Unconscious Bias in the Workplace: Why It Matters and How Managers Can Address It

Also known as similarity bias, affinity bias is the tendency to gravitate towards people like yourself. Since it is a type of unconscious bias, we may not even notice that we have this preference. There are pros and cons to affinity bias: for one, it can be affirming to work with people who agree with your ideas and this may build a stronger connection between employees. On the other hand, it can also lead to tunnel vision and a lack of diversity in the workplace. If a manager continues hiring employees with shared interests, values, backgrounds, etc., it can be harmful as it might lead to dismissal or opposing ideas or beliefs. This can be avoided by prioritizing qualifications and skills over hobbies and personality traits to ensure a cohesive and diverse work environment. 

This bias is an example of placing blame, it occurs when someone credits their successes to themselves but determines any errors made are due to others or external factors. Another example of attribution bias is when these factors are opposite. Like when someone else accomplishes something, you accredit it to outside factors or if they make a mistake, you determine it is their own doing. It is easy to place blame to others because taking accountability can be hard to do but this is crucial to identify, especially in the workplace. If you do not acknowledge and correct this behavior from yourself and other employees, you are creating an inaccurate and biased work environment that can lead to unfair judgement and treatment. The best way to avoid this is to take accountability, challenge your beliefs, and encourage others to do so as well. 

Beauty bias—also known as "lookism"—happens when we give preferential treatment to individuals based on their physical appearance. Studies show that more attractive people are often perceived as more competent, even if that’s not the case. In the workplace, beauty bias can lead to discrimination, with more attractive employees getting more attention, praise, and even higher pay. To address beauty bias, managers should emphasize qualifications, skills, and contributions over appearance. Encouraging employees to be aware of their biases and to focus on what truly matters—skills and work ethic—can help reduce this effect. 

Conformity bias is the tendency to go along with the group, even if you have doubts or alternative ideas. It’s the "everyone else agrees, so I will too" effect. In the workplace, this can lead to groupthink, where critical discussions and innovative ideas are suppressed. When teams are afraid to challenge the status quo or voice differing opinions, it can harm creativity and decision-making. To combat conformity bias, managers can create an environment that encourages constructive dissent. Encouraging everyone to share their ideas and actively seeking out different perspectives ensures that critical thinking isn’t stifled. 

Confirmation bias is when we seek out information that supports our pre-existing beliefs, while ignoring or discounting evidence that contradicts them. For example, if you think a certain team member isn’t performing well, you might focus on their mistakes and overlook their successes. This bias can skew your decision-making and hinder objective evaluations. To fight confirmation bias, managers should actively seek out opposing viewpoints and data that challenge their assumptions. By focusing on facts and encouraging critical evaluation of all information, managers can make more balanced, well-rounded decisions. 

Contrast bias occurs when our perception of someone is influenced by comparing them to others. For example, if you interview a poorly qualified candidate right before a highly skilled one, you may overestimate the abilities of the second candidate simply because they appear better in comparison. This bias can result in decisions that are unfairly skewed by recent experiences. To minimize contrast bias, managers should evaluate candidates or employees independently, using consistent, objective criteria. Taking the time to evaluate each person on their own merits, without relying on the comparison, will help ensure a fairer assessment. 

Gender bias happens when people are treated differently because of their gender, often due to unconscious stereotypes about what men and women “should” do. For instance, women may be overlooked for leadership roles or expected to perform administrative tasks simply because of outdated assumptions about their capabilities. Gender bias can lead to unequal opportunities and pay disparities. To address gender bias, managers can create policies that promote equality, ensure all employees have access to career development opportunities, and actively challenge gender stereotypes. Providing training to raise awareness of unconscious bias is also essential for creating a more inclusive workplace 

The halo effect is a bias that occurs when an individual perceives someone else in a good light because they focus on a positive characteristic that they possess. This characteristic will block out other negative qualities in the eyes of the one experiencing the halo effect. In business, this can be very detrimental to a team. If a manager or team lead experiences the effects of this bias, they will overlook many flaws that an individual possesses because of the one good trait they choose to focus on. This can lead to favoritism towards one person over the others, regardless of merit.

This bias is closely related to the halo effect, but it is the opposite. This is when a person has an unfair negative bias towards someone because of their focus on one bad trait. This perceived bad trait will block out any good qualities. In the workplace, if someone’s superiors are experiencing the horns effect, they will not be able to see the good that they do. If changes are not made in management it can cause a stall in someone’s career and even lead to burnout and feeling under-appreciated.