Using focus groups, surveys and web tools, the New York City-based Center for Talent Innovation (CTI), a nonprofit think tank, recently ascertained results of its pioneering, nationwide study on workplace bias and ensuing impact on corporations.

Entitled “Disrupt Bias, Drive Value,” the project pinpointed how bias plays a significant role in everyday corporate environments. Conducted by CTI’s Laura Sherbin, Ripa Rashid and Sylvia Ann Hewlett, the study detected ways bias occurs in talent handling; how it is perceived; what it literally costs companies; and specific solutions for diminishing the frequency of perceived bias.

The project focused on the parameters of ability, ambition, commitment, connections, emotional intelligence, and executive presence and compared the variables of “flight risk and brand sabotage” as consequences.

Using this six-part model, CTI found that staffers at large companies (with 1,000-plus employees) sensing bias are three times more likely to leave their jobs; more than twice as likely to refrain from contributing concepts; and five times likelier to speak negatively about their company via social media — than those who do not perceive partiality.

"This report is the first of its kind to quantify the cost of bias," Sherbin, the lead researcher at CTI, said. 

The three authors suggested diversifying executive leadership, practicing inclusivity, and sponsorship, including a “playbook” of solutions with their study to allow companies to self-evaluate for positive change.

"Having diverse leaders in place … is crucial to disrupting bias," Rashid said.