Ivana Osagie, an inclusion expert has listed inclusive leadership training, critical self-reflection as well as going slow on judgment and reaction to people as some of the ways to fight gender bias in the workplace.
Osagie, who is the CEO at PWR Advisory, a leadership, diversity, inclusion advisory and advocacy firm, stated this during a webinar on Friday, themed “bias & decision making for corporate executives.”
The webinar commemorates the 2022 International Women’s Day with the theme “breaking the bias”, which is about working towards a world free of stereotypes and discrimination but equitable and inclusive
“Making decisions is a core leadership function and for executives, the stakes are often quite high. The ability to stay objective when making a judgment call is critical,” Osagie said.
She added that “we all have it (bias) because it is natural but we must be aware that we have it and watch out for it so that it does not influence our decisions as corporate leaders.”
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Osagie also noted that for women, likeability, attribution and affinity are the major types of bias that they face at the workplace. “Most times, we are expected to be nice, nursing and kind, we are not expected to be ambitious, strong, assertive and decisive as the men. If we act like them, we get backlashes.”
In breaking bias at the workplace, she advised people to watch out for when somebody is being excluded or put at a disadvantage, and speak up, consistently model inclusive leadership to your team and in turn hold them accountable for how they interact with others.
“Watch internal and external communication, including adverts and brochures to ensure the language is inclusive and provide unconscious bias and inclusive leadership training for managers, especially since they are the biggest drivers of organisational culture,” she advised.
