Looking Behind the Red Hat and Suit: Lessons in Unconscious Bias
Close your eyes. Now picture a person wearing a red suit trimmed in white fur. The hat they wear is also red, with a white puff on top and it’s trimmed in white fur. They wear a large black belt and black boots, both polished so you can see the reflection of your face in them. On their face are delicate spectacles, gently resting part-way down their nose. And the final touch is a pair of crisp-white gloves. Do you have that picture in your mind?
Now describe that person to me. Are they happy? Jolly even? Do you think they are kind and have a giving spirit? Do you believe they put thought into the way they dress, choosing a bright colour to show they are energized or embodying positive emotions? Would they work well with others, or make a good hire to manage and oversee your large team of skilled tradespeople?
When we first meet people, it’s not uncommon to judge them based on what we see. But what really matters is often invisible to the eye, just like the gift hidden beneath the wrapping (and in this blog 😊) After all, how many of us have opened a gift on Christmas morning only to find it’s a box of Rice Krispies that isn’t filled with the tasty breakfast treat at all.
A Red Suit Does Not Make Santa
What you have just gone through is an exercise in unconscious bias – the unconscious assumptions, beliefs and attitudes that our brains automatically make about people or groups of people that affect how we feel, communicate and interact with that person or group. Whether we know it or not, or whether we want to admit it, our brains will automatically make judgements about people and can reinforce stereotypes.
Unconscious bias is something we all have and we all rely on – not because we are implicitly bad or unethical, but because our life experiences, social interactions and environments (family, school, work, etc.) have exposed and will expose us to various preconceptions and stereotypes. Unfortunately, unconscious biases, when left unchecked, prevent us from fairly and accurately seeing the person in front of us for the full individual that they are. Left to the unconscious, they can colour our decision making and conclusions and impact our behaviour in ways that result in discrimination and/or unfair treatment against groups of individuals.
For example, when I asked you to close your eyes, you may have automatically conjured an image of Santa Claus in your mind – a kind, jolly man who successfully runs one of the largest toy manufacturing centres in the world (if not the largest) and is known to bring joy to people of all ages around the world during the holidays. With that in mind, you might be prepared to hire this person, thinking they will bring substantial organizational, time management, supply chain and logistics skills and experience to your company. But that decision is being made based on your limited, personal pre-existing beliefs and experiences, and that is only part of what you really need to know and consider.
It is especially important to be aware of unconscious biases during the recruitment, hiring, internal reorganizations and promotion processes in the workplace since decisions made at these times directly impact the makeup of your work team and can impact the future success of the team and your organization. Go back to our example, above. Take a look behind the suit, and the decisions you make about the picture before you may be quite different. For when you take a closer look and consider all available information about the person I described, you may learn that they have a history of only really working one night a year, of breaking into people’s homes, stealing the sweets and treats they keep in their kitchen, and leaving a pile of chimney dust and debris in their wake. Would your thoughts about inviting this individual to join your team change then?
Don’t Judge a Gift by Its Wrapping
Ignoring the gift in metallic wrapping under the tree because the reflection from the Christmas tree lights hurts your eyes may have you missing out on the one gift that was specially selected because you said it was what you wanted most. Instead, recognize that care was taken for that gift to be chosen and placed under the tree so you would find it.
There are many types of unconscious biases including those directly related to how people look, such as here. Often referred to as “Lookism” or, when speaking of the unconscious bias based on someone’s physical appearance, “Beauty Bias”, this form of unconscious bias exists towards people of various races, ethnic groups, gender identities and physical abilities. Unequal and discriminatory treatment of individuals based on these physical characteristics is not just an example of Lookism, it is also prohibited under human rights legislation. But Lookism can also exist towards people in less obvious ways and relate to physical features and appearance that are not protected by human rights codes, such as:
how the person wears their hair;
what type of facial hair they have, if any (different beard, mustache, and sideburn styles);
whether they have tattoos;
the makeup (if any) they wear;
their weight;
their height; and/or
the way they dress.
An individual’s physical appearance and characteristics may need to be addressed in the performance of their work (for example, requiring PPE to be worn to prevent injury; wearing a beard or hairnet when working with and around food; or restricting loose-fitting clothing or jewelry while working with machinery and equipment), but this is not always the case, and it should not impact a decision as to whether they are qualified for a job or will be successful in their position. But with so much about beauty, and “acceptable” looks and dress so entrenched in our beliefs, whether we are aware of them or not, remember that looks are just the wrapping. And as much as you may want to judge a Christmas gift by its beautiful wrapping and shiny bow, it’s a good idea to pick it up and give it a good look – and maybe even a shake.
