Diversity News April 2010 Yvonne: Federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, political association, religion, national origin, and genetic information. Federal law also prohibits HARASSMENT because of a person’s sex and prohibits RETALIATION against someone who has complained about discrimination. Brenda: But Federal law does NOT prohibit prejudice, or bias, since these represent ATTITUDES and not BEHAVIORS. And yet, these ATTITUDES provide the foundations of, and the motivations for, discriminatory behaviors. Yvonne: Because BIAS fuels the fires of discrimination, ADDRESSING bias in the workplace is an important part of diversity management. And although ELIMINATING bias may not be possible, there ARE ways of REDUCING bias. In THIS edition of Diversity News, we’ll take a look at some ways that YOU can help reduce bias in the workplace, by changing the ways you THINK about, FEEL about, or ACT TOWARD others. Yvonne: As we have discussed in previous editions of Diversity News, workplaces are more diverse than ever. And, as we’ve ALSO discussed in previous editions, this increased diversity CAN contribute to improved organizational performance. But the BENEFITS of workforce diversity remain under-utilized in workplace environments where BIAS exists. In her book, “Making Diversity Work -- Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace,” Sondra Thiederman examines problems related to BIAS toward diversity in the workplace. In her book, Dr. Thiederman defines bias as “an inflexible positive or negative prejudgment about the nature, character, and abilities of an individual, based on a generalized idea about the group to which the person belongs.” And Doctor Thiederman divides bias into three categories: The FIRST category of bias that Doctor Thiederman describes is CONSCIOUS bias, which is typically accompanied by blatantly biased behaviors. CONSCIOUSLY biased people, when confronted about their bias, will DEFEND their beliefs as being reasonable. The SECOND category of bias that Doctor Thiederman describes is UNCONSCIOUS bias. Although this type of bias may also be accompanied by biased behavior, it will NOT be defended as reasonable. Quite the contrary. When confronted with the accusation that they are biased, people with an UNCONSCIOUS bias will apologize and will change their behavior. The THIRD category of bias that Doctor Thiederman describes is “Guerrilla Bias.” “Guerrilla Bias” is similar to unconscious bias in that the biased person is usually unaware that he or she is biased. It differs from the other forms of bias in that it is disguised as KINDNESS. “Guerrilla Bias” is based on the assumption that women, minorities, and people with disabilities are fragile in some way and need special treatment. Brenda: Doctor Thiederman provides a step-by-step strategy for MINIMIZING bias and MAXIMIZING the ability to manage diversity effectively. According to Doctor Thiederman, the FIRST step in defeating bias in the workplace is to become mindful of your own biases. And Doctor Thiederman provides several strategies for becoming mindful of your biases: First, OBSERVE your thoughts. As Doctor Thiederman points out, ALL biases, even the most deeply subconscious ones, periodically appear in the form of a thought. It’s our job to EXAMINE those thoughts to discover what they tell us about our hidden beliefs. So, the next strategy Doctor Thiederman recommends is to EXAMINE your thoughts to determine what they really mean or where they really come from. You may have a bias that tricks you into believing that all women are physically or emotionally weak, or that all men are aggressive or insensitive. Another strategy that Doctor Thiederman recommends is to explore your attitudes toward human difference. According to Doctor Thiederman, people who have FEW biases tend to be fairly indifferent toward human differences. That doesn’t mean that they DENY that differences exist or that differences don’t MATTER. As Doctor Thiederman says, if a difference is pertinent to a situation, it is our obligation to take it into consideration. A final strategy for becoming mindful of your biases is to observe your behavior. The choices we make provide us with valuable opportunities for self-discovery. Yvonne: According to Doctor Thiederman, the SECOND step in defeating bias in the workplace is to put your biases through TRIAGE. In that, she means that we need to go after those biases that either cause PAIN or that interfere with our ability to function successfully. Doctor Thiederman poses six questions to assist with that process. “Does your bias compromise your ability to hire the best people?” Biases can interfere with appropriate hiring decisions by preventing the accurate evaluation of applicants. “Does your bias interfere with your ability to retain quality employees?” Biases threaten the retention of quality employees in many ways, including the distortion of perception about what individuals of diverse backgrounds have to offer. “Does your bias interfere with corporate productivity and individual success?” Biases can interfere with productivity and success by causing us to hold some people to lower standards of performance, by preventing us from providing appropriate feedback, or by causing us to act in ways that make our biases self- fulfilling prophesies. “Does your bias interfere with your ability to sustain harmonious teams?” Biases can interfere with the harmony of diverse teams when they result in our giving unreasonable preferential treatment to some members at the expense of others. Does your bias compromise the success of your customer service efforts? Biases can interfere with successful sales or service efforts by causing us to misinterpret the needs or attitudes of customers. Does your bias put your organization at risk for litigation? Bias has a way of resulting in litigation, not only when it is blatant, but also when it is masquerading as good