Unconscious Bias in Management

Audience

EU staff with people management responsibilities

Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Raise their awareness on how biases can impact trust, engagement, morale, staff retention, and overall performance.
• Detect how biases may influence their thinking, decisions and actions, especially in fast-paced or high-pressure scenarios.
• Identify behavior changes to embed into their daily managerial practice, such as:
  selection and recruitment, task assignment, resource allocation, goal setting, staff development, appraisal.

Content

This session equips people managers with tools to identify, reflect on, and reduce the impact of unconscious bias in core managerial responsibilities. The way managers make decisions, assign work, evaluate performance, and manage conflict significantly impacts team performance and plays a pivotal role in creating an inclusive, trust-based and fair work environment. Understanding one’s biases and assumptions is key to further develop leadership.

The session is action-oriented and science-backed. Through real-work examples, personal reflection, and experiential exercises, participants will explore how biases can unintentionally hinder trust and shape everyday decisions such as delegation, task assignments, performance reviews, talent development, and staff selection.

Format

4 hours – 9:00-13:00 or 13:30-17:30

Language

English

1 – Recognising bias in ourselves:

• Opening activity to raise awareness of unconscious bias
• Science of unconscious bias

2 – Bias in key people management areas:

• Exploration of how bias can affect key management practices, supported by examples and peer reflection

• Task allocation and growth opportunities: Who gets visibility, who gets routine work? Who gets coached, or mentored?
• Performance and feedback: Examining how standards shift depending on identity and styles
• Recruitment and selection: What are the biases that kick in when screening CVs, and the rest of the hiring process? Strategies to mitigate them.
• Conflict management: Reflecting on how bias shapes perceptions and how assumptions escalate or soften responses.

3 – Embedding change

• Reflection and sharing insights and personal commitments
• Choice of accountability partner
• Introduction to a post-session playbook for continued practice

Post session resources:

• Structured journaling: Prompts to reflect on real everyday situations and test new responses
• Accountability partner check-in: Peer meeting in 4-6 weeks to share insights
• Bias-awareness playbook:  Self-paced micro-exercises to reinforce learning transfer