It’s November.  Marketing departments are working on their customer appreciation messages and gifts, while HR departments are crafting their employee tenure rewards programs.  It makes sense.  Leaders know that it is important to acknowledge devoted employees and customers alike.  And those leaders – if they are genuine and smart – know that it is not enough to inwardly appreciate dedicated staff and faithful customers for their ongoing support.  They must also take the time to recognize that longevity and loyalty in a meaningful way.  But not all recognition programs are created equal.  Some work and others don’t.  When and how should an organization express gratitude to their devoted employees and faithful customers?  Here’s what the research says.

Proximity Bias and Remote Workers

Workplaces are rife with hidden biases.  It’s part and parcel of the way that our human brains work.  These biases are shortcuts the brain takes in order to be able to deal with the rapid pace of life. 

Many of the biases we looked at over the last two months were present during the recruiting and hiring process.  But Proximity Bias is one that not only is present during recruiting and hiring, but also during ongoing management of staff.  Proximity Bias is the brain’s tendency to favor people and ideas that are familiar over those that are unfamiliar.  

Attribution Bias

In psychology, attribution refers to the process by which individuals explain the causes of behavior and events.  Cause and effect are very important in business because we want to know exactly the cause that produces a particular outcome in order to replicate it or avoid it, depending on the situation.  For example, sales managers seek to understand just what specific behaviors and information result in a sale.  Based on past experience and a lot of data analysis, a Sales Manager might deduce that outgoing, positive, extroverted sales people are more likely to connect with customers and generate sales.  He will look to hire people with that disposition. Or hiring managers might want to know what type of employees are most likely to stay with the company a long time.  So one HR Director, looking at research and her own record, might deduce that younger employees tend to change jobs more frequently and decide to hire middle aged employees in order to reduce turnover.  For most business decisions, attribution is key.

Beauty Bias is the Beast

It is the most natural thing in the world to be drawn to beauty.   And, as it turns out, what constitutes beauty in humans is fairly universal.  There is a high level of agreement regarding facial features that people like within and across cultures.  A study conducted of White Scottish people and Black South African people showed significant agreement of who they considered “good looking”, both within and across cultures.  And similar studies have confirmed their findings many times.  Indeed, there appears to be a universality of beauty standards.  How a person looks matters.  That explains why the beauty care industry is exploding with global sales projected to be $534B for 2022. 

The Problems Created by Knowledge Bias and Overconfidence Bias

Most people think they know more than they actually do and, as a result, become overconfident.  How do we know that?  Because, when put to the test, most people who think they have a solid understanding of simple things can’t actually explain the workings of everyday things… things they believe they fully understand.  For example, how does a refrigerator work? Or cell phone.  Zipper.  Sewing machine.  Crossbow.   Fountain pen.  Calculator.  Light bulb.   Most people think they know how these things work.  But when asked to explain it, they can’t.   This was discovered by Yale University researchers Leonid Rozenblit and Frank Keil, who conducted a series of studies asking hundreds of random people if they understood how a refrigerator (and other common things) works.  Rozenblit and Keil reported their findings in a paper titled “The misunderstood limits of folk science: an illusion of explanatory depth” published in Cognitive Science in September 2002. 

Horn Effect Bias Taints Qualified Candidates

Humans have so many biases; the ones that we reluctantly admit to having and the unconscious ones that are hidden even from ourselves.  These hidden ones are unconscious biases that we don’t even know exist.  And, even when we’re made aware of them, we have great trouble overcoming them.  But it is important to minimize the impact of biases.  Nothing good comes from bias because biases distort reality and hide the truth. 

When a Halo is a Bad Thing

We all know that it is not good to be biased, especially when it comes to things like race, gender and religion.  But beyond the conscious biases, there are a host of unconscious biases that influence our thoughts and affect our behavior.  Everyone has them because they serve as mental shortcuts to help us make decisions.  But, what they also often do is cloud our judgment.  These hidden biases make it harder to discern fact from fiction and truth from tales.  We misjudge based on assumptions, often ignoring anything that doesn’t fit with the perception.  We are led astray and we jump to conclusions.  This happens a lot.  And, what leads us astray can vary. 

Expectation Anchor Bias – Don’t Let a First Impression have the Last Word

You are biased.  Yes, you are.  Even if you grew up in a family where diversity and inclusion were part of your basic values.  Even if you have actively supported organizations and causes that advocate for justice and fair treatment for all people.  Even if you reject all forms of prejudice and discrimination.  You are still biased.  It’s just how your brain works.  And it’s not just you.  It’s all of us.  Everyone.  We all have biases, most of which are unconscious biases that the brain uses as shortcuts to make fast decisions.  There are over 200 unconscious biases.  Some are more impactful than others.  But all biases share one common problem.  Bias distorts truth.  Bias makes you more inclined to process information and make decisions based on distortions and conclusions that are false.   Obviously, decisions based on false information can cause problems.  But this is especially true in business, where clarity and accuracy are key to the decision-making process. 

Affect Heuristics Bias – When Emotions Lead the Way

In the workplace, unconscious biases — the ones we have but don’t know we have because they are hidden and automatic — sway a great many policies including hiring practices.   We have many of these.  One such unconscious bias is Affect Heuristics Bias.  Like most unconscious biases, this is a type of mental shortcut.  In this shortcut, decisions are heavily influenced by a person’s current emotions. 

In Affect Heuristics Bias, a person’s affect – which is a psychological term for emotional response — plays a critical role in the choices and decisions made.  (Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently. These rule-of-thumb strategies shorten decision-making time and allow people to function without constantly stopping to think about their next course of action.)  Rather than make decisions solely on concrete, factual information, logic and reason, people will make quick decisions based on their emotions.  While this allows them to reach a conclusion quickly and easily, it can also distort the thinking process and lead to suboptimal choices and decisions.

Confirmation Bias in Hiring is Insidious to Spot, Difficult to Combat and Bad for Business

Bias plays a major role in hiring practices, albeit an often silent, hidden role.   That’s because people have over 200 unconscious (as in not aware of) biases.  Those biases are bad for business.  But, of the many, confirmation bias is probably one of the most common and also perhaps one of the worst unconscious biases.  It is also one the hardest to overcome.  So what is confirmation bias and why is it so bad for business?

Let’s start by defining it.  Confirmation bias happens when someone analyzes or processes information in a way that confirms their own beliefs or assumptions about an individual.  This bias also involves a tendency to ignore, explain away or even forget information that conflicts with those personal beliefs or assumptions.  Confirmation Bias seeks evidence that confirms one’s existing beliefs or theories.  This bias often piggybacks onto other unconscious biases.