The initial period when new hires enter your office and the working community is a special one. It only happens once, and as much as you may not prioritize ‘impressing’ them, they do deserve respect and a fair chance. Unfortunately, after a few welcome smiles, many bosses create a suffocating environment where hires have to ‘prove themselves’.
Yes, many managers and business owners do understand the benefits of an employee-first model over a product-first one. However, it’s not as simple as saying that ‘we care about your workers’. You might need to identify and challenge certain mindsets that have become internalized either in yourself or in administration. Let’s look at three of them today.
1. Lack of Trust in Unconventional Backgrounds and Experience
As one can imagine, not everyone gets to follow the traditional path in life. Some people experiment, either with their education, career, or lifestyle, before finding their calling. Much of the world understands this, and countless opportunities exist for them.
However, some employers do give people with unique backgrounds the side eye. Sometimes, the bias even manifests in Intelligent.com surveyed 800 managers, directors, and executives and found that 38% of employers avoid new college graduates in favor of older employees. In fact, some even offer better pay and increased benefits to avoid the baggage that Gen Z and college graduates apparently bring.
There’s simply a lot of bias that still exists, and it’s not just concerning age (which we will explore more below). The fact is that making your employees feel welcome and fairly treated is important, but it’s doubly important with people having unique backgrounds. For instance, employees who have earned their degrees online sometimes feel a little insecure. This is despite the fact that countless reputed institutions deem online learning legitimate enough to gladly stamp their name on the degrees.
So, if you’re in healthcare and hear that the new nurses joining studied in online nursing accelerated programs, don’t make a big deal of it. They’re just as competent and capable as everyone else. As Cleveland State University notes, courses like these are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. So, there’s no need to treat anyone differently.
2. Judging Employee Competence by Communication Style
We all know those individuals with maxed-out charisma stats. They speak with confidence and carry a natural smile that wins them friends everywhere they go. You just know that even though it’s their first day at a job, give them a few years and they’ll have risen through the ranks.
At the same time, you probably also know people on the opposite ends of the charisma spectrum. Typically, it’s a soft-spoken individual who takes their time to warm up in meetings, doesn’t dominate conversations, and keeps a low profile. Most workplaces have plenty of these people as well.
One study on over 1,800 employees and supervisors notes that there really is a marked difference in how introverts and extroverts are treated at work. Introverts are at a measurable disadvantage when it comes to promotions, raises, job assignments, and more. It’s no secret that many employers tend to favor the charismatic extrovert by default. If the business relates to sales, that’s somewhat understandable. However, if you’ve spent any time with the quieter employees, you’ll also know that they can be your best strategists and thought leaders.
These are the individuals who, despite their introverted nature and communication style, can offer you insights that others miss. So, if you want to talk about inclusivity, then remember that it ought to apply even in these areas.
3. Assuming Younger = Lower Skilled
This isn’t as common among newer businesses and companies, but it’s a mindset that still lingers among some traditional places. In some areas, age does make a difference and should be valued and respected. No one’s arguing with that. However, there are many fields where age is completely irrelevant.
For instance, Mark Zuckerberg appears to be going all in with accruing the best talent, no matter who they are or where they exist. Meta recently brought in 1997-born Alexandr Wang in a move that would cost them $14.3 billion. Many believe that Wang is now set to be the potential leader for Meta’s entire AI organization. Sadly, few employers hold such blind faith in skill. Countless hiring managers and bosses believe that if you’re a fresh-faced, twenty-something worker, you lack skill or experience by default. If you want to be a better manager, you will need to recognize these biases early.
These people forget that times have changed and made such assumptions moot. The 21-year-old whom they underestimate may have been coding since they were twelve. They might have started an Etsy business in high school and seen great success with it. Dismissing their insights and refusing to recognize them because they need to “wait their turn” is both insensitive and pointless. The next time you have to welcome a young worker into your office, engage them early. Find out their ideas and don’t let ego get in the way of accepting their skills. After all, you hired them, so why act like they aren’t skilled enough to deserve respect?
Ultimately, all of us are guilty of fostering bias in some form or another. This sort of prejudice tends to happen in areas beyond race, sex, and other obvious factors. Hopefully, you feel a little more conscious of the prejudiced mindsets you might be welcoming new employees with. The world could use a little less toxicity in the workplace, so why not be the change?
