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Beating bias in the workplace
Firms operate in a complex and uncertain landscape, making those within them prone to decision-making shortcuts and other cognitive biases. Grace Lordan looks at how biases in financial services can affect decision-making in hiring practices and project management.
Firms operate in a complex and uncertain landscape, and the people within them tend to resort to decision-making shortcuts and other cognitive biases as a result of these pressures. Add to that the fact that most high-stake decisions within the firm are made after group discussions, and the literature in behavioural science is clear that group decision-making exacerbates rather than alleviates individual behavioural biases.
Overall, groups of people make high-stake decisions in financial firms, and the scope for behavioural bias is great. Such decisions include: who to hire, what projects to pursue, and policies around conduct that is acceptable. Getting these decisions wrong jeopardises a firm’s ability to compete, which is becoming ever more important in this winner-takes-all economy.