After decades of affirmative action, diversity training, and inclusion practices, you’d think that bias (racial, gender, age, you-name it) wouldn’t be an issue. But almost everyone has observed bias in the workplace . . . jokes about a particular group of people, how men or coworkers who are friends with the boss seem to get the most important projects to work on, etc. Both overt workplace bias (which still does happen, unfortunately, probably on a daily basis in organizations) and unconscious bias, which can be more subtle and difficult to recognize in ourselves and others, create problems for organizations. 102 You’re aware of the overt bias problems, but what about unconscious bias? Have you, for instance, wrongly judged someone by their weight (well, they don’t look the part of a manager, so they wouldn’t be a good candidate for a management training program) or by the school they attended (well, their degree is from a small, regional college, so they can’t possibly know the most current techniques or have the best education) or by their introverted nature (well, they never speak up in meetings, so they obviously don’t have an opinion)? Starbucks Corp. was about to get a wake-up call in both respects.

Recently, in downtown Philadelphia, two young black men met at a Starbucks store to discuss a real estate transaction they’d been working on for months. One of the young men asked to use the restroom and was told by the manager that the restrooms were only for paying customers. After being approached by the manager to see if they wanted to order drinks and them declining to do so, police were called and the two men were arrested on suspicion of trespassing. Starbucks did not press charges, and they were released. A customer’s cell phone video posted online showed several police officers responding and handcuffing the two young men even with other customers saying that the two had done nothing wrong and questioning why they were being arrested.103 After a social media outcry, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson apologized for the incident on Twitter and on television news programs. And the employee who called the police no longer works there. The CEO also said that it was his “responsibility to understand what happened and what led to that, and ensure that we fix it.”104 So, how is Starbucks “fixing” it? One step was a review of company guidelines, which differ among its 28,000 stores found worldwide. Another, the most dramatic step, was an investment in unconscious bias training.105 To implement this training, Starbucks closed all its more than 8,000 domestic stores for one day to conduct antibias training. Some 175,000 Starbucks U.S. employees were trained on unconscious or implicit bias, in which “people make decisions based partly on stereotypes without being aware that the stereotype has influenced them.”106 Academic researchers who’ve studied unconscious bias, say training can help individuals recognize it and identify ways they can minimize it. Other experts say that anti-bias training can either be effective or flop altogether. However, “training by itself won’t put a stop to the problem of implicit bias,” noted one HR expert.

Discussion Questions 

1. What is the focus of the training for Starbucks employees? Why is this training important?

2. What is unconscious (implicit) racial bias? Why is it a problem for organizations?

3. Beyond this intensive in-store training, what other things could Starbucks do to create a more sensitive, in-store experience?

4. What can you learn from this story that will benefit you (a) personally and (b) professionally?

5. Is implicit bias an ethical/social responsibility issue? Make a decision and defend your position. If so, explain why. If not, why not?