Most managers think they are ethical. But the truth is most of us are not. 

We would like to think we are objective:
> We obviously choose the best candidate for the organization’s benefit based on fair assessment and drawing rational conclusions.
> We only assign “high potential” status to those who are certainly high potential – and use historical data to drive decisions.
> We proactively offer mentorship to all team members, and are careful to be fair with our time… 

But the truth is, we harbor far too many unconscious (and unethical) biases that not only cause faulty decision-making but undermine our work as managers. 

Biases are not harmless, they are harmful. Our biases prevent us from recognizing high-performing workers, contribute to turnover, decrease the amount of trust within a team, and stop us from collaborating effectively. And these effects all contribute to lower performance.

You may now be thinking, “Hmm, when am I unethical as a manager?” (that is my hope, anyway!). Self-reflection is the first step in re-training our brains, and altering our unconscious bias. The great news is you are not powerless. In fact you can take deliberate actions to counteract the forceful pull of unconscious bias. 

• Regularly audit your decisions (this is also known as controlled processing). Why are you making the decisions you are? Why do your candidate pools look the way they do? Who gets the most talk time on the team? Who receives the most stretch projects? 

• Expand beyond your comfort zone. Actively look for environments that differ from your own and that challenge your biases. Attend an array of ERG events for exposure, or spend time in varying departments to observe the different mores within a workgroup that is not your own.

• Actively seek to change policy. Equity is not a trend, but it has emerged in the spotlight within corporate America. How can you influence hiring practices at your company? How do you ensure onboarding is equitable for your team and beyond?  

In my Fostering Inclusion in the Workplace workshop, we dive into the specifics of just how to create accountabilities to ensure behavioral change. Contact me to learn more about how this workshop can help you and your team, and in the meantime, I challenge you to practice the above steps.