Do you supervise employees who are not like you? Employees are unique with their own beliefs and cultural differences. One problem that can occur is your own bias, which is the tendency to be biased or prejudiced against a particular culture within the workplace.
As a leader, your values help you create an engaged workforce. But values can interfere when linked to cultural biases. How comfortable are you personally leading a group of people who are different from you?
Top 10 topics to consider:
- Age (age discrimination)
- Gender (male, female, transgender)
- Sexual orientation (straight, gay, lesbian)
- Disability (poor, limited)
- Religion (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha’i, Hinduism, Buddhism)
- Non-believers (atheists, agnostics, deists, skeptics)
- Ethnicity / Race (White / Caucasian, Black / African American, Native American)
- Nationality (Italian, Latin, Asian, German, French, Russian)
- Accent (accent, accent, accent)
- Party affiliation (libertarian, democrat, or republican)
If you’ve ever found yourself talking to a coworker about a hot topic, you know how difficult this discussion can be when they don’t share your views. Although you may never discuss issues with staff that are not work related, conversations do arise from time to time around the water cooler. And when they do, be careful because you never know what might happen.
Employees may be discussing party affiliation or whether they are for or against legalized gambling. The discussion can focus on who should get a tax cut and whether the size of the government is too small or too large. As a leader, you must respect individuality and maintain a healthy workplace. What are your first thoughts when you hear employees discuss a topic and you disagree with them?
What does bias mean to you? Do you consider yourself biased? Are you predisposed to certain beliefs? Have you come to a foregone conclusion about a certain member of your staff because of where they were born or the way they speak? Being biased against certain employees is a weakness found in some leaders and supervisors. Great leaders focus on their strengths that help alleviate this problem. They appreciate differences and gain the wisdom to control their emotional reactions. They pay attention to their own biases and are creative as they figure out ways to deal with their biases. If you consider yourself a leader who values individuality, what do you personally do to overcome any biases you have toward employees?