Bias-Aware Decisions — Manager Training
Course Materials

Manager & Leadership Training Series

Bias-Aware Decisions

A half-day workshop on the cognitive mechanics behind biased hiring, reviews, and promotion decisions — and the structural fixes that work without relying on willpower, grounded in classic social psychology research.

Take the quiz Open the slide deck

See what's inside

Same performance data, two framings

Same facts, different frame. Module 2 teaches managers to separate the data from the narrative.

Bias rarely looks like prejudice. It looks like a confident, well-intentioned snap judgment.

Mental shortcuts, first impressions, and in-group signals shape hiring, review, and promotion decisions long before a manager consciously feels like they've decided anything. Trying harder to "be objective" in the moment doesn't fix this — understanding the mechanics and structuring the process does.

This workshop replaces guesswork with the specific, learnable cognitive patterns behind biased decisions, and the structural fixes that actually work.

4 hrs
Half-day workshop, in person or virtual
4
Research-backed modules
12–24
Ideal group size per cohort

What managers walk out knowing

Four modules, each pairing a concept briefing with a hands-on hiring or review exercise.

01
Mental Shortcuts in Hiring & Reviews
Schemas, priming, and heuristics — the mechanics behind a snap judgment, before you've consciously decided anything.
Source: Ch. 3 — Social Cognition
02
The Halo Effect & Confirmation Bias
How one early impression quietly rewrites how every later piece of evidence gets read.
Source: Ch. 3 & 4 — Social Cognition and Social Perception
03
Where Prejudice Comes From
In-group/out-group mechanics as a system to interrupt, not a personal moral failing.
Source: Ch. 13 — Prejudice: Causes, Consequences, and Cures
04
Structural Fixes That Don't Rely on Willpower
Structured interviews, blind review, and pre-committed criteria that work under real time pressure.
Source: Ch. 13 — Prejudice (Cures)
Objectivity is not a mindset you can will yourself into under time pressure. It's a property of a well-structured process.
Core takeaway, Module 4

Who this is for

People managers involved in hiring, performance calibration, or promotion decisions. The exercises use realistic candidate and employee profiles, so the workshop works best scheduled for an intact cohort.

Runs best when…

  • Participants are at the same management level, so decision-sharing stays candid
  • Each person brings one recent hiring or calibration decision from their own experience
  • Groups stay between 12 and 24 for full small-group participation
  • A 30-day manager check-in follows to reinforce the material

Try a sample question

One question from the course quiz — see how it feels before you dive in.

Why do structured interviews reduce bias compared to unstructured conversation?

Structured interviews use pre-set questions and scoring criteria asked identically to every candidate, which measurably reduces the influence of first-impression halo effects compared to unstructured conversation.
Want the full 8-question quiz? Take it here →

Course materials

Everything for this module, ready to use.

S
Slide Deck
21 slides covering all four modules — concepts, exercises, and takeaways, ready to present.
Open the slide deck
Q
Quiz
An interactive 8-question check for understanding, with explanations for every answer.
Take the quiz
A
Audio Version
A narrated walkthrough of the workshop content, for listening on the go.
Coming soon