What is one resource you’d recommend for unconscious bias training?
To help you select the best unconscious bias training resource, we asked HR leaders and small business owners this question for their best recommendations. From using Harvard’s Implicit Association Test (IAT) to checking out Catalyst’s Resources, there are several suggestions that may help you choose the best unconscious bias training for your business.
Here are six of the best unconscious bias training resources:
- Use Harvard’s Implicit Association Test (IAT)
- Try Decide: The Neuroscience of Breaking Bias
- Sign Up for the Prejudice Habit-Breaking Program
- Utilize the Look Different Campaign
- Switch to Structured Interviews
- Check out Catalyst’s Resources
Use Harvard’s Implicit Association Test (IAT)
There are many resources available for unconscious bias training. Some of the most popular ones include the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which can be found on Harvard’s website, and the Unconscious Bias Workshop from Google. There are also many other online resources and courses that are available for free or for a small fee. One important thing to note is that these resources generally only provide a starting point for learning about unconscious bias. It’s important to remember that everyone has unconscious biases, and it’s important to be aware of them so that we can work to minimize their effects in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
Natalia Brzezinska, PhotoAiD
Try Decide: The Neuroscience of Breaking Bias
One of the best resources for unconscious bias training is DECIDE: The Neuroscience of Breaking Bias.
The Neuroleadership institute spent years understanding how the human brain works while making decisions. Starting from the premise of “if you have a brain, you’re biased,” they corroborated all the different biases people leverage in decision-making and how to overpower them. You can go through the training basics and reach out to them directly for more valid information and a quote for training for your company. This resource of unconscious bias training gives people the tools to accept that they have bias.
Caroline Lee, CocoSign
Sign Up for the Prejudice Habit-Breaking Program
Harvard Business Review looked at many approaches to unconscious bias training and discovered that the University of Wisconsin has a successful program called “prejudice habit-breaking.” It has some traditional UB training involved but it also includes an Implicit Association Test. Then, participants are taught strategies to overcome bias. Participants must then identify ways to use the various strategies in their lives.
Bruce Tasios, Tasios Orthodontics
Utilize the Look Different Campaign
Look different is a campaign that helps individuals stop discriminating or judgemental towards different groups. The campaign helps people be open with family and friends and get support to fight for what’s right without being biased. Look different offers resources that offer guidelines and actions to be taken to stop the bias.
Gisera Matanda, WeLoans
Switch to Structured Interviews
Unstructured, “free talk” job interviews are prone to bias, but still, they continue to be the most commonly used selection method. Instead of focusing on job-related skills, we are unconsciously influenced by superficial factors such as the candidate’s attractiveness, handshake, scent, name of their school, sense of humor, or other factors that usually shouldn’t play a role in hiring decisions.
Unconscious bias training is one thing people can do to start being more aware of the forces impacting their judgment in social situations, but a simpler starting point is to adopt a more reliable interview methodology. Using structured interviews has been proven to over double the predictive validity and almost halve the unconscious discriminative behavior of job interviews. Using structured interviews takes some preparation, but the results speak for themselves, and candidates commonly prefer the structured approach as well, so there really is no reason to stick with the old ways.
Max Korpinen, Hireproof
Check Out Catalyst’s Resources
Catalyst, a nonprofit set up in 1962 works to ensure inclusive workplaces for women. The company has extensive, research-based resources for unconscious bias training. Teams and individuals can access interactive, virtual, self-paced, or instructor-led learning opportunities. There are also learning tools on related topics around diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Ben Lamarche, Lock Search Group
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