What is feedback bias

Feedback bias in the workplace is an unfair distortion that occurs during the employee evaluation process. It happens when personal prejudices, stereotypes, or subjective opinions influence the feedback given rather than objective performance metrics. This can result in inaccurate assessments that do not reflect an employee's true performance or potential.

How can feedback bias affect employee performance and development?

Feedback bias can significantly impact employee performance by creating a misalignment between actual performance and perceived performance. Employees who receive biased feedback may feel demotivated, undervalued, or unfairly treated. This can lead to decreased productivity, lower job satisfaction, and higher turnover rates.

In contrast, employees who receive overly positive, biased feedback may become complacent, reducing their drive to improve.

Feedback bias can also hinder employee development by providing inaccurate assessments of strengths and weaknesses. Employees may not receive the constructive feedback needed to improve or may be unfairly criticized, stifling their growth.

Accurate, unbiased feedback is crucial for identifying development opportunities and creating effective personal development plans.

What are common stereotypical feedback biases?

Gender bias

Women are frequently deemed less suitable for leadership roles than men and are commonly assigned "office housekeeping" tasks instead.

Another issue is the idea of the "maternal wall" when coworkers perceive that working mothers take their eye off the ball and are preoccupied with family life. The Center for WorkLife Law analyzed bias in a midsize US law firm and discovered that "women were more likely to receive comments about being overworked than men."

Women who progress into leadership roles face strong language describing their success. A Stanford research published in the American Sociological Review looked at gender bias in employee evaluations at a Fortune 500 tech company. The study revealed that male and female workers were equally likely to be described as having technical skills.

But "women were more frequently characterized as aggressive, which negatively impacted how they were perceived and their career opportunities."

Race and ethnicity bias

People of color frequently receive problematic feedback at work and often suffer from lower salaries.

The American Association of University Women conducted a gender and racial pay gap analysis, which concluded that the lowest-paid group of employees was Black and Latinx. This same category also experienced the lowest quality feedback over a long period.

Black men get the least feedback of any other race, allowing them little opportunity to develop in their role. When they do receive feedback, Black and Latinx people are described as "passionate" 2.1x as often as Asian or white colleagues. This wording is a known microaggression that could mean "argumentative" or "unable to get along with others."

Age bias

Is there a perfect age for an employee? Workplace age bias suggests so, with early and late-stage career workers impacted the most by careless wording.

Textio's language bias study says managers describe people under 40 as "ambitious" 2.5 times more than people over 40. Those in the older bracket are more likely to be labeled as "responsible" or "unselfish" than their younger team members.

Age discrimination occurs across the age spectrum:

• Young workers are often overlooked (or worse, disrespected) due to a perceived lack of experience and status
• Older workers are considered to be past their sell-by-date. This is a particular problem in perimenopausal and menopausal women, typically in their late forties and fifties, who face bias about physical and mental health changes

Personality bias

Personality traits can also be a source of bias in the workplace. For example, more introverted people miss out on leadership roles in favor of extroverted ones. Those with anxiety disorders are frequently written off as unable to cope with stress.

Sia Partners admits that self-proclaimed introverts on their teams can remember being told by leaders to "be more confident," "act more like an ideal consultant," or to "walk around and engage more in casual conversations with other employees." ‍

These are examples of personality-based feedback bias—the feedback-giver implies they favor the behavior of extroverted colleagues who would be comfortable completing these three activities.

Religious bias

Religious bias is when people are categorized according to their faith or choice not to believe in God. And it can have a real impact on people's careers.

**For example, feedback givers may consider religious employees dogmatic or inflexible while believing that atheist or agnostic employees lack moral values.

What's the compounding effect?

Examining the individual stereotypes shows the destructive power of feedback for someone belonging to a single category.

But what about when an employee falls into two or more? For example, a black woman aged over 40 years old would tick the racial bias, age bias, and gender bias boxes. Indeed, black women receive 9x as much unactionable feedback as white men under 40.

When a feedback recipient falls into multiple discriminatory categories, this has a compounding effect, meaning that the impact is worse.

Another example? White men under 40 have the word "brilliant" weaved into their feedback 8.7x more than women over 40.

What cognitive feedback biases are there in performance management?

Some of these cognitive biases are grounded in our psychological makeup and personal experiences. Others are situational—we may be influenced by colleagues or have a distorted recollection of an event.

Recency bias

Recency bias refers to situations where the order in which things happen affects how we recall them.

For example, if an employee has received ten pieces of feedback over a year, but the most recent was negative, this may carry more weight than the other 9.

Affinity bias

Affinity bias is when we have a natural inclination to work with people like us. It might be because they share our values or beliefs or because we have something in common.

For example, you might perceive a fellow employee more positively for attending the same school or being from the same town.

