RILCA’s Unconscious Bias Training Program purports to expose people to their implicit biases, thereby providing effective tools & strategies to transform them.

“Stupidity and unconscious bias often do more damage than venality.”

We converse with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, etc. But have you ever noticed that some of them whom you communicate with have preconceived notions about a specific set of people? They are biased, either negatively or positively.

Interestingly, these biases can be influenced by various factors like personal experiences, customs, and traditions, to name a few. So what do you think - having a preference/ bias is good or bad?

Well, that’s debatable! But when it comes to the workplace, it is crucial to support diversity and inclusion efforts to maintain a positive work environment. It is essential that higher authorities/ employers provide employees with foundational anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training. [All this is included in unconscious bias training!]

Unconscious Bias Training by RILCA seeks to raise awareness among employees of potentially harmful unconscious biases. In addition, the training sought to reduce the impact of those biases by conversing effectively with people from different backgrounds. By taking up this training, you will learn to value your coworkers and inculcate positive sentiments at the workplace.

Unconscious bias happens when people make decisions hinged on the characteristics of others without even realizing whether they might feel awkward or uncomfortable. Employers are at peril from a legal standpoint when this kind of bias occurs in the workplace.

Unconscious bias training helps employees understand that these prejudices/ favoritism exist. Therefore, it is essential to take imperative steps to reduce the likelihood of such biases, thereby ensuring enhanced productivity and improved decision-making skills in the workplace.

What is Unconscious Bias Training, and why is it crucial?
Unconscious bias training aims to improve the consciousness of psychological shortcuts of the employees that lead to quick judgments about the other person's character or competencies. The primary purpose of this training is to eliminate workplace prejudice and optimistically mould employees' attitudes and behavior towards one another.

Unconscious bias training intends to accomplish three goals, i.e.,

• Reduce bigotry/ prejudice by changing your behavior.
• Make employees aware of their attitudes.
• Providing you with the tools, strategies, and approaches to help modify habitual or monotonous thought patterns.

Employees who take up this training are offered effective strategies and constructive approaches to limit the danger of implicit bias. This is done by monitoring various activities taking place in the company, like the hiring process, promotion criteria, etc.

To overcome the effect of partisanship, raising awareness is crucial. Research shows that people are inclined to take effective measures and think before making vital decisions if they are aware of the hidden biases. This permits them to make rational decisions without being swayed away by emotions.

What is the ultimate goal of providing Unconscious Bias Training to employees?
Have you ever encountered a person who is negatively prejudiced towards a specific employee at the workplace? Either they despise the other person’s behavior or their attributes. No matter what the situation is, such biases can take an ugly turn and lead to conflicts in the company.

In order to avoid clashes and maintain a peaceful work environment, unconscious bias training is paramount for employees. People tend to become more conscious before making vital decisions once they understand that they have hidden implicit biases. Subsequently, adequate measures are taken to overcome them. According to the Equality and Human Right Commission, it has been proven that unconscious bias training helps employees become aware of their disoriented habitual patterns. Thus, UB Training plays an integral role in moulding your perception and attitude to enhance productivity at the workplace.

Types of biases addressed in Unconscious Bias Training
Many factors influence bias. Below are the prevailing types of unconscious prejudices you will discover in training.

1. Gender Bias
This is a predominant bias that is seen everywhere. Gender bias is the tendency to select/ choose one gender over the other. This partiality often comes from preconceived beliefs about gender roles. Many people unconsciously assign gender roles to men and women without having any factual standpoint. For instance, studies show that the implicit stereotype ‘brilliant’ or ‘intelligent’ is often associated with men rather than women.

2. Racial Bias
Bias based on race or skin color is often seen in the workplace and has a significant hostile impact on people. For instance, a person is not good at communicating in English. Does that mean he is any less than the other person in carrying out other responsibilities? Now, you might say English doesn't matter. But even today, many companies post a job with the description 'Must be fluent in English.' This kind of bias is ubiquitous in the workplace. Just because a person is not good at a particular language doesn't mean they lack other competencies.

3. Age Bias
Another prejudice that we encounter is age. Studies show that nearly 1 in every 4 employees who are 45 years of age or older have been subjected to hostile comments about their capabilities and are constantly compared to their younger coworkers or superiors. This makes the elderly workers feel incompetent and demotivated, resulting in a cynical work environment.

There are more than 150 unconscious biases prevalent in the workplace. Ranging from religion to appearance - everyone is judged on different parameters. Addressing such characteristics of the other person/ group can influence a person's behavior and affect decision-making abilities. This is why unconscious bias training is essential, as it emphasizes on different kinds of prejudices and makes employees aware of how they (biases) impact their day-to-day interactions at the workplace.

Significance of Unconscious Bias Training
Unconscious bias training gives you the tools, experience, and awareness to navigate your minds. It makes you aware of the prejudices you may hold for/ against a specific group of people. The training guides you to positively change your deportment and work peacefully in a diverse environment.

Following are the benefits of unconscious bias training.

1. Improves Awareness
As told earlier, unconscious bias training makes us aware of our monotonous habitual patterns. In this training, you will learn to change those prejudices and make effective decisions on the personal and professional front.

2. Creating a realistic overview
While building teams and contributing to the workplace's work environment, we tend to base our choices influenced by others. When our intentions are warped by unconscious bias, the workforce suffers in numerous ways. Unconscious bias training helps prevent this possibility by offering a realistic worldview. It provides information that contradicts stereotypes and allows you to connect with people having different experiences.

3. Building better teams
Efficacious teamwork is the way to success! By taking unconscious bias training, the team benefits immensely. People are likely to experience a change in their approaches, skills, and competencies. They will also find value in newer ideas and perspectives. Thus, the training seeks to ensure that diversity makes the environment optimistic for everyone in the workplace.

4. Leading the team with confidence
You can hardly be a confident leader if your unconscious mind is working against you. Therefore, it is best to make decisions based on logic rather than emotions or pre-determined connotations to understand and navigate the business world. Unconscious bias training enables you to make rational decisions so that no one at the workplace feels undervalued.

If you are firm in changing your perspective, mindset, and attitude, then RILCA's Unconscious Bias Training will assist you in this. By learning to identify and overcome unconscious prejudice, you will become a better and more confident individual who acknowledges the diversity of people in the workplace.

How is NLP affiliated with Unconscious Bias Training?
There are times when you make decisions based on logic, and sometimes you stick to your sentiments. This shift continues because of the people we meet in our life. But, no matter who we meet, there is a preconceived notion that we carry with us. Sometimes, we try to change it, but most of the time, it doesn't really work.

This is where we can use NLP. Neuro-Linguistic Programming is an excellent model that includes transforming specific thoughts and behaviors to ensure better functionality at the workplace. We can incorporate widely recognized NLP techniques with unconscious bias training because the baseline of both models is the same, i.e., understanding and moulding monotonous behavioral patterns.

NLP aims to detect and modify individuals' unconscious biases, behavior, and limitations towards other people. By learning and implementing their fundamental techniques and methodologies, you will be able to accomplish your short-term and long-term goals like enhanced productivity, promotion (based on merit), better decision-making ability, etc.

Another thing to note here is that understanding how we communicate and perceive things says a lot about us. RILCA's Unconscious Bias training and NLP help you tailor your communication style to have favorable interactions with people from diverse backgrounds. The course modules are interesting enough to keep you intrigued and focused. It will also offer you proper guidance in moulding your implicit biases. Thus, avail RILCA’s exceptional training programs today and set your future on the right path!