Performance and Perception: Addressing Bias in the Workplace

Summary

Are today’s performance management practices holding your organization back? Bias and outdated methods in evaluations can have a larger impact than many realize. Join guest expert Dr. Herman Aguinis for an engaging conversation on creating more equitable, effective workplaces. Herman—renowned researcher, speaker, and author in performance management—brings his expertise to the table, sharing actionable strategies to tackle bias and foster fairness.

Whether you’re a business leader, an HR professional, an educator or student, or someone just entering the workforce, this episode is packed with practical insights to help you rethink your approach to performance management, create inclusive environments, and build trust within your teams.

 What We Talk About

Here’s what’s covered in the episode:

• Uncovering Hidden Biases: Understand how biases can sneak into performance reviews and learn how to combat them effectively.
• Why Structure Matters: Explore why having a formal, consistent performance management system is essential for fairness and equity.
• Manager Training: Gain practical tips for training supervisors to spot and mitigate bias while promoting inclusivity.
• The Role of Technology: Discover how AI and data analytics are revolutionizing performance evaluations, making them more transparent and objective.
• Fairness and Loyalty: Hear how standardized practices can enhance employee trust and loyalty, especially during challenging times like downsizing.
• The Big Picture: Learn about the long-term benefits of equitable performance management, including better engagement, retention, and organizational culture.

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Aguinis provides research-backed insights and real-world examples to help listeners take meaningful steps toward building healthier workplace practices.

 About the Author

Dr. Herman Aguinis is the Avram Tucker Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Management at George Washington University. A leading expert in performance management, organizational behavior, and talent management, Herman bridges research and practice to help organizations build fair and effective workplace systems.

He is the acclaimed author of multiple textbooks, including Applied Psychology in Talent Management and Performance Management, resources widely used by HR professionals and leaders globally. Known for his practical insights and evidence-based strategies, Herman continues to shape the future of workplace practices, equipping organizations to foster trust, equity, and lasting change. 

Transcript

00:00:10:00 - 00:00:19:08

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Hi and welcome, everyone to a new Sage College Publishing webcast. My name is Amy Slowik, and I'm a senior marketing communication manager with Sage Publishing. This is a discussion in the wide world of performance management. And today we're diving into, critical issue, which is addressing bias in the workplace.

00:00:30:13 - 00:00:55:14

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Have you ever felt unfairly passed over for a promotion or witnessed a colleague facing unjust criticism? These experiences are often rooted in unconscious bias are all too common. So, in this session will uncover hidden biases that can skew results. Explore practical strategies to create a more fair and equitable workplace and provide you with actionable steps to implement these strategies in your own organizations.

00:00:55:16 - 00:01:07:08

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Joining me for this discussion is Dr. Herman Aguinis, a renowned expert in performance management. Herman is the Avram Tucker Distinguished Scholar and Professor of management at the George Washington University School of Business. His groundbreaking research and numerous publications, including the fifth edition of Performance Management and the ninth edition of Applied Psychology and Talent Management, have transformed how organizations approach the topic.

00:01:21:10 - 00:01:28:05

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

We're incredibly fortunate to have him share his insights with us today. Herman, thank you so much for joining us.

00:01:28:07 - 00:01:31:00

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Thank you, Amy, I'm delighted to join you today.

00:01:31:02 - 00:01:35:21

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you became interested in the field?

00:01:35:23 - 00:01:36:07

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Well, when you think about firms that, defeat their competitors, firms that do better than other firms, you have different sources of, competitive advantage, and those could be more money, better real estate, better technology. But these days, today, in the 21st century, all those resources are quite easy to get. You can get a better building.

00:02:00:20 - 00:02:30:12

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

You can get a loan. You can buy computers very cheaply compared to just ten years ago. But you know what makes a difference? And what distinguishes the Googles and the apples of this world from everybody else is the human capital. The talent. So, the firms that have the top talent, they are creative, innovative, engaged, motivated people who keep the customers happy to create new products.

00:02:30:14 - 00:03:11:09

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Those are the firms that get ahead. So many, many years ago, I became interested in how to develop and improve and acquire, talent, but not only from the perspective of firms because they want to acquire this talent to be more competitive, but also from the perspective, perspective of the individuals, how they can craft their jobs to have better, situations at work, to feel more satisfied, more engaged, and frankly, healthier as well, because issues of mental health and physical health at work are really critical, in particular with the amount of burnout that is going on.

00:03:11:10 - 00:03:17:16

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

So that's why I became interested in talent management from the perspective of the firm, but also from the employee.

00:03:18:12 - 00:03:28:08

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

That's fantastic. Well, we're absolutely looking forward to everything that you've got to share with us today. So, we'll go ahead and start, start with some questions I've got. If you're ready.

