Discrimination in the workplace can lead to costly lawsuits, settlements and fines. Yet the era of remote work has made eliminating bias more complicated. How can today’s business and organizational leaders protect their enterprises and ensure a fair and healthy workplace for all? The answer is to foster a healthy, inclusive culture.
As legal administrators and professionals already know, workplaces of all kinds continue to struggle with implicit bias. According to a 2023 survey, 91% of workers report having experienced discrimination at work.
The remote work environment can aggravate these problems. Studies show that leaders harbor a “proximity bias” — not valuing remote workers’ contributions as highly as those from in-office employees. As a result, remote workers receive 31% fewer promotions. “Out of sight, out of mind,” as the saying goes.
Meanwhile, research has shown that the U.S. remote workforce attracts women, who often have the advanced education required for remote positions and appreciate the flexibility of working from home. In fact, many remote workers are already members of at least one traditionally marginalized group in the paid workforce.
Therefore, addressing bias in the remote workplace often necessitates addressing multiple layers of discrimination. The good news is that creating an inclusive workplace can address them all simultaneously.
The first step to addressing implicit bias in the workplace is to build awareness. A problem can’t be solved if it can’t be seen.
Given the statistics cited above, it’s wise for business leaders to assume their company has an implicit bias problem rather than hoping to be the exception to the rule. This mindset will help you look for where implicit bias may play out instead of focusing on where it isn’t. While this outlook may seem negative, it’s actually pragmatic — wounds continue to fester if not treated. If no one wants to see the wounds, they just fester longer. Denial doesn’t make them disappear.
Inclusivity isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a lived experience of a healthy workplace. To create an inclusive work environment, legal administrators and other business leaders must prioritize employees’ sense of psychological safety, meaning team members must feel free to be themselves and speak their minds without fear of retaliation or other negative consequences.
In my experience, leaders of toxic teams often believe their work environment is already inclusive. They have made statements to their teams about how inclusive they want their workplace to be and asked for people’s honest opinions, so obviously, if they aren’t receiving negative feedback from their staff, everything must be perfect already.
“Shifting from a noninclusive workplace to an inclusive one requires leadership to pause, stop fixating on productivity and turn their focus to nurturing the human beings on their team. It means putting people first.”
Savvy employees don’t believe in mere talk, however, and watch to see if leadership’s deeds align with their words. If there’s a gap, they will smile, nod and stay silent.
Ironically, the presence of negative feedback from staff is an essential sign of a healthy, inclusive workplace. If your employees tell you their concerns directly, it means they trust you. Conversely, if you have retention issues but no one on staff is willing to explain what’s wrong, it means they don’t trust you — which is a big problem.
Shifting from a noninclusive workplace to an inclusive one requires leadership to pause, stop fixating on productivity and turn their focus to nurturing the human beings on their team. It means putting people first.
For remote workers, fostering inclusivity means ensuring they understand that you will make time for them whenever they need it and hop on a video call. It also means ensuring they get the same perks as the people in the office.
Every time in-office employees get a benefit that remote workers don’t — from the little things like free coffee to the big stuff like 401(k)s — remote workers notice. These discrepancies add up, eventually forming a narrative in their minds that your organization does not appreciate them the way it should.
Do your utmost to treat everyone the same. If you’re buying brunch for everyone at headquarters, then tell your remote workers to go out for a meal on your dime as well. If your in-office workers get a 401(k), figure out an alternative solution to help your remote workers save for their retirement, too.
Addressing implicit biases in remote work environments requires time and energy, but it’s more than worth the effort. This work boils down to making your company culture healthy and safe throughout. The more you succeed in doing this, the more you will not only reduce your organization’s legal jeopardy but also boost its retention rate and productivity.
