Our research found that holding all other factors constant, people of color (both male and female) are less likely to receive raises when they ask versus white men. Given the significant size of our sample (over 160,000 workers), this finding indicates that biases are present in performance evaluations and salary increase decisions.
Unconscious biases are the automatic, mental shortcuts we use to process information and make decisions quickly. We all have them. But if left unchecked, they can harm us at the organizational level. Unconscious bias can cause managers to dismiss great ideas, undermine individual potential, and even create a toxic work environment for their colleagues.
To ensure that all employees have equal opportunities to advance within your organization, it is important to become conscious of the biases in your people practices and take action to mitigate their effects on your decisions.
When it comes to rating employees, managers are often unaware that they’re making subjective decisions. A report referenced in Harvard Business Review shows that on average, 61 percent of a manager’s rating of an employee is reflective of the manager’s experiences and attitudes instead of an accurate assessment of the employer’s actual performance. Yet, a manager’s rating is often the primary metric for assessing performance. Unless you take steps to reduce unconscious bias, you run the risk of developing unfair and possibly discriminatory compensation differences in your organization.
Make sure that your managers use objective, standardized criteria to evaluate the performance of their direct reports. Instead of asking managers to define abstract terms and apply them to the employee through the lens of their biases, focus on questions that deal directly with the manager’s experiences.
Here are some examples of questions:
If [employee] left the company, what would I do?
What are the top things [employee] does well?
What are the ways in which [employee] can improve?
Furthermore, getting a 360 degree view of the employee’s performance by seeking input from multiple perspectives can help ensure that promotion decisions aren’t skewed by the opinion of a single manager.
A few well-known companies including Google and Starbucks are now several years into their unbiasing journey. Google has recently launched a new site called re:Work featuring a collection of practices, research and ideas from Google and others on how to remove unconscious bias from an organization. Unbiasing is a journey that involves education, measurement, accountability and more. ‘According Google’s experience, unbiasing comes down to taking five actions:
Raise awareness about unconscious bias. Train all employees.
Hold everyone accountable: Create a culture where employees hold each other accountable when they see instances of biases.
Gather data and measure decisions.
Evaluate subtle messages that may impact whether certain types of people feel included or excluded.
Use consistent structure and clear criteria when making decisions (like evaluating employee performance).
You can visit their website re:Work to get more details and specific tools to implement an unbiasing program in your organization.