Since the advent of last year’s #metoo movement, bias has been a hot topic in HR circles. It comes up in harassment prevention training, diversity discussions, interview planning and hiring strategies. Many leaders and staff members are being made aware that everyone comes to work with personal biases. But beyond the awareness, have we gotten better at keeping those biases out of our decision making?
The challenge may be that efforts have focused on calling out that we all have bias but not on what exactly to do about it, leaving most to throw up their hands and shrug. After all, if we all have them then what can we really do? We can develop our collective Cultural Intelligence. Cultural Intelligence is the skills that helps us evolve beyond our personal biases.