Being Free of Prejudice is a Lot Easier Said Than Done Especially in a Diverse Workplace

Prejudices are within all human beings becauseability to keep all distractions from entering the
they have a preference for a certain way ofdecision making process. By not prejudging the
doing something to a belief about a certain groupsituation nor the people involved allows for
of individuals to a specific religion or philosophydiscernment free of biases.
based upon the sum total of their experiences.When team members show a high level of
When human resource department hire anyperformance specific to freedom from prejudice,
individual, they also find themselves with a lot ofthey will examine all the facts equally and with
prejudices that can ultimately affect teamwork toimpartiality. These recognize and accept that
the bottom line. And let us not forget all thosepeople are different and their differences can add
potentially expensive laws suits that could be filedvalue to any solution provided those are diverse
with the Equal Opportunity Employmenthave the opportunity to be heard.
Commission (US).Not having this talent is fairly easy to identify.
Having a fixed belief that may potentially insult toThese are employees who may make negative
limit the overall productivity of the organization isremarks about their fellow co-workers. This
not a good thing and yet how does anyexisting bias or predetermination may directly
organization avoid it? After all, human beings areaffect or partially influence their basic decision
not robots and cannot sometimes forget actualmaking process. Supporting evidence and facts
harm or perceived harm. And with a ever growingare considered superfluous because their negative
diverse workforce, it is important to hire openbias drives how they make sense of the situation
minded individuals who do not share a negativeat hand.
viewpoint about race, gender, age, physicalSuccessful displays of this particular talent
appearance, health, intelligence or lack thereof,intelligence might look like:
status, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation or even- Making decisions based on facts not beliefs or
a way specific way of thinking.emotions
Years ago the actor Charlton Heston made this- Conducting a round robin in a meeting to ensure
observation about human beings and their inherentfeedback from all
prejudices when filming Plant of the Apes. After- Reviewing existing team structure to ensure
the second day in full makeup, he saw the cast atthat a diverse (primary and secondary levels)
lunchtime where the:population is represented
- Chimpanzees eating with the chimpanzees- Entering a meeting with an open mind
- Gorillas eating with the gorillas- Sitting next to someone who is not like him or
- Orangutans eating with orangutansher
- Humans eating with humansAs the workplace becomes more and more
During the filming of the sequel, Heston noted thisdiverse, having employees free from prejudices
behavior a second time. In other words, humanwill be valued and will be equally difficult. Those
already have an innate bias to see themselveshuman resource departments that can develop
across the table.this specific capacity will be even that much closer
The first step is to accept that being free ofto having a truly high performing organization.
prejudice is truly a talent intelligence. This is the