Diversity, Inclusion
and the Unconscious Bias

Sustainable Diversity Begins with Inclusion

At Human Capital Solutions, we provide Calgary and area with a variety of services for your organization’s diversity and inclusion programs with a focus on unconscious bias. We offer workplace training, lunch and learn sessions on how to prevent unconscious bias, and a variety of presentations in which we train individuals on how to prevent unconscious bias in the workplace environment.

Guiding Principles

• We believe in the philosophy of Ubuntu, which means “the quality of being human” and describes how “a person is a person through other people and through human kindness.” This humanness transcends physical appearance, ethnicity, age, and educational background.
• We define and explore what we call the invisible backpack, which is how everyone unconsciously assesses others using pre-established filters or bias. We help clients examine their invisible backpacks to understand the origins of their unconscious bias, values, beliefs, fears, temperament, abilities, language, and stereotypes that they carry to work every day.
• We recognize that unconscious bias is as natural to human beings as any other function of the mind, but it is both possible and necessary to raise self-awareness of our unconscious bias to the conscious mind. Only then can we start to change our behaviour and reactions to work more collaboratively.
• We incorporate our awareness of unconscious bias into our hiring practices, leadership programs, talent management, strategic decision making, and organizational culture on many different levels. All of our practices nurture diversity and inclusion in appropriate and respectful ways.

What is the Difference Between Diversity and Inclusion?

Diversity the mix of visible and invisible differences between people and is the essence of what makes us unique. Inclusion is the purposeful action of acknowledging and valuing each person for who they are.

Why are Diversity and Inclusion Important in the Workplace?

Simply put, diversity and inclusion are good for business. When we stop trying to define people and their identities according to our subjective experience, we can define the business and its unique identity, which directs the company culture and potential for growth, innovation, and problem solving.

Presentation and Training Topics

We customize each topic and program format to meet your needs using a mixture of audience interaction, commentary, video clips, role play, and group discussions. Topics include:

Mitigating Unconsious Bias

Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:

• Understand unconscious bias, the science behind it, and its universal nature
• Assess biases, personal conditioning, and assumptions
• Explore types of biases, such as confirmation bias and affinity bias
• Learn the BAR approach as the smallest, simplest step in managing unconscious bias
• Understand the psychology of how judgements about people are formed based on specific triggers or “hot buttons”
• Define unconscious bias, its origins, and its significance in today’s workplace
• Implement strategies to mitigate the impact of unconscious bias
• Recognize and challenge the most common biases
• Cultivate respectful, diverse, and inclusive environments

Leading in a Diverse Environment

Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:

• Increase their awareness and understanding of hidden or subconscious Behaviours of those around them
• Accept each person’s unique and inherent qualities as natural talents they bring to the team and the organization
• Enhance self-insight and leadership capability in a diverse work environment
• Learn how the above impact:
  • Group cohesion, conflict, and collaboration
  • Management approaches and organizational cultures
  • Leadership styles, reward, and leader preferences
  • Motivation and effective communication
  • Interpersonal relationships, problem solving, and decision making
• Increase business productivity and leadership competence, limit behaviour risks, understand how each individuals can contribute, realize full potential, and reduce turnover
• Strengthen self-awareness of the hidden or underlying differences that transcend cultural, generational, ethnic, religious, and gender perspectives
• Understand and manage individuals with different value systems, preferred workplace settings, leadership, and team dynamics
• Understand and value different thinking styles, job/role complexity and its impact on communication, problem solving, and decision making
• Learn about the powerful role that the subconscious plays when taking the importance of what motivates people into account
• Learn how to lead effective teams by identifying different individual strengths and managing weaknesses associated with particular behaviours
• Understand “random” behaviour resulting from basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment in the workplace

Unconsious Bias in the Workplace

Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:

• Define and understand unconscious bias and the impact it has on the workplace, and how implicit bias causes unintended hidden barriers to success and contributes to higher attrition rates
• Recognize how diversity and inclusion are critical to achieving business goals
• Learn how to mitigate unconscious bias during hiring or recruiting practices
• Explore factors inhibiting gender diversity and expression in the workplace
• Understand how bias compromise efforts to cultivate truly inclusive workforces
• Appreciate how bias discourages people of diverse backgrounds from contributing ideas and in promoting themselves
• Learn how unconscious bias increases absenteeism and can trigger the loss of valuable employees
• Experience how bias interferes with the development of productive teams