Address unconscious bias

This standard is about addressing unconscious bias in your behaviour, decisions and interactions. You use self-awareness, curiosity and reflective practice to understand how your assumptions, experiences and perspectives influence your actions. You seek feedback, use evidence-based approaches and take 
responsibility for reducing the impact of bias on colleagues, stakeholders and organisational outcomes. You act with integrity and openness to support fair, inclusive and respectful working relationships. 

This standard applies to managers and leaders at all levels across all sectors.

1. Evaluate how organisational values and ethical principles inform your approach to reducing unconscious bias to support fair and inclusive practice.
2. Assess how your assumptions and perspectives may influence your behaviour, decisions and interactions to identify potential biases.
3. Evaluate how unconscious bias may affect your working relationships to support fair, respectful and inclusive practice.
4. Use reflective practice and feedback to understand how your experiences and perspectives influence your decision-making and identify potential biases.
5. Identify behavioural patterns that may indicate unconscious bias and take action to reduce their impact.
6. Act on feedback to reduce the influence of unconscious bias in your work.
7. Ask purposeful questions to test assumptions, explore alternative explanations and support fair, evidence-based decision-making.
8. Use accurate and relevant information to test assumptions and reduce the influence of bias when making decisions.
9. Evaluate how your behaviour aligns with organisational values of fairness and inclusion and take corrective action when required.
10. Adjust your behaviour to reduce the impact of unconscious bias on colleagues and stakeholders.
11. Seek diverse perspectives to broaden your understanding and reduce the influence of bias.
12. Request specialist advice when bias, discrimination or inclusion-related issues exceed your expertise, in line with organisational procedures, to ensure fair and informed practice.
13. Maintain professional boundaries to support fairness, respect and inclusive behaviour.
14. Apply insights from reflection and learning to strengthen your awareness of unconscious bias and support continuous development.
15. Challenge behaviour that does not meet organisational standards of practice in line with organisational procedures to uphold fair and inclusive practice.

1. The meaning of unconscious bias and how it influences behaviour and decisions.
2. How organisational values and ethical principles relate to reducing unconscious bias.
3. How personal experiences, assumptions and perspectives shape behaviour and decision‑making.
4. The importance of reflective practice in identifying and addressing unconscious bias.
5. How to gather, interpret and use feedback to identify and reduce potential biases.
6. How to ask questions that challenge assumptions and support informed decisions.
7. How to use accurate and relevant information to reduce reliance on assumptions.
8. The impact of unconscious bias on colleagues, stakeholders and organisational culture.
9. How to identify indicators and patterns of behaviour that may reflect conscious or unconscious bias.
10. The importance of seeking diverse perspectives to reduce bias.
11. How to identify when behaviour does not align with organisational values of fairness and inclusion and take corrective action.
12. The organisational standards of practice and procedures for seeking advice on bias, discrimination and inclusion-related issues.
13. The importance of maintaining professional boundaries when addressing bias.
14. How unconscious bias affects decision-making and working relationships.
15. Relevant theories and models that inform unconscious bias, decision-making and inclusive practice.
16. How bias can be reinforced through data, systems, processes and AI-enabled tools, and how to take proportionate steps to reduce this risk.

The following values underpin this standard. They are integrated throughout the performance criteria and knowledge and understanding requirements and inform how individuals approach their work, make decisions and interact with others.

• Integrity - acting honestly and consistently with ethical principles when examining your own biases.
• Openness - being receptive to feedback, challenge and new perspectives.
• Curiosity - seeking to understand how your assumptions influence your behaviour.
• Respect - valuing the dignity, experiences and identities of others.
• Responsibility - taking ownership of your behaviour and its impact.
• Reflection - learning from experience to reduce the influence of bias.

The followingbehaviours underpin this standard. They are integrated throughout the performance criteria and knowledge and understanding requirements and inform how individuals approach their work, make decisions and interact with others.

• Act with integrity, aligning your behaviour with ethical principles.
• Show curiosity, questioning assumptions and seeking new perspectives.
• Respond with openness, being receptive to challenge and feedback.
• Demonstrate respect, valuing the experiences and identities of others.
• Reflect regularly, learning from experience to reduce the influence of bias.
• Take accountability for owning your behaviour and its impact.
• Practise self-care, maintaining habits that support fairness, balance and inclusive leadership.