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70 2018 AMDC Diversity Spotlight THE PROBLEMS OF UNCONSCIOUS BIAS By Katie Van Hook At the last AMDC Summit, Charmaine Brown, Director, External Outreach and Engagement, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at Fannie Mae, said something that really got my attention: "What you are not aware of that is influencing your decisions can be very dangerous." She was referring to the impact of unconscious biases in our decision making at work. Like it or not, we all have biases. We need them. Unconscious biases are shortcuts taken by our brains in order to manage the millions of small decisions we make on a day- to-day basis. We don't have time to consciously evaluate everything we do. For example, from a survival standpoint, our mental categorization of things as either "good" or "bad" has helped our brain make quick decisions as to what is safe or unsafe. Every person forms unconscious biases based on cultural stereotypes and their own personal experiences. Mental shortcuts and instinctive categorizations can be useful in our daily routines, but they can create massive problems in the workplace. Our biases can lead to incorrect assumptions, which in turn can lead to harmful decisions. ese are some issues you can expect to see if you let your unconscious biases take over: POOR CANDIDATE SELECTION If the person writing job listings has an unconscious bias in favor of men, the job descriptions could be written in a way that appeals more to men. For instance, extreme masculine words like "rock star," "ninja," or "hunter" should be swapped with something a little more neutral. If the person reviewing resumes has an unconscious bias against black people, he or she might not fairly evaluate a resume with a "black-sounding" name. LOW EMPLOYEE MORALE Actual or perceived discrimination can have a negative impact on morale. is can lead to poor job satisfaction, tension, and reduced commitment to the company. WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION Discrimination, real or perceived, puts you and your company at risk for high turnover, a bad reputation, and possible legal action. Society has a very low tolerance for racial profiling and one strike against your brand on Twitter could be catastrophic. Risha D. Grant, diversity consultant, speaker, and author, said, "Companies don't have diversity problems, they have people problems. We cannot change our companies without changing ourselves, and that starts with recognizing and confronting our unconscious bias." As a company leader, take a look at yourself. Fix yourself first, then lead your company to improvement. Here are some targets to think about: AWARENESS Be honest with yourself. Find out what biases you have that you don't know about. Make this a personal commitment. Dedicate some time to focus and think deeply about what or who makes you uncomfortable and why. Ask your trusted colleagues and mentors if they can think of any biases you might have. What are your triggers? You should also consider taking a few online tests from Project Implicit, a nonprofit scientific research group based at Harvard University. I have taken several of these tests and the results were surprising. Your unconscious biases are likely to come into play when your brain wants to take shortcuts when you're making decisions in a hurry or under stress. When is this likely to happen while you're working? ink about it, take the tests, talk to people. You need this information so you can prepare yourself and retrain your brain to make better choices. Take some notes about your findings, your triggers, and how your decision- making process could improve if you become more aware of these biases. POLICIES AND TRAINING If you don't have a diversity and inclusion state- ment, write one today. en, make sure every single person in the company knows about it. It is critical that leadership teams are committed to diversity and inclusion. Communicate this commitment to your employees through the availability of pro- grams like mentoring, community resource groups, and diversity councils. Last but not least, hold people accountable. It has been said that what gets measured gets done. ink about creating Diversity and Inclusion goals or unconscious bias-busting goals for your leadership team. e goals could be centered around recruitment, equitable mentoring, or unconscious bias discovery and training. Follow up during the next performance review. HIRING PRACTICES When a position opens at your company, you have a terrific opportunity to practice everything you've discovered about any biases you might have. ese are some proven methods of ensuring fair selection of candidates: » Write the job description with care. Make sure not to use words that might appeal to one gender over another. Remain as neutral as possible. Clearly defining the job requirements and candidate qualities you are seeking in advance can also help you review resumes more objectively. » Consider blind resume review. Stripping the name from a resume blocks unconscious bias from having an impact on your initial review and allows you to focus on the qualifications of the applicant. » Train your interviewers. Make sure the people conducting interviews have successfully completed unconscious bias training. Avoid small talk in an interview and stick to pre-written questions. e takeaway: Humans have unconscious biases. Work to discover the biases both you and your management team may have so you can reduce the chances of causing unintended damage. Don't end up trending on Twitter (in a negative way) for something that could have been prevented. Katie Van Hook has been a proud member of the team at Continental Real Estate Services for 11 years and has been in company management since 2011. She currently serves as a member of the Education and Training Subcommittee in the American Mortgage Diversity Council. Be honest with yourself. Find out what biases you have that you don't know about. Make this a personal commitment.

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