FranklinCovey Launches New Solution, Unconscious Bias: Understanding Bias to Unleash Potential

Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC), a global firm specializing in organizational performance improvement, today announced the launch of its newest solution, Unconscious Bias: Understanding Bias to Unleash Potential™. The work session establishes a connection between unconscious bias, also referred to as implicit or cognitive bias, and individual, team and organizational performance. It provides organizations with a framework for addressing unconscious bias in order to build a culture that values diversity and inclusion. There is nothing more fundamental to performance than how people see and treat each other as human beings and unconscious bias can impact that significantly.

“Bias is a natural part of the human condition and an inherent part of how our brain works,” said Pamela Fuller, FranklinCovey’s key thought leader on Inclusion and Bias. “But, unconscious bias leaves us unaware of the results that can occur because of biased thinking. It can profoundly affect how we see and experience people, places and things and influences how we make decisions, engage with others, and respond to various situations and circumstances. If we ignore our biases, it doesn’t eliminate their impact. The biases we operate under can severely limit our own possibilities and those of the people around us, which impacts results. We can negatively impact those with whom we work, which in turn, affects organizational performance.”

Every day, people must face countless bits of information while making decisions that range from the pragmatic to the strategic. And they do so while working with increasingly diverse teams and stakeholders. When overwhelmed, they must make decisions quickly, or when dealing with high emotion, their brains compensate for the overload by inadvertently relying on biased thinking, which can result in unintended consequences. It can inhibit collaboration, lead to poor decision-making, keeps people from doing their best work, and limit their abilities and contribution.

“Unconscious bias can take many shapes,” said Fuller. “It impacts thought processes, reasoning, what we remember, how we make decisions and how we relate to one another. It impacts the talent we recruit, such as a preference in hiring someone because they look like us or have the same background, gender or age. Further, it impacts who we choose to develop on a team, as we may unintentionally favor certain groups of people, regardless of capability. Bias can affect employee engagement and turnover, limit talent, and make it challenging for teams to work cross functionally.”

For organizations to build an inclusive, engaging and high-performing culture, participants who take part in FranklinCovey’s Unconscious Bias work session learn how to:

• Understand and identify bias in how people think and act in the workplace
• Know the common circumstances that lead to biased thinking and when to pause and more fully consider decisions and behaviors
• Cultivate deep and meaningful connections between people of varying backgrounds by using empathy and curiosity to expand mutual understanding and improve decision-making
• Choose courage and engage with care and boldness in addressing the full spectrum of biases that limit people and constrain performance, from race, gender, disability and orientation to socioeconomic status, decision making and how we tolerate risk and engagement
• Create a culture in which everyone is respected, valued and can thrive and contribute their highest performance

According to Deloitte Human Capital Trends research, 71 percent of companies aspire to an inclusive and diverse culture, but only 12 percent have the practices in place to reach that goal. Study after study has shown that more inclusive organizations perform better because diversity and inclusion foster collaboration, inspire innovation and improve results. As leaders and teams in organizations become more aware of and understand bias, they can address it by noticing and acknowledging their own biases and by actively cultivating connection and behaving courageously to make progress on seeking, including, and valuing different perspectives. These behaviors build a culture in which individuals can contribute their best thinking and teams cultivate open and effective collaboration.

Paul Walker, President, FranklinCovey Enterprise Division, said, “What sets Unconscious Bias apart from other solutions in the marketplace is that it’s based on enduring principles that transform mindsets and behaviors. Rather than focusing only on defining bias and raising awareness, this work session helps participants build skills to help them constructively address bias in their own lives, in their organizations, and in their communities. It addresses the full spectrum of biases that can create an unwelcoming culture. Whether an organization is seeking diversity and inclusion training, employee engagement or performance improvement training, Unconscious Bias delivers results for each circumstance.”

The solution includes the following features and benefits: flexible delivery in various lengths and modalities, videos, audio stories, bias scenarios through which participants work, a Courage Skill Builder with more than a dozen actionable practices to deploy, practice cards as a take-away job aid, manager resource guide, empathy and curiosity activity cards, a performance support email series, and virtual certification for internal client facilitators. It is available as a live, one-day work session, as a series of live online webinars or via on demand online modules. The live and live online sessions can be delivered by a FranklinCovey consultant or by a client facilitator.

Unconscious Bias has been added to the FranklinCovey All Access Pass®, which provides passholders with unlimited access to FranklinCovey’s entire collection of best-in-class content. Passholders can assemble, integrate and deliver that content in an almost limitless combination through various delivery channels and integrated into existing training solutions. Passholders also have exclusive access to an implementation specialist and other add-on services, such as coaching, to ensure they are unleashing the full scope and power of All Access Pass to achieve their key business objectives.

The work session was developed collaboratively across a broad array of organizations to include public and private sector, domestic and global audiences and multiple levels of personnel from individual contributors to the executive suite. Development included beta tests in the U.S. and internationally in Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, and included consultation with an international advisory board comprised of representatives from the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Europe, and Asia.

To learn more about the solution, visit: Unconscious Bias: Understanding Bias to Unleash Potential.
For more information about the FranklinCovey All Access Pass, visit: FranklinCovey’s All Access Pass.

ABOUT FRANKLIN COVEY CO.

Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC) is a global, public company specializing in organizational performance improvement. We help organizations and individuals achieve results that require a change in human behavior. Our expertise is in seven areas: leadership, execution, productivity, trust, sales performance, customer loyalty and education. FranklinCovey clients have included 90 percent of the Fortune 100, more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, thousands of small and mid-sized businesses, as well as numerous government entities and educational institutions. FranklinCovey has more than 100 direct and partner offices providing professional services in over 160 countries and territories.

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