider how behaviors are evaluated. Do you see any evidence that “leadership behaviors,” such as aggressiveness and speaking up, are evaluated positively for men and negatively for women?
Note any other evidence of unconscious biases that you think you have observed in the workplace.

Part Three, Assess Existing Practices

Now you will critically assess whether your organization’s HR practices are likely to reduce (or exacerbate) the negative outcomes associated with unconscious bias. Complete the worksheet below regarding what you know about the design and implementation of HR practices within your organization.

Complete the grid below.
HR Practice / Your Notes: How does your implementation reduce (or exacerbate) unconscious bias?
Example:
Hiring Practices (Are they transparent and standardized?) / Example: Our hiring practices are transparent for entry-level positions, but are less so for senior-level positions. People get hired for senior positions without an internal job posting; sometimes people don’t even know that a position was available until they hear that someone new has been hired into it. This exacerbates unconscious bias; it contributes to the perception that this is an “exclusive club” that only the privileged belong to.
Hiring Practices
(Are they transparent and standardized?)
Interview Panels
(Do we use panels to reduce unconscious bias or do we rely on individuals’ opinions?)
Candidate Evaluations
(Do we use objective and standard criteria, or do we rely on individual managers’ subjective judgment?)
Internal Promotion Practices
(Are the practices transparent? Are they offered fairly? Are criteria for promotion written and standardized across the organization?)
HR Practice / Your Notes: How does your implementation reduce (or exacerbate) unconscious bias?
Performance Appraisals
(Are they standardized, based on objective performance criteria, and the same for everyone?)
Accountability
(Do managers make subjective decisions, or are they held accountable and expected to be fair and objective?)
Personnel Decisions
(Do we have systems in place to monitor or evaluate personnel decisions made by individual managers?)
Performance Feedback
(Are employees told how and when they will receive performance feedback? Are they told in advance the criteria for success?)
Standardized Evaluation Forms
(Do we use standardized forms, which reduce subjectivity and bias?)
Social Networking
(Do we avoid using social networking to fill job roles, since social networking can favor people in our schematic category?)
Bias Language
Do we avoid using male-typed words in job descriptions, such as “strong leader,” in favor of evidence-based performance criteria, such as “proven sales track record.”
Inclusive Thinking
Is there a tendency for people to focus on reasons for including people – especially people who seem “untraditional” – or excluding them because they don’t fit the norm?
Inclusive Benefits
Are our benefits inclusive of employees of different backgrounds (e.g., same-sex partner benefits, flexible work arrangements)? If they are, do people feel that they can take advantage of them without suffering a penalty for doing so?
Bias Interrupters
Are people trained to identify expressions of bias when discussing competence and potential? For example, highlighting counter-stereotypic evidence, questioning whether behavior or performance has been evaluated similarly across people, or making sure that credit is given where credit is due?

Part Four, Identify Interventions

In this part of the course project, you will identify appropriate interventions or solutions.

Review Parts One, Two, and Three of this project in which you assessed your organization in terms of dimensions of diversity, considered the effects of unconscious bias, and assessed existing HR practices. Where did you see evidence of opportunities for improvement?

Choose two of the HR policies or practices that you think need improvement. Describe your recommended intervention. What do you think your organization should do to reduce the negative effects of unconscious bias in those two cases?

Complete the grid below.
Identified Area for Improvement: / My Recommended Solution:
Example:
Our performance appraisals are not standardized but are left up to managers’ subjective judgments. / I suggest we move to a system of standardized performance appraisals. However, in developing standardized rating criteria, we need to be mindful of biased language and use language that describes specific, observable behaviors rather than less tangible characteristics that may be more strongly associated with stereotypes of some groups than others. We need to ensure that employees are aware of the criteria that will be used to evaluate them, and encourage managers to record specific examples of employee behaviors that are illustrative of different levels of performance. Finally, in order to ensure that managers provide coaching to all of their direct reports and not just those who they may favor, employees should be asked in the annual survey whether they received useful feedback and coaching from their manager as part of the performance appraisal process.
1. / 1.
2. / 2.

Part Five, Action Plan

In this part of the course project, you will identify SMART (specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, time-based) goals for yourself. This may or may not relate to implementing strategies for the entire organization, but could be about what you will do as part of your everyday work life and/or in making others aware of possible improvements that could be made to HR practices and why.

Complete the grid below.
Action Plan Elements / Outline Your Plans
Solutions (Specific)
Describe the two interventions you identified in Part Four of this course project. Why do you think these are the two most important priorities to focus on first? Explain your choices and offer a rationale for how you think your strategies will help.
Measurements/Results
Describe how you will measure the success of your recommended solutions. What will success look like? How will you measure the effects of the solution?
Steps (Actions)
Describe your plans for action. What will you do first, second, and third? Be as clear as you can in identifying the actions you take.
Realistic
Describe what you can do and what’s feasible for you. It may not be feasible for you to implement changes team-wide, but what is within your sphere of influence?
Time-based
Identify your timeline for implementation. When do you plan to implement (or suggest) the two recommendations you have identified?

To submit this assignment, please refer to the instructions in the course.