00:03:28:10 - 00:03:29:22

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Absolutely. Let's do it.

00:03:29:24 - 00:03:49:03

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Okay. So, first thing we want to talk about is, unmasking unconscious bias and talking about how it affects performance reviews. We've all had to deal with performance reviews in the workplace. Whether good weather, bad, hopefully more good. So, there's definitely an issue of hidden bias. How can we uncover those hidden biases that might be creeping into the performance reviews?

00:03:54:21 - 00:04:22:13

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Thank you. Amy. Who likes performance reviews, right? So, the thing about performance reviews and performance measurement is that it happens at work all the time, even if we do not think about it, we have implicit evaluations and beliefs and perceptions about who are the good employees, who are the top performing employees, who are the good supervisors? Who are not the good supervisors?

00:04:22:15 - 00:04:48:00

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

So, we think about that, and we evaluate and assess other people and have perceptions of other people all the time, even if there is no formal performance measurement or performance appraisal or management system. So, the first step in minimizing biases and of course, eliminating biases is a really, goal that is really, I would say almost impossible to achieve.

00:04:48:00 - 00:05:15:05

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

But it's a good goal to have. So, we're working towards eventually eliminating biases. The first step is to create a formal system for assessing performance, for giving people feedback on performance. Because if you have a formal system, you're less likely to allow individuals to use their idiosyncratically ways of assessing other people and perceiving other people. So, the first step is to create a formal system.

00:05:15:05 - 00:05:26:09

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

The second step, even if you have a formal system which is a tool performance management, performance measurement is just a tool is to teach people how to use the tool, and then do you remember when you first started to drive? Okay, what if you had been told Amy, here's your car, go ahead and drive it without any kind of learning or training?

00:05:39:13 - 00:05:45:02

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Not a good idea, right? Not a good idea. That's a very dangerous idea. Well, why would you give a performance measurement or performance appraisal tool to a manager without teaching them how to use it? Why would you give an employee who has been evaluated at performance management or Measurement appraisal tool without teaching them how to use it?

00:06:02:07 - 00:06:21:11

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

So, the second point in terms of minimizing biases is training. This is a tool. Performance management is a tool that can be used, it can be misused, and it can be abused like any tool. So, we really need to think about implementing training programs for all of the people involved in the system.

00:06:22:12 - 00:06:40:04

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Absolutely makes perfect sense. So going along with that, knowing that you know these steps is part of it includes having that fair and equitable performance management system. What would that system look like? A truly equitable performance management system there.

00:06:40:12 - 00:07:09:12

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

That's a question that I get asked all the time. When I, when I talk to managers, when I talk to employees and they tell me they have a performance problem, how can they fix it? And the bottom line is that you can have very complex systems with all kinds of measures. You can have systems where your performance is evaluated by peers, your performance is evaluated by your supervisor, your performance is evaluated by your direct reports.

00:07:09:12 - 00:07:37:12

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

That's called upward performance evaluation from the employee to the supervisor. And you can also have customers evaluate your performance so you can have different sources of performance. You can have very complex measurement systems. Now with technology you can collect performance data based on what people are doing in their computers. You can implement, electronic systems, performance monitoring systems.

00:07:37:14 - 00:08:00:02

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

For example, for truck drivers, you can use a GPS to see how many miles they drive when they take a break. So, these are systems that collect data without human intervention. And but the bottom line is when you're thinking about a performance management and performance appraisal system and trying to minimize biases, you need to think about two principles.

00:08:00:04 - 00:08:33:11

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Number one, standardization. That is the system needs to be standardized. You should not allow individuals, to make choices or introduce their subjective way of assessing things. And number two, treat everyone in the same way. So, if you're measuring the performance of a truck driver using the GPS in their truck, then you should measure the performance of all truck drivers with a GPS in all their trucks, not just 1 or 2, but everyone.

00:08:33:13 - 00:08:56:20

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

If you give one of your direct reports feedback on their performance, you should give everyone the same opportunity to receive your feedback. Those two principles really are truly umbrella principles, and you need to think about, regardless of how complex, sophisticated, or technology driven your system might be.

00:08:56:23 - 00:09:18:13

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

I love that, making sure that if you do it for one person, you do it for everybody. I know, I feel like, you know, a lot of times we hear that in a negative fashion but doing that and having a system that gives the same type of feedback for everybody is absolutely a great, a great plan and a great tool to use.

00:09:18:15 - 00:09:47:04

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

So, talking about things that, you know, people, people hear performance reviews, and I think a lot of times it just comes immediately has that negative connotation where everyone's worried about it, they're worried they're going to get, you know, bad feedback and whatnot. But a lot of times what people are getting in their reviews is really positive. So, you know, how can organizations ensure that, you know, doing this with an equitable, equitable performance management system that every employee has a fair shot at success and recognition with that?

