50 Ways to Fight Bias Fight bias at your organization
Companies need to act now to promote, hire, and retain women—and 50 Ways to Fight Bias can help.
Designed to be flexible and to be tailored to suit your organization’s needs, this free program features almost 100 digital cards that highlight specific instances of workplace bias. With the cards organized into 12 sets curated for different audiences, and translated into 6 languages, we make it easy to run your workshop your way. And if you don’t see a set that works for you – you can always create your own!
Ready to learn more about bringing this program to your company – join an upcoming moderator training.
Challenging bias is good for companies
For seven years, Lean In and McKinsey & Company have studied the state of women in corporate America. Our findings are stark: women are less likely to be hired and promoted, and they’re more likely to face everyday discrimination and microaggressions in their workplaces. For women of color, LGBTQ women, and women with disabilities, these inequities are even more pronounced. And the effects are profound—women are less happy at work, and they’re more likely to think about leaving their jobs.
We know it works
The program has been used by thousands of organizations, including Amazon, PayPal, Walmart, and the Wharton MBA Program. And it works.
95% of program participants are more committed to challenging bias
96% of managers feel better equipped to talk about bias with their teams
90% of program participants say they know what to do when they see women face bias at work
Want to learn more about the success of 50 Ways? Read our case studies to see how Fossil Group and Momentive implemented the program and the impact it had on their employees.
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How companies can use this program
Explore some options for bringing the program to your company below, including recommendations on specific sets of cards that will resonate with participants.
1
Engage Your Employees
Host a workshop for employees
For large gatherings—either in-person or virtual—select a set of cards and use our virtual moderator guide to walk everyone through the activity. Break participants into smaller groups or virtual breakout rooms to discuss the situations and brainstorm solutions together. 95% of employees who participate in a workshop are more committed to challenging bias.
Recommended Format
- Use our bias fundamentals set to run an introductory session for all employees.
- Use our set on the experiences of women of color to educate employees about the biases women of color face at work and the concrete steps colleagues can take to interrupt bias and practice allyship.
- Use our set on networking and mentoring to educate employees on how bias can affect workplace relationships, including mentorship, sponsorship, networking opportunities, and access to senior leaders.
Integrate into existing programming
Use 50 Ways to facilitate conversations about bias within your existing programming. This could be a diversity and inclusion training, new employee training, or monthly all-hands meetings.
Recommended Format
- Use our set on bias in company culture to help employees set inclusive norms, approach coworkers with empathy, and push back on acts of bias.
- Use our set on bias in virtual workplaces to help employees understand and combat the effects of bias in remote work environments.
Incorporate into everyday workplace activities
For common workplace gatherings like weekly meetings or team lunches, use the situations or videos individually. For example, discuss one situation in each weekly team meeting or watch the videos together over lunch.
Recommended Format
2
Train your managers and senior leaders
Host a workshop for managers
Managers play a critical role in creating inclusive team cultures—yet only a third of managers challenge bias when it happens. Lead managers through the program to help them understand how they can challenge bias—and then ask them to bring the program to their teams. 96% of managers who have participated in 50 Ways feel more equipped to discuss challenging bias with their teams.
Check out how Fossil Group used this implementation strategy.
Recommended Format
- Use our manager set to provide managers with concrete steps for fighting bias and creating an inclusive team culture.
Host a workshop for senior leaders
Senior leaders play a key role in creating inclusive company policies, programs, and cultures where fighting bias is a norm. Lead senior leaders through the program to help them understand how they can build a more inclusive workplace.
Recommended Format
- Use our senior leader set to help senior leaders understand how they can fight bias by shifting company policies, programs, and culture.
3
Integrate into your hiring and reviews/promotions process
Use before hiring and promotions
Research shows bias often affects staffing decisions. 50 Ways can be used to remind stakeholders of how to avoid common pitfalls in the hiring and reviews/promotions processes.
Recommended Format
- Use our set on addressing the “broken rung” to learn how to address bias in hiring and promotions at the first step up to manager—the “broken rung” where women are often overlooked and left behind.
- Use our hiring set to educate interviewers, recruiters, and hiring managers on how to recognize and reduce bias in the hiring process.
- Use our reviews and promotions set to train evaluators on reducing bias in reviews and promotions—an area where biased assessments can have a big impact on women’s careers.
4
Facilitate small group discussions
Run a small group discussion
For small group gatherings, lead participants through a set of cards and discuss the situations and recommendations together. You can do this in one session or over the course of a series.
Recommended Format
- Use one of our 12 sets that is relevant to your small group—or customize your own set.
Running 50 Ways in another language?
We have everything you need to run a successful workshop in French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
Learn how to bring 50 Ways to your company
Join members of the Lean In team for a free training to learn how to bring 50 Ways to Fight Bias to your organization.
Our 90-minute virtual training will walk you through the program materials, give you an understanding of the program concepts, and provide tips for answering frequently asked questions.
Can’t make it? Sign up to receive everything you need to bring Lean In Circles to your organization and stay up to date on Lean In’s company programs.
You’re in good company
We’ve helped hundreds of leaders create organizations where everyone is empowered and supported. Companies of all sizes use our programs to achieve real, measurable DEI results.
Hear what companies have to say
“When I introduced the 50 Ways to Fight Bias program to my sales team, I was blown away by the level of engagement and the quality of conversations from all levels within the department.”
Ready to get started?
We make it easy to get started – choose one of the options below and we’ll take you rest of the way
Webinar
Attend a moderator training
Join one of our free training sessions to get in-depth advice from our team on how to run your 50 Ways workshops.
RegisterDigital Presentation
Explore the digital experience
Use the digital experience for a step-by-step walkthrough of everything you need to make your 50 Ways workshop a success.
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