Pick the Right Tree for the Season
Overcoming the impact of unconscious biases, and Lookism in particular, is like Charlie Brown selecting the Christmas tree in the Peanut’s classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Amongst all of the brightly-coloured aluminum trees on the lot, he spots a real tree on its own.[1] And while Linus expresses that the tree doesn’t express the “modern spirit” they were sent to find, Charlie Brown looked beyond the tree’s obvious physical appearance of being small, sparse, droopy and undesirable by normal standards (and by the majority of his group) and saw everything it could offer and was capable of despite those things – showing the Peanuts gang that Christmas is more than just the glitz and flash of the season. As Charlie Brown says, “I’ll take this little tree home and decorate it. And I’ll show them, it really will work in our play.” And when the rest of the Peanuts gang buy-in: Linus wrapping his blanket at the tree’s base and the rest of the gang working as a team, all of the promise of the small sapling comes through[2]. When given an opportunity, the gang sees that what was, on first impression, never going to work, is “not bad at all really.”
So while individuals, like trees, look and appear different, the important goal is to find one that brings the best qualifications and experience to the role.
Opening the Christmas Gift Slowly
When you rip a gift open, you risk tossing the instructions you need to use it, or the label of who gave the gift to you, away with the wrapping paper. Don’t lose out on the valuable knowledge those bring. A better course of action is to take a lesson from the paper-savers among us. Open the gift slowly and allow yourself the opportunity to see everything that has so carefully been included inside both the wrapping paper and the packaging.
Generally speaking, employers don’t have well-meaning animated grade schoolers like Charlie Brown to help them make hiring decisions or choose the right people to make up their team. And even if they did, would that eliminate unconscious bias? Unfortunately, no. Unconscious bias is not something you can get rid of. But there are steps that employers and their HR departments and representatives can take in the recruitment, hiring and promotion processes to avoid overreliance on them.
1. Don’t deny the obvious: We all have unconscious biases. Read and train staff about the different biases, how they might surface in the workplace, and how you can avoid them. Much like you can’t ignore the first 24 days of December before Christmas Day and pretend they don’t exist, avoiding unconscious bias doesn’t make it go away. Knowing this, and that Lookism and Beauty Bias is a common social behaviour, will help you identify and challenge your own biases against candidates/employees.
2. Commit to an objective recruitment, screening, performance review, reorganization or promotion process before any application is received or interview conducted: This objective tool will focus on skills, experience and talent-based decisions, rather than individualized characteristics of the candidate/employee.
3. Conduct a “blind interview”: Aside from blind screening software of applications, consider phone screening of candidates which allow you to ask standardized skills-based questions and the introductory “get to know you” questions without being “blinded” by the individual’s appearance.
4. Consider all of the available information: When you conduct a face-to-face interview, whether it’s in person or via video conference, don’t rely on a singular piece of information about them as a deciding factor. If you keep coming back to one fact or characteristic about the person, consciously remove it from your consideration and look to the candidate’s/employee’s objective skills, experiences and other qualifications to come to your decision.
5. Don’t simply rely on your gut instinct: If you feel that you have a good understanding of who the candidate/employee is and what they can do, take a step back. Ask questions to challenge (not to confirm) that opinion. In some cases, you will find the answers to those questions will show you were, in fact, wrong.
6. Cast a wide circle: Look to inclusivity and diversity, not just in the targets of your recruitment and hiring, but in your group of decision-makers. Just like families sometimes blend their traditions at the holidays, a blend of voices and perspectives in decision-making can bring different, valuable perspectives to the process.
In summary, that picture you paint in your mind of the portly gent in the red suit may not be complete. So don’t let you first impressions be your final verdict. Instead, take a lesson from Charlie Brown and limit the impact unconscious biases have on you finding the best gift hidden amongst the flashing lights.
We at Piccolo Heath wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and a joyful New Year.
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[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=charlie+brown+picking+the+christmas+tree&rlz=1C1CHZN_enCA999CA999&oq=charl&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j46i512j0i131i433i512j46i131i433j46i131i433i512j69i60l2.1718j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:668cd7f5,vid:Jiq_VvgEC1Y
[2] https://www.google.com/search?q=charlie+brown+picking+the+christmas+tree&rlz=1C1CHZN_enCA999CA999&oq=charlie+brown+picking+the+christmas+tree&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160j33i22i29i30l8.8072j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d4f0a198,vid:LCz4FNe_S1U