00:09:47:16 - 00:10:13:02

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

So going back to the first point is we need to have a formal system. So, eventually performance management should be a conversation, an ongoing conversation between employees and their direct reports. What's going on at work? What challenges are you facing if you're performing? Great. Let me tell you what you doing that is so amazing and why that has an impact and why you should continue to do that.

00:10:13:04 - 00:10:40:20

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

If you're not doing that, great. Tell me what's going on. What are the challenges? And me as a supervisor, I'll try to help you with training, maybe with resources, maybe with taking a break and anything else that you might need at work. But at first, when there isn't a culture of performance management and ongoing feedback, which is in most companies because most companies have what's called a performance appraisal system, not a performance management system.

00:10:40:20 - 00:11:14:01

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Performance appraisal happens once a year. It's just a form that the cups in HR make you fill out every year. You do once a year because it's a requirement. So, it's a compliance type of behavior on the part of supervisors. They do it because they have to. They see no value in it. In fact, it detracts from their day jobs because they have to put down and put on the side the very important tasks that they're working on to work on this ridiculous form that HR is making me fill out, that's a waste of time.

00:11:14:01 - 00:11:55:08

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

And there is not obviously a way to do it. So when you transition from performance appraisal to performance management, you turn that non into it from a once a year event to an ongoing conversation about performance, you turn that from only about the past to by the past, the present and the future, and you turn it into from something that is owned by HR and benefits only HR, and you do it because of a compliance reason to something owned by each supervisor and each employee, and something that adds value to me as a supervisor, that adds value to my unit and adds value to my employee.

00:11:55:10 - 00:12:18:06

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

It's a whole different way of thinking about performance reviews. Now, people hate performance reviews because they involve a lot of surprises, because when you do it once a year, you're likely to be surprised because you don't know what's going on. But if it's performance management, which means an ongoing conversation, the performance review should not have any surprises.

00:12:18:10 - 00:12:45:03

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

That's a great point. I know one of my first jobs, that was the first thing that my boss told me is, you know, when you get your performance review, none of this should be a surprise. You should already know what to expect because, you know, theoretically, that performance management system is already in progress. And, you know, I know there were still times where you get the paper and you go, “oh, I didn't realize,” you know, you don't know what you don't know, and that it's there. But having a constant continuous feedback system is definitely a key to having that open dialog always.

00:12:53:22 - 00:12:58:19

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

That's right. And that open ongoing dialog also helps the supervisor, because many supervisors avoid the performance review because they don't like to drop this bomb, that something really bad happened. But instead of waiting, waiting until it's a crisis, until it's an emergency, it's better to detect signs of declining performance over time before it becomes a disaster, before it becomes an urgency or an emergency.

00:13:21:22 - 00:13:44:23

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

And I mean, who wants to give bad news? But if you see that there's a problem with an employee, you start to see signs of performance declining. That's when you can intervene as a supervisor and then you dodged the bullet in terms of not having to drop that bomb at the performance review meeting. So, by think you were performance management.

00:13:44:23 - 00:13:59:05

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

It's an ongoing dialog about performance. You make your life easier as a supervisor. And unless, if something bad happens and you have to wait until the end of the year, you deliver the bad news, that's just not good for anyone.

00:13:59:05 - 00:14:25:03

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Absolutely. I think, too, that that goes really into the next thing that I wanted to discuss, which is talking about employee experience and retention, having that constant feedback is, I think, key to retaining your employees and making them feel like they're a part of the day to day atmosphere. So, talking about experience and retention, how does bias in performance reviews make employees feel and does it affect their loyalty?

00:14:25:03 - 00:14:48:14

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Yeah, that's a great point. And when you're treating an employee in a biased manner, you're obviously affecting that employee. But guess what? You also have, an effect on everyone else who's watching. So, it's not just that employee, the target of your bias, but also everyone else around you who's watching that. And we have a lot of data on that specific issue.

00:14:48:14 - 00:15:20:12

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

For example, when companies downsize, when companies downsize and they say, we're going to let go, take 5% of the workforce or 10% of the workforce, and they don't do it in a fair, systematic, standardized way that, for example, those who are top performers are obviously not let go, but instead, if you do a biased or random way of downsizing everyone else watching people who do not get, laid off, but they're watching, they are called the survivors of the downsizing.

00:15:20:14 - 00:15:48:24

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

They see what's happening and what they're thinking about, but is, oh my goodness, these top performers were let go. I could be next. So, they immediately start looking for other opportunities. So, when you, when you, implement a biased system, not only you're causing damage to the targets of your bias, but also the other people who will leave because they think they might be next in terms of being the target of those biases.

