Darnell Z. Blackburn is not your average CEO.
The chief executive officer at Macomb-based PRAT International LLC is overseeing his company that is all about training programs on diversity equity and inclusion, as well as improving employee morale and productivity, according to his LinkedIn profile – and he does it with one employee at a time.
Blackburn — who has an area of interest in implicit and unconscious bias – also has a background in law enforcement, spoke to the Michigan Chronicle about his work in this arena.
“I focus on the bias from the police and the community perspective,” Blackburn said in an email. “However, I’m not limited to just bias in law enforcement. I work with a number of all kinds of companies.”
Blackburn is responsible for creating training programs for human resource management.
“We believe that people are resources and the best way to take care of them is to make them feel valued,” he said, adding that PRAT International LLC provides Human Resources management training in areas such as verbal de-escalation, customer service, and implicit/unconscious bias. “Implicit and unconscious bias work is not just a passion of mine, but a calling. Being a former police officer and working in law enforcement for the past 27 years, I understand how much implicit bias affects those who work not just in law enforcement but every profession.”
In an article, The Cost of Unconscious Bias in the Workplace on www.trueofficelearning.com, researchers have discovered over 150 types of unconscious bias. Unconscious (or implicit) bias is so pervasive and evident that even the numbers don’t lie: manager and senior executive roles in the private sector are still 86% white and 70% male, according to the article that cites the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Blackburn said that implicit bias is expressed indirectly through the subconscious, and as it turns out, people don’t often recognize that they have a bias.
“One of the most prevalent biases that exist in corporate America is hiring bias,” Blackburn said, adding that hiring bias occurs in the initial stages of the application process when applications and resumes are first submitted. “