OPM acting director Beth Cobert has cited several techniques to address unconscious bias in federal workforce decisions, calling it “one of the most challenging barriers to diversity and inclusion.”
“Probably the most unconscious bias exhibited during the hiring process is the ‘like me’ bias. The ‘like me’ bias means leaders and managers typically look to hire or promote people who look like themselves,” she said at a diversity conference.
She said that more than 15,000 employees and managers have been through OPM’s New IQ course that promotes inclusive behaviors.
One example of how that is being put to work, she said, is that Agriculture has used a blind application process in its last two SES selection classes—deleting the names of applicants, which can be an indicator of race and gender, from the paperwork the selection panels reviewed. The result is an increasing percentage of women selected, she said.
Another example she cited was NASA’s decision to alert all employees — not just those a manager might identify as likely candidates – about upcoming opportunities of all sorts, ranging from temporary service on special projects to reassignments.