What are you planning for Norwich Pride 2020. It may be a virtual march this year but it’s an opportunity to raise awareness and support the LGBT+ community.
This is the perfect time for employers to revisit their policies on diversity and inclusion. Take some time to implement the new normal for EVERYONE.
One of the issues we often experience in business, is how to tackle unconscious bias. We’ve all done it, the important thing is to recognise bias and prejudice in all its forms.
Review your recruitment process, be aware of gender bias or ageism for example.
Set diversity recruitment targets to encourage a more colourful, creative and culturally diverse workplace. Don’t let unconscious bias cloud your judgement when recruiting by just employing people who you like, who have similar interests to you, the same educational background and ethnicity.
Try not to automatically disregard people who don’t fit the usual stereotype you have in mind. Base your decisions on merit and always question your reason for selecting a particular applicant. Be aware of the protected characteristics, age, gender, race, disability, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage, civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity.
It could be discriminatory if you ignore relevant skills and experience because of unconscious bias.
Confirmation bias is the inclination to draw conclusions about a situation or person based on your personal desires, beliefs and prejudices rather than on unbiased merit.
Affinity bias, also known as similarity bias, is the tendency we have to connect with others who share similar interests, experiences and backgrounds.
Look instead at skills, experiences and unique qualities that would contribute your team, who add value to your culture rather than a culture fit. It would be incredibly dull if we were all the same and we only employed clones of ourselves.