“Measure perceptions and experiences of biases within the organisation to guide interventions” – 15/20 #BeyondBias

CEC European Managers today unveiled recommendation 15: “Measure perceptions and experiences of biases within the organisation to guide interventions.”

Download the 20 recommendations here [+]

This recommendation is grounded in the findings and tools developed within the two-year, EU‑funded Project Beyunbi (Beyond Unconscious Bias), coordinated by CEC European Managers itself in cooperation with the University of Southern Denmark and partners across Europe.

While diversity trainings and policies proliferate, real progress in the workplace begins with honest reflection.

CEC European Managers is calling on leaders and managers to take a decisive step: measure how people perceive and experience bias inside their organisations.

This is the heart of Recommendation 15 of the #BeyondBias campaign. It urges leaders to stop guessing and start listening. Managers must gather real data—not just on what policies exist, but on how they’re felt.

Are team members confident in the fairness of hiring, promotions, and evaluations? Who feels sidelined? Who sees bias shaping decisions? And crucially: what’s being done about it?

The findings from the Beyunbi project are clear. The survey of over 1,000 European managers revealed a concerning gap between intent and impact. Many believe they lead fairly, but members of underrepresented groups tell a different story.

Download full report published by the University of Southern Denmark [+]

This gap can only be closed if managers make bias visible. Perception and experience data must be gathered regularly. Disparities must be analysed—not just broadly, but through an intersectional lens. And once the data is in, organisations must act. That means revisiting recruitment, promotion, and task distribution processes. It also means making results public and showing what changes follow.

The benefits are tangible. Organisations that measure and intervene are seeing improvements: better inclusion scores, stronger employee engagement, and more equitable career paths. Measurement doesn’t just detect injustice—it enables action.

Managers shape company culture. They model fairness. They hold the power to shift systems. And when they act on data, not assumptions, workplaces evolve.

Recommendation 15 is one part of a broader 20-step strategy designed by CEC European Managers to help leaders tackle unconscious bias. It’s a call to embed fairness not just in values, but in day-to-day decisions.