CEG Webinar Series, Part VI: 3 Questions on COVID-19 for LB Hannahs

CEG is hosting a free, six-part webinar series offering insight on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on business and how we can move past it. To familiarize you with the presenters and their unique perspectives on the crisis, CEG has asked them to respond to three questions.

Webinar 6: Managing our Implicit Bias during Crisis: Why it is harder and what to do about it

Wednesday, May 6 |8:30 – 9:30am | LB Hannahs, Ph.D., Inclusion Development Strategist, Tangible Development

Q1. What is the most common implicit bias you are seeing in the workplace amid this crisis?

1. A. Transitioning employees into remote work environments and expecting the same level of engagement, productivity, and “professionalism” as traditional in-person work situations impacts groups of people differently. Implicit bias about who should be working and how they should be working creeps in, especially in the absence of “seeing” people work. 

Q2. Is there a certain type of implicit bias that is emerging more strongly in this crisis, as compared to others?

1. A. There are two: 1.Racial bias is always present in every workplace, and COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color, particularly black and African American communities. Gender bias, particularly the different experiences of women and moms is emerging as a major issue during the crisis as well. 2. Location bias. One of the reasons why companies had yet to actively engage with remote workers before the crisis is that they did not harness the combined power of technology and diversity. The pandemic is stripping down the barrier of location and offering an opportunity to reconsider who can work that stretches beyond a physical location.

Q3. What is the worst way implicit bias can impact a workplace if it goes unchecked during a crisis?

1. A. Crises are stress inducers and can make people feel disconnected and alone. Unchecked implicit bias can make an already stressful situation much worse by making people feel targeted and uncared for in a way that is hard to undo. An abundance of care and consciousness is needed to see your workforce through to the other side of this crisis.

About the CEG Webinar Series

The series runs from April 22 to May 6. Topics include supply chain (April 22), sales strategies (April 28), disaster and business continuity planning (April 29), strategic focus (April 30), alternative healthcare funding (May 5), and implicit bias (May 6). Participants include Mainfreight, Sandler Sales Training, Relay Integrated Logistics and Solutions, Stragility, Jaeger & Flynn Associates and Tangible Development. There is no cost to attend the CEG Webinar Series. Please RSVP for each webinar you are interested in attending. If you are unable to join, select webinars will be recorded and available on our website.

About LB Hannahs

Using a blend of scholarship as a researcher, and practical, hands-on experience as a diversity educator and higher education administrator, LB is a bridge builder and problem solver with an expertise in organizational transformation. A skilled speaker and educator, LB has a featured TED talk and was part of Starbucks’ Third Place Speaker Series in 2018.