While there's nothing wrong with wanting to work with people we have a connection with, this common bias can lead us to overlook talented individuals who don't share our background.

Halo/horn effect

The halo/horn effect is when our impression of an individual is impacted by one particular positive or negative trait.

For example, if an employee is overweight, they may also be incorrectly labeled as lazy or careless, even if their actual performance does not show this.

Another example is when a charismatic employee with great interpersonal skills is seen as highly competent even if they consistently miss deadlines.

Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is one of the most disruptive types of bias in the workplace. It refers to seeking information confirming our beliefs and ignoring information contradicting them.

For example, if we believe that an employee is lazy, we may be more likely to remember when they arrive late for work and less likely to recall when they stay late to finish a project.

Groupthink bias

This phenomenon often occurs in organizations with a strong culture of conformity.

Groupthink is a "mode of thinking in which individual members of small cohesive groups tend to accept a viewpoint or conclusion that represents a perceived group consensus, whether or not the group members believe it to be valid, correct, or optimal."

For example, when most team members share the same views, it can be challenging to hear minority voices. As a result, unconscious bias can go unchecked and invade annual reviews.

Primacy bias

Primacy bias is all about first impressions. In other words, we place too much importance on the first piece of information we receive, which will be dominant over anything that happens later. For example, if a new joiner fails to shine during onboarding but gets in their stride a couple of months down the road, it's more difficult for them to obtain higher performance feedback ratings than a new hire who impressed out of the gate.

Idiosyncratic rater bias

Idiosyncratic rater bias occurs due to the feedback-giver's personal tendencies. In other words, the reviewer rather than the reviewee influences the rating scale.

For example, the reviewer has exceptional technical skills, so they consider this a more critical metric than communication or productivity. They may provide negative feedback to someone who doesn't possess technical capabilities even if they excel in all other areas.

How can organizations overcome unconscious bias in the workplace?

You now understand that unconscious bias can be rife in any workplace. Follow these tips to unpack issues with any type of feedback in your organization.

Implement structured feedback systems

Develop clear and objective criteria for performance evaluations. This will ensure that all employees are assessed based on the same standards and reduce subjective judgments.

Example: Instead of asking managers to rate an employee's "attitude," use specific performance metrics such as "punctuality," "team collaboration," and "task completion rate."

Provide unconscious bias training

Educate managers and supervisors about the different types of unconscious biases and their impact on performance evaluations. This training helps them recognize and mitigate their biases during feedback sessions.

Example: Conduct workshops with scenarios and role-playing exercises to help managers identify and address biases in real-world situations.

Use data and analytics to monitor and address bias

Review hiring, promotion, and compensation data regularly to identify patterns of bias. Implement tracking systems to monitor diversity metrics and take corrective action when disparities are identified.

Use 360-degree feedback

Implement a 360-degree feedback system where employees receive feedback from multiple sources, including peers, subordinates, and managers. This multi-source feedback provides a more balanced and comprehensive view of an employee's performance.

Example: Employees receive feedback from their direct supervisor and colleagues in different departments, providing a fuller picture of their strengths and areas for improvement.

Complimentary resources:

• How to Implement a 360-Degree Performance Appraisal in 15 Steps

• 360 Feedback Questions to Measure and Improve Employee Performance

• 360 Feedback Examples for Growth-Oriented Reviews

Promote a culture of continuous feedback

Shift from annual performance reviews to continuous feedback. Regular check-ins and ongoing feedback help reduce the impact of any single biased evaluation and promote a more accurate assessment over time.

Example: Implement monthly one-on-one meetings where managers and employees discuss performance, goals, and development opportunities.

Monitor and improve feedback and review processes

Feedback bias isn't an issue you'll solve overnight. But you can lessen it with continuous effort and the right feedback system.

Regularly check in with your team to see if bias is still an issue. Keep reviewing the data, and make changes to your feedback process where necessary.

Keep the conversation about unconscious bias alive – don't let it become a 'tick-box' exercise.

Instead, use it as an opportunity to build a more inclusive workplace where everyone feels they can be their authentic selves and all employee voices are heard.

Create a fair feedback culture with Deel Engage

Implement the above tips in a revamped employee performance appraisal process centered around 360 feedback to celebrate every voice in your company.

Build a fair feedback system with Deel Engage. You can expect:

• Train your reviewers to give clear and intentional feedback free from bias
• Facilitate feedback from multiple perspectives—self-evaluations, peers, managers, and directs report reviews
• Link performance reviews to goals for more objective appraisals
• Anonymize feedback whenever necessary
• Support employee career development

Deel HR, our truly global HRIS solution, is always included for free.

Learn more about how our solutions will help you build a fair feedback system in your organization.