intentions. Brenda: According to Doctor Thiederman, the THIRD step in defeating bias in the workplace involves identifying the alleged benefits, or imagined gains, that you might obtain as a result of your biases. Doctor Thiederman identifies SEVERAL possibilities for alleged benefits or imagined gains. For example, “the power to predict behavior.” Biases provide us with the illusion that we already know what people are like and how they will behave. Another imagined gain obtained from bias is our “Protection from diminished status.” That is, bias enables us to look down on others from our position of imagined superiority. Another alleged benefit of bias is “Protection from loss.” According to Doctor Thiederman, fear of losing something that we believe to be rightfully ours is one of the most common reasons for the development of a bias. Another imagined benefit of bias is “protection from emotional pain.” Doctor Thiederman refers to this as “the bias bias” since it holds that certain groups are inevitably biased against others. Another imagined benefit of bias is as “an excuse to avoid discomfort.” That is, some biases allow us to feel better about avoiding people around whom we feel uncomfortable. Yvonne: According to Doctor Thiederman, the FOURTH step in defeating bias in the workplace is to dissect our biases. By looking at each of our biases LOGICALLY, she says, we can WEAKEN their power to interfere with our accurate perceptions of others. Doctor Thiederman suggests three questions we can ask ourselves in order to dissect our biases. First, “Where did I learn the bias and under what circumstances?” We pick up some of our biases consciously or subconsciously from our parents, from our friends, or from other people we know. Other biases may develop through our exposure to news stories or other media. And other biases develop through our own experiences, as we make generalizations about people or situations we encounter. Another question we can ask ourselves in order to dissect our biases is, “How often have I actually encountered people who CONFORM to this bias?” As Doctor Thiederman points out, biases often grow out of ONE experience with ONE person. Or, at most, with one small group of people. Another question we can ask ourselves in order to dissect our biases is, “Have I ever encountered people who do NOT conform to this bias.” Even if every single encounter we have with members of a group to which we are biased, it doesn’t mean that our bias is correct. It just means that we have to make a greater effort to expose ourselves to a wider variety of that group’s members. Brenda: Doctor Thiederman’s FIFTH step for defeating bias in the workplace involves identifying common “kinship groups.” For Doctor Thiederman, a “kinship group” is ANY group that shares a characteristic that sets the people IN the group apart from people who are NOT in the group. That characteristic might be a shared occupation, hobby, personal interest, physical ability or disability, race, gender, ethnicity, or any other unifying factor. Doctor Thiederman offers five strategies to help us identify common kinship groups. First, keep what we share “Top of Mind.” For example, we are all members of the human race. We’re all riding around the sun on the same giant rock. And we all have similar needs we’re trying to satisfy. Another strategy Doctor Thiederman recommends is to practice skills for achieving EMPATHY. For example, ask yourself, how YOU would behave if you were a different race, or a different gender, or were the object of someone ELSE’S prejudice. Other strategies include seeking contact with those who are different from you. Creating workplace opportunities for cross-group contact. Creating and emphasizing shared goals. And identifying a shared humanity. Every human being is a member of dozens of kinship groups. By shifting our focus from one category of membership to another, we discover that there are very few people with whom we cannot find something in common. Yvonne: Doctor Thiederman’s SIXTH step for defeating bias in the workplace involves shoving biases aside. Essentially, the FIRST five steps serve to transform a bias from a vital force-- with the power to distort our perceptions---into an inert object that can be picked up and moved anytime it gets in our way. According to Doctor Thiederman, once we have laid the proper foundation, shoving our biases aside becomes a mechanical act of habit and will. And the more we practice pushing our biases out of the way, the easier it becomes. Eventually, we will do it automatically. As Doctor Thiederman says, the more we are able to see people as individuals without the intervening distortion of our bias, the more evidence we will have that our bias is wrong. The final step in Doctor Thiederman’s process for defeating bias in the workplace is to “fake it ‘til you make it.” Sometimes a bias can be so deeply rooted, so firmly attached, that completely freeing ourselves from it is very difficult. In those cases, says Doctor Thiederman, you just have to act as if you DON’T have that bias. Yvonne: Freeing ourselves from our own biases takes time, effort, and commitment. But that’s all the time we HAVE for THIS edition of Diversity News. We appreciate your watching, and we hope you’ll tune in again next month. Until then, for more frequent updates of diversity news, sign up for our weekly e- mail news summary, NewsLink. Just send an e-mail message to odi@va.gov, with the words “Subscribe NewsLink” in the subject line. And check out our bimonthly newsletter, Diversity@Work, available as a download on our Web site. Let us know if you would like your e-mail address added to our distribution list, and we’ll send you a message when the next issue is posted. Also, if you’d like to share your story ideas, comments, or suggestions, please e- mail us at odi@va.gov with the words DIVERSITY NEWS in the subject line. Until next time… Both: Have a great month!