LHRMA News

July Program Lunch Begins: 11:30am Workshop: 12:00pm-3:00pm Venue: The Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel 333 S 13th St, Lincoln, NE 68508 Cost Members: $75 total – Includes Lunch & Workshop. Non-Members: $100 total – Includes Lunch & Workshop plus a LHRMA Membership from July 2018-December 2018. Credits: 3 General Credits for SHRM are approved 3 HRCI Credits are pending approval Topic: Unconscious Bias GOT BIAS? Understanding the New Science of Bias Much of what is said and done in the name of diversity and inclusion today is, unfortunately, based on an antiquated and flawed paradigm. We stubbornly cling to the idea that there are generally two groups of people in the world; there are “good people,” who are open-minded, nonjudgmental and free of bias, and then there are “bad people,” who are closed-minded, judgmental and dripping with bias. This conveniently leaves most of us completely out of the conversation regarding bias; as long as I am a “good person,” I don’t have any work to do, beyond helping to point out the bad ones…who clearly need to be “fixed.” We know enough today about human beings, specifically the human brain, to know that there is no such thing as a nonjudgmental human being. We are naturally and even automatically judgmental, there is no hatred or fear required. Bias is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it is simply a true thing, and only becomes a problem when we convince ourselves it is not there. Having an accurate understanding of what bias is and where it comes from, allows us to do something about it, to make sure that we are mitigating its impact on our decisions and interactions. This is an interactive, information-rich and incredibly actionable message. Key takeaways: Understand what bias, and unconscious (or implicit) bias are. Be introduced to research from the fields of social psychology, behavioral economics and neuroscience regarding the source and impacts of unconscious (or implicit) bias. Understand why bias is a natural aspect of the human experience. Understand and explore the ways that unconscious (or implicit) bias can undermine individual and group performance in the workplace. Leave with individual action items that they can immediately incorporate into their work. Be prepared to identify collective opportunities for taking action to reduce the impact of unconscious (or implicit) bias. Leave with resources to support additional learning, sharing and action relative to mitigating the impact of unconscious (or implicit) bias.   Speaker Bio: Joe Gerstandt is a speaker, author and advisor bringing greater clarity, action, and impact to organizational diversity and inclusion efforts. Joe has worked with Fortune 100 corporations, small non-profits, and everything in between. He speaks at numerous conferences and summits, and blogs at joegerstandt.com. He is a featured contributor for the Workforce Diversity Network Expert Forum and his insights have been published in Diversity Best Practices, Diversity Executive, HR Executive, The Diversity Factor, The American Diversity Report, the Corporate Recruiting Leadership Journal, Associations Now, other print and on-line journals and he co-authored the book Social Gravity: Harnessing the Natural Laws of Relationships. Joe grew up on a family farm in NW Iowa, served four years in the United States Marine Corps, including participation in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, attended Iowa State University and then spent 6 years working in management and business development for technology and communication companies. He then made a career change and went to work for a grassroots non-profit organization, and this is where he found himself drawn to issues related to diversity and inclusion and then became actively involved in that work. Today, Joe believes that we can ill afford to continue applying a 20th century approach to an increasingly critical set of 21st century issues. A strong advocate for resetting the diversity and inclusion conversation, Joe sees diversity and inclusion as poorly understood and often misunderstood. His keynote messages and interactive workshops bring greater clarity, action, and impact to existing and new organizational diversity & inclusion efforts.  Joe Gerstandt “Bias” Video – Introduction