On the final day of Black History Month, we at Merito want to ask,why is it that many of the world’s most advanced companies struggle to create diversified workforces, despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars on diversity training and recruitment?
Implicit bias may be partly to blame, or the idea that even people with the best of intentions toward diversity can harbor attitudes and beliefs that affect their thoughts, feelings and actions outside of their awareness.
These biases stem from our preference for people who are similar to us, provide a feeling of safety, or feel familiar. Indeed, research has shown that men and women alike start to treat minorities differently within milliseconds of seeing them. Our brains automatically carve the world into in-group and out-group members and apply stereotypes within the blink of an eye.
What is the solution? The key is taking the bias out of the hiring process, instead of trying to take bias out of the person. Here are some tactics on how to do that…