50 Ways to Fight Bias How to fight bias at your organization
Companies need to act now to promote, hire, and retain women—and 50 Ways to Fight Bias can help.
Challenging bias is good for companies
For six years, Lean In and McKinsey & Company have studied the state of women in corporate America. Our findings are stark: women are less likely to be hired and promoted, and they’re more likely to face everyday discrimination and microaggressions in their workplaces. For women of color, LGBTQ women, and women with disabilities, these inequities are even more pronounced. And the effects are profound—women are less happy at work, and they’re more likely to think about leaving their jobs.
Bias has a lot to do with this. But even though 73% of women experience bias at work, less than a third of employees are able to recognize bias when they see it—and only a third of managers challenge it when it happens. Companies need to empower all employees to do better. Not only is it the right thing to do, the business case is strong: more inclusive teams are happier and more productive, and companies with more women in leadership achieve higher profits.
New to 50 Ways? Learn more about the program.
How to access 50 Ways
50 Ways to Fight Bias is a free digital program to empower all employees to identify and challenge bias head on. The program is optimized for virtual workshops where participants learn about bias, discuss specific examples, and get expert recommendations on what to do.
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How companies can use this program
50 Ways to Fight Bias is flexible and can be tailored to suit your organization’s needs. The program features almost 100 digital cards highlighting specific instances of workplace bias, and you can choose from 12 sets of cards curated for different audiences and workplace interactions. For example,
we offer a set for managers and a set focused on bias in hiring and promotions.
Explore some options for bringing the program to your company below, including recommendations on specific sets of cards that will resonate with participants.
Engage Your Employees
Host a workshop for employees
For large gatherings—either in-person or virtual—select a set of cards and use our virtual moderator guide to walk everyone through the activity. Break participants into smaller groups or virtual breakout rooms to discuss the situations and brainstorm solutions together. 95% of employees who participate in a workshop are more committed to challenging bias.
Set recommendations:
- Use our bias fundamentals set to run an introductory session for all employees.
- Use our set on the experiences of women of color to educate employees about the biases women of color face at work and the concrete steps colleagues can take to interrupt bias and practice allyship.
- Use our set on networking and mentoring to educate employees on how bias can affect workplace relationships, including mentorship, sponsorship, networking opportunities, and access to senior leaders.
Check out how SurveyMonkey used this implementation strategy.
Integrate into existing programming
Use 50 Ways to facilitate conversations about bias within your existing programming. This could be a diversity and inclusion training, new employee training, or monthly all-hands meetings.
Set recommendations:
- Use our set on bias in company culture to help employees set inclusive norms, approach coworkers with empathy, and push back on acts of bias.
- Use our set on bias in virtual workplaces to help employees understand and combat the effects of bias in remote work environments.
Incorporate into everyday workplace activities
For common workplace gatherings like weekly meetings or team lunches, use the situations or videos individually. For example, discuss one situation in each weekly team meeting or watch the videos together over lunch.
Train your managers and senior leaders
Host a workshop for managers
Managers play a critical role in creating inclusive team cultures—yet only a third of managers challenge bias when it happens. Lead managers through the program to help them understand how they can challenge bias—and then ask them to bring the program to their teams. 96% of managers who have participated in 50 Ways feel more equipped to discuss challenging bias with their teams.
Set recommendations:
- Use our manager set to provide managers with concrete steps for fighting bias and creating an inclusive team culture.
Check out how Fossil Group used this implementation strategy.
Host a workshop for senior leaders
Senior leaders play a key role in creating inclusive company policies, programs, and cultures where fighting bias is a norm. Lead senior leaders through the program to help them understand how they can build a more inclusive workplace.
Set recommendations:
- Use our senior leader set to help senior leaders understand how they can fight bias by shifting company policies, programs, and culture.
Integrate into your hiring and reviews/promotions process
Use before hiring and promotions
Research shows bias often affects staffing decisions. 50 Ways can be used to remind stakeholders of how to avoid common pitfalls in the hiring and reviews/promotions processes.
Set recommendations:
- Use our set on addressing the “broken rung” to learn how to address bias in hiring and promotions at the first step up to manager—the “broken rung” where women are often overlooked and left behind.
- Use our hiring set to educate interviewers, recruiters, and hiring managers on how to recognize and reduce bias in the hiring process.
- Use our reviews and promotions set to train evaluators on reducing bias in reviews and promotions—an area where biased assessments can have a big impact on women’s careers.
Facilitate small group discussions
Run a small group discussion
For small group gatherings, lead participants through a set of cards and discuss the situations and recommendations together. You can do this in one session or over the course of a series.
Set recommendations:
- Use one of our 12 sets that is relevant to your small group—or customize your own set.
