Good Leaders Check Their Biases

We all have biases. We all have things we prefer and things we dislike. The problem is that biases cause us to have blind spots.

We overlook problems in things we like and see problems where they don’t exist in things we don’t like. There is a term for this. It’s called rationalizing. Deciding why you like or don’t like something after we’ve decided that we like or don’t like it, whatever it is.

We see this most clearly in the political realm where political opponents and their supporters are flinging mud every which way – even onto things they say they support, if their opponents like them. This is why – changing your mind in politics – is called flip flopping.

In the real world being able to change your mind is a good thing. It helps you avoid problems and solve problems when they arise. Reality and truth matter when you are solving problems. Your biases prevent you from seeing the truth. So, a good leader understands their biases and checks them to ensure they don’t interfere with decision making.

This is harder to do than most people realize because, as it turns out, a lot of our biases are unconscious. We don’t even know we have them! We rationalize our decisions without even realize we are doing so. Even people who pride themselves on not being biases or bigoted do this.

The only way to counteract these biases is to become aware of them. Fortunately, Harvard’s Implicit Bias Project has some free online tests you can take to find out what your hidden biases are so that you can come to terms with them and start working on fixing them. See: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

For people whose job requires them to treat everyone they meet fairly – which is pretty much everyone in the workforce, but especially those in hiring and management – you need to understand how your unconscious biases are impacting your behavior towards others.

We have systemic problems with discrimination in this country. We discriminate against the disabled and old people. We discriminate because of people’s skin tone and weight. We discriminate against people because of their sexuality or sexual expression and because of religion and ethnic.

The problem is so bad we have enacted laws to stop it. And still the problem persists and infects every area of our social lives (hiring, education, law enforcement, health care access and more).

Very few Americans think they are part of the problem. Other people discriminate. They don’t. The reality is we all do this. We all have these biases. If you truly want to help be part of the solution, find out what your biases are so that you can stop acting on them, consciously.

To learn more about the science of this and how you can use this information to improve your own behavior and responses so that you aren’t accidentally part of the problem take this free online course – Uncovering and Controlling Your Unconscious Biases at: https://humanistlearning.com/controlling-our-unconscious-bias/  It takes about 2 hours to complete and includes the free online implicit biases tests. And if you want to take this for self study credit – we do offer letters of participation.

Hiring Biases

We all have our biases, the problem is that our biases limit our options and that’s not a good thing.

Think Progress had an article title: “People can’t be trusted to make unbiased hiring decisions.”  (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/13/3657911/unitive-hiring-bias/) This is pretty much true. Our baseline for who we trust – is ourselves so we look for other people like us. And that’s not good for business.

Diversity in the workplace is challenging, but it brings many benefits. The most important benefit being that your decision making processes are improved when you allow diverse viewpoints to weigh in. Diversity isn’t a cure for doing stupid things, but it helps. People who don’t think like you are more likely to tell you when you are being stupid, if you let them.

And to let them, you need to hire them. You have to word your advertisements in such a way as to not discourage certain individuals from applying. Your hiring process needs to not take into account someone’s protected status, which is actually really hard to do. And then you try to be equal and still – your workplace is not as diverse as it should be.

So we use tools to help us avoid our biases. One of these tools is the personality assessment, which is designed to help us eliminate bias. But the tests are biased. In fact, they are generally rated as a good test if their bias level is moderate instead of severe.  The argument for such flawed tests is that if the tests are less biased then regular human bias, it’s a move in the right direction towards less bias.  (See: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/2009/03/testing_testing.html)

Companies who use personality tests should at least make sure that their tests are scientifically validated to reduce not only the bias, but to ensure that what you are testing for are actual personality traits. (https://humanistlearning.com/personalityassessments/)

So what is the solution to hiring bias?  How about adding in random selection. Once the basic criteria for hiring are met – choosing between equally qualified candidates, when done by humans, reintroduces human bias. There is research that shows having bad reasons for making a choice yields worse results than making a random choice. (http://humanisthappiness.blogspot.com/2014/11/randomness.html) So why not chose randomly if everything else is equal.

Did you hire the right person?

How can you know whether the candidates you are considering will be a good fit with your company or organization or not?

Knowing what to look for in a candidate is tricky business. You need someone who has the knowledge and background to do the job, someone who is hard working, and you also want someone who will “fit in” to your company’s culture.  Basically we are all looking for someone with the “right” personality.

But what is personality?  How do we judge it and how can we know if any particular candidate has the “right” sort of personality?

Well, it turns out we humans are by and large, lousy judges of personality.  To help us be more objective we turn to personality assessments.

Workplace personality assessments are big business, like $500 million a year. Josh Bersin, principal of consulting firm Bersin by Deloitte, a unit of auditor Deloitte LLP estimates that 60% to 70% of all US workers have been subjected to a personality test in the workplace (see: http://www.wsj.com/articles/are-workplace-personality-tests-fair-1412044257)

The question hiring professionals need to ask is: do these assessments even tell us anything useful?  The answer is no. They don’t. Mostly because people don’t know what personality traits correspond to good work behavior. The problem of misused personality tests has gotten so bad that lawsuits have been filed against companies who are misusing personality assessments and the EEOC is looking into allegations that personality tests discriminate against people with disabilities.

 The other reason to consider how and whether to use personality assessments has to do with the fact that many of the most common tests have no science to back them up.

Yes, you heard me, most of the common personality tests (*cough* Myers Briggs *cough*) are not based on science. In fact, they don’t even use the same personality traits that are standard in the scientific community.  (see:  http://psychcentral.com/lib/types-of-psychological-testing/0005924/2 for a list of the types of tests that actual psychologists use when assessing personality).

So, what is a conscientious employer to do when faced with the need to determine if a candidate is good worker or not. Well, step one is to educate yourself. Find out what personality traits you should be looking for and how you might actually assess for that so that you can stop misusing personality assessments in the workplace.

What I can tell you is that according to Dr. Brittany Shoots-Reinhard a social psychologist with a focus on attitudes, persuasion, judgment and decision making, and personality: one of the best personality predictors of workplace success is actually rather simple: conscientiousness.  All things being equal, people who are conscientious are going to make a good faith effort to get their work done regardless of the conditions they find themselves in.

To learn more about how to stop misusing personality assessments so that you can be effective AND ethical – check out Brittany’s e-course at Humanist Learning Systems. https://humanistlearning.com/personalityassessments/