Stephen Colbert likes to tell guests he doesn’t see race and understands that he’s white only because other people tell him so. It’s funny, and we laugh because if you can just pretend race (and gender) don’t exist then all the thorny problems are solved right? But we see do see differences like gender and race, and we all have unconscious biases for the way we perceive and react to them.

Let’s stop there because that’s the first step: acknowledging unconscious biases. It’s an evolutionary tool we humans all have. They’re mental shortcuts that allow us to be decisive when we perceive different situations. If you want to find out more about what sort of biases you have you can take this test Implicit Association Test. Because these biases have been hardwired into us, they are very difficult to turn off. But if you want your company to move forward, it’s something that, especially the people who make the hiring decisions, must do.

A diverse workforce is a more creative one studies show. Making efforts at being diverse isn’t just about doing what’s morally right (although it is that) it’s also about preparing for the future. What your customers have looked like in the past is probably not what they’ll look like in the future, that means you’ll need to adapt. The first step is identifying the biases.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.