Unconscious Biases and mental models pose some of the biggest roadblocks to creating inclusive workplaces. We have listed the twelve most common workplace biases, how they impact your work day, and ways to avoid them. Reach us to know about our unconscious bias workshops in this session, we help bring to the surface the hidden pictures in specific diverse groups, talk through strategies for working through them, and most importantly, help normalize the idea of biases. Delivered through workplace case scenarios, videos, immersive activities, and lots of space for discussions. www.re-link.org

1. TWELVE TYPES OF
BIASES THAT IMPACT
YOUR WORK DAY,
AND HOW TO AVOID THEM.

2. HERE ARE TWELVE TYPES OF BIASES
THAT IMPACT YOUR WORKDAY AND
A QUICK GUIDE ON HOW TO AVOID
THEM.
Unconscious Biases and mental models pose
as some of the biggest roadblocks in creating
inclusive workplaces. Recognizing our own
biases and working through them, therefore, is
a necessity.
MESSAGE FROM TEAM RE-LINK

3. RECENCY BIAS
The tendency to weigh the
latest data more heavily than
older data. Occurs commonly
during performance appraisals
and reviews.

4. RECENCY BIAS
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Look at the Bigger Picture: By keeping a detailed
track of the performance of your teammates, you will
have a bird’s eye view of your team’s performance
and thus you can easily skip recency bias.

5. IMPLICIT BIAS
The tendency to form conclusions
based on past messages received.
Can influence decisions regarding
role allocations.

6. IMPLICIT BIAS
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Focus on seeing people as individuals. Rather than
focusing on stereotypes to define people, spend time
considering them on a more personal, individual
level.

7. AFFINITY BIAS
The tendency to like people
who are similar to us, leading
to a more positive evaluation
of them. Influences hiring
decisions.

8. AFFINITY BIAS
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Actively take note of the similarities you share with
the candidate so that you can differentiate between
attributes that may cloud your judgement and the
concrete skills, experiences and unique qualities that
would contribute to your team as a ‘culture add’
rather than ‘culture fit.’

9. HORN EFFECT
The tendency of perceiving
someone negatively after
learning something unfavourable
about them. Influences hiring and
promotion decisions.

10. HORN EFFECT
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
If you have a negative feeling about a candidate,
take the time to figure out exactly where that ‘gut
feeling’ is coming from. It may be something
superficial or insignificant that shouldn’t affect their
chance at the role. You may also want to check with
the rest of the interviewing team to understand the
root of their opinions and preferences about a
candidate.

11. HALO EFFECT
The tendency to put someone
on a pedestal or think more
highly of them after learning
something impressive about
them. Influences hiring and
promotion decisions.

12. HALO EFFECT
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
The halo effect can be dangerously blinding when it
comes to reviewing candidates. When evaluating
and shortlisting candidates, ensure that this is based
purely on what they have presented during
interviews and projects and not what you may have
heard about them from others.

13. ANCHORING BIAS
The tendency where a specific
piece of information is relied upon
to make a decision. For example-
considering only articulation skills
as part of communication and
ignoring listening skills.

14. ANCHORING BIAS
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Try to compare every aspect of a candidate and
never rely on one singular piece of information as a
deciding factor. If you find yourself coming back to
one piece of information you’re comparing against,
try omitting that anchoring piece of information and
comparing candidates based on their other
characteristics and qualifications.

15. CONFIRMATION BIAS
We tend to listen only to
information that confirms
our preconceptions. Impacts
interpersonal skills.

16. CONFIRMATION BIAS
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Challenge your own thinking by bringing in diversity;
seeking opinions from people who are different to
you or using multiple sources of information.

17. PROTOTYPE BIAS
When we have a preconceived
notion of who will be right for a
particular role based on
stereotypes. For example, men
are better at engineering roles
and women at customer
service roles.

18. PROTOTYPE BIAS
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Take time to pause and reflect. In order to reduce
reflexive reactions, take time to reflect on potential
biases and replace them with positive examples of
the stereotyped group.

19. BEAUTY BIAS
Judging people based on
physical attractiveness. Has
a very big impact on hiring
decisions.

20. BEAUTY BIAS
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
To avoid beauty bias, companies should create
structured recruiting and interview processes so that
your team will be able to compare applications and
interviews equally and reduce the risk of bias. Having
an initial phone screening rather than a video call or
in-person interview can also help as well as utilizing
unbiased AI technology to identify top candidates.

21. VALUE ATTRIBUTION
The tendency to assign a
higher value to certain qualities
or traits. For example to favour
extroversion over introversion.

22. VALUE ATTRIBUTION
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Bring in objectivity in your decision-making process
and challenge your own mindsets. Ask yourself- Is the
value attributed to the role important to being
successful? For example- a coding role may not
require extroversion.

23. STEREOTYPING
An over-generalisation and
fixed belief about a particular
group of people. We expect
people to behave in a certain
manner.

24. STEREOTYPING
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Increase your exposure. Spend more time with people
of different backgrounds. Learn about them by
attending community events, having discussions with
people from various groups and understanding their
history/ challenges.

25. BANDWAGON EFFECT
A phenomenon in which people
will do something only because
other people are doing it,
regardless of their own beliefs.
This is also called herd mentality.

26. BANDWAGON EFFECT
WAYS TO AVOID IT:
Bandwagon is created when people want to ‘fit in’
or want to avoid being contradictory to the majority
opinion. Becoming aware of any fears you may
have is one way to counter this effect; just because
everyone is following it, doesn’t make it the right
action or the right choice.
Bring neutrality to your decision-making process.

27. Reach us to know more about unconscious
biases, how they play out at the workplace, and
how to overcome them.
Deepa A Agarwal
Harsh Verma
Email Address
deepa@re-link.org
harsh@re-link.org
Website
www.re-link.org