Part 2 – How to identify unconscious bias

We already know that cultural bias can happen at a partially unconscious level, and it can, for example in recruitment, seem like the involved parties believe they are acting impartially and reflexively. However, their behavior might still be influenced on a deeper level. An example of that this perception has changed is that in the past, women and minorities such as migrants were kept out of a workplace by explicit cultural rules and practices – meaning that the cultural bias was clear and conscious – but today the discrimination is more subtle, which is why there is a need to develop new conceptual tools to understand the unconscious bias – in this research – specifically in regards to migrants (Akram, S., 2017).

Identifying cultural unconscious bias involves documenting the different elements that are unconscious, as this allows insight to the individual’s own biases. It is important to note that one method or strategy may not give the immediate access to unconscious biases or give a complete picture of these, however it will help to capture some of them and give a sense of the dimension (Akram, S., 2017).

Documenting the current processes in the organization is a practical solution proposed as the “Six Red Flags” by Egan et al., 2018 as a tool in understanding your business’ cultural unconscious bias towards people with a migration background and where to improve to avoid these in the future. The six flags cover the following topics:

1. Analysis and reports on biases; organizations often study their lack of diversity and lack of focus on recruiting migrants; however, these reports end up on the shelf quickly afterwards. Finding the similarity in themes occurring year after year and tabulate the issues to see the patterns.
2. Race matching; an assumption is that people form better relationships with others from their own ethnic minority, thinking that “all minorities are alike”. This has been proven wrong and it also limits career opportunities for minorities, such as migrants.
3. Training in reducing unconscious bias; individuals need to be equipped with the right skills and tools to control biases. Managers need to be trained in this to also influence each other and the organizational environment.
4. Monitoring of differences in pay, promotions, attitudes, and job opportunities; repeated monitoring and analysis helps to identify problems and design appropriate solutions. Simple techniques can give the data needed to identify or avoid differences within the organization.
5. Managerial accountability for inclusion of migrants and people with a migration background; a “free pass” on diversity and inclusion can create a conflict with the core business goals, so these inputs need to be tracked, measured, and managed. Procedures are available to hold employees accountable through performance evaluations, bonuses, incentives, or promotions.
6. Recruitment strategy; is migrant recruitment a priority only for entry-level, or also middle and senior levels?

The main point of looking through these six elements of your business is to make the organizational culture and climate inclusive as these are a key factor to a sustainable strategy for identifying unconscious bias and thereby improving these (Egan et al., 2018).