00:15:49:01 - 00:16:12:03

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

So now performance management is a fantastic tool to deal with these issues. And the and the ninth edition of the Applied Psychology and Talent Management book were reviewed. More than 8000 articles and ended up including almost 600 new citations in this edition. Wow. Many of them were about performance management and the use of technology in, in, managing talent.

00:16:12:05 - 00:16:28:17

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

So, in terms of performance management, you have many, many things that you can do to minimize these biases. We talked about training. We talked about the use of technology. And you really have to be careful because when you when you do these bad things, everyone else is watching.

00:16:29:18 - 00:16:51:08

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Absolutely. And you actually just brought up the item that I wanted to discuss is as one of our final closeout ones, which is to go back to that, subject of technology and performance management and, bias in the workplace. And you've already spoken about it quite a bit. But let's talk a little bit about that elephant in the room that everyone wants to know about, which is AI.

00:16:51:10 - 00:17:05:17

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

So of course, people are integrating that into all aspects of the workplace. So, AI and data analytics, can they help us create a more objective and fair performance management process? And if so, how?

00:17:05:17 - 00:17:26:11

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Again, that's a great question. But remember, you know, 30 years ago this thing called the internet showed up. And this thing called Google showed up and all of a sudden you could do a search, and you didn't have to go to the library, you could read the newspapers in your computer. So, it's a new tool, and you need to learn how to use this tool.

00:17:26:13 - 00:17:57:08

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

And we need to learn how to use it to our advantage. And part of the new information in the ninth edition is how, as an HR manager or a manager overall, you can use AI to your advantage. AI, in my view, is not going to replace all jobs, but it will replace some jobs. But more importantly, the people who use AI will be able to perform better because you can do things faster, more efficiently.

00:17:57:10 - 00:18:22:08

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Now, if you use it wrong, your performance will be worse because you will be doing nonsense, nonsense things that I may be suggesting that you do that are just wrong. So, we actually recently published an article in a journal called Organizational Dynamics, on how to use, AI as your HR assistant. And it saves you a lot of time.

00:18:22:08 - 00:18:49:01

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

And, and it gives you a lot of information. But the number one thing you have to do is craft the prompt very, very, very well. You cannot ask a general question because you're going to get an answer that will now be sufficiently specific and useful. So, you have to have the knowledge on what questions to ask. And then a very critical issue that we also mentioned in the book is the verification process.

00:18:49:03 - 00:19:18:15

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Once you get the answer, how do you know if that is credible, if it's truthful, is it fake information or are useful credible information. So not just, asking the right question, but also scrutinizing and verifying the accuracy and the credibility of the advisory. Receive is also very, very important. So, all those things are part of learning how to use this new tool that is now at our disposal.

00:19:19:00 - 00:19:31:19

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Absolutely. And I think it's important to realize too, that it's here and it's not going away. So, learning how to use it and using it to your advantage is absolutely the best way to bring it into the workplace and into your dynamic.

00:19:31:21 - 00:19:34:08

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Absolutely. And a good point.

00:19:34:10 - 00:19:38:12

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Fantastic. Do you have any closing thoughts you'd like to share?

00:19:38:15 - 00:20:03:04

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Now, much like you said, AI is not going away. Well, performance management is not going away. After the pandemic, a lot of companies were saying no more performance reviews, no more performance ratings. Deloitte, Microsoft. Guess what? Everyone is back into performance management. Everyone is back into performance reviews. Because how do you know who to promote? Could you give a bonus?

00:20:03:04 - 00:20:32:13

Dr. Herman Aguinis, Sage Author, Professor, and Performance Management Expert

Who to? Who to who do you give training to? If you're not measuring performance, you cannot do any of those things. And if you're not measuring performance, well, also you cannot make fair decisions in your company. So, performance management is absolutely not going away. And because it's not going away, we need to be able to learn how to use it and make sure that managers and employees, receive appropriate training to use it well. 

00:20:32:22 - 00:20:58:05

Amy Slowik, Senior Marcomm Manager, Sage College Publishing

Well, thank you so much once again, for sharing all of your incredible knowledge with us today. I know we've covered a lot, and I hope that everyone that's, watching or listening, had picked up some actionable tips to help create a more inclusive workplace where they are. And if you want to dive deeper into this topic, then we encourage you to check out Herman's work and other resources on the Sage website at collegepublishing.sagepub.com, and make sure to subscribe to the Sage College Publishing Podcast. And thanks for joining us. Remember that building a bias-free environment is a journey and not a destination, so let's keep the conversation going.