![]() Is this new policy a way of telling Fred he’s not welcome?.(No one at HardNoggin has mentioned it, of course, but it would be hard not to notice.) Or does it have to do with his … well, let’s just say it… *whispers* Fred has a flat head.If so, was it because he is new to HardNoggin?.Was he intentionally left out of the decision-making process?.When he hears about the new policy, he has some concerns: He’s still learning about HardNoggin’s business and getting a feel for the company culture. Well, Almost Everyone… Fred is one of HardNoggin’s newest employees. Everyone is really excited and can’t wait to try on their new HardNoggin Hard Hat. When they share their idea, Diego and Dana agree this will make employees happier and save the company a lot of money. They want to institute a new policy requiring HardNoggin employees to wear hard hats, and they’ve already found a supplier! Robin and Rita have come up with an ingenious idea. They have noticed lately that when things fall from the sky, it hurts their heads. Our friends at HardNoggin Industries are trying to solve a serious problem. A Cautionary Tale from “HardNoggin Industries” This article explores the concepts of affinity bias, in-groups, and privilege in a work setting, as well as the pitfalls of failing to recognize these patterns. I’ve already covered unconscious bias and what to do about it. If you want to read more about subconscious biases and its impact on you read the related articles in the reference link below.Author’s note: This article is adapted from my book, Network Beyond Bias.Įach of us needs to understand why our professional networks lack diversity by default and why we should change our default settings. If you are hiring people, creating this awareness across all the panel member also can add lot of value. You can also consider standardizing and setting up light and useful processes to avoid falling for this bias. One need to identify and highlight things you have in common or the value / belief you both shares.īeing mindful about this bias is the first step towards managing it. So, knowing your interviewer and establishing some connection with him/her during the interview, can influence the hiring decision. They ask themselves: Do I want to socialize with this candidate? They assume that, it is easy to manage this candidate compared to other. When affinity bias comes into play, the hiring manager bases their decision on likeability. Eventually you will land up in a decision which is not the best. Basically confirmation bias will take over from there. After the interview, you’d then speak in much higher terms of the first candidate and how much you feel they’d “fit in” over and above the second candidate. ![]() Whereas, if a person we shared no affinity with told us the same thing, we perhaps wouldn’t be quite as warm towards them as we had been to the candidate, we felt we shared a connection with. For instance, if they tell us they’re a little nervous we may smile at them more or offer more words of encouragement. When we interview someone, we feel we have some affinity with, our micro-affirmations play out a bit more than they usually would. It can really influence your ability to be a good and effective leader. Work life: It can affect your effectiveness on hiring, team performance management, nurturing/growing your employees, friends at work, diversity and inclusion, etc. :) Look around you can find many examples in your life. One personal experience I have is, my wife and my mother has lot of common traits! It became obvious to me much later. Personal life: It will affect, who you choose to build relation with or who you choose to ignore? How/who you collaborate/support? How/who do you favor? It can affect your effectiveness in different walks of life. We will discuss this as a technique for rapport building.Īny bias can make your views or perception of the world skewed and error prone. ![]() We do this because it is easy to connect and build rapport with people who shares some common believes and values and most importantly they make us feel comfortable and safe. Do a quick check on your social circles or in our social medial connections, whom are you actively engaged with? Can you spot some potential examples there?Īt work, a person who has a perceived affinity with you will have advantageous over others. This unconscious bias will lead one to gravitate towards, someone graduated from your own school, think alike, share the same cultural context or from the same societal background, etc. I found subtle differences between the two, so I will cover that later. There is one more related bias called similarity bias. Affinity bias occurs when we see someone, we feel we have an affinity with maybe we attended the same college, we grew up in the same town, or they remind us of someone we know and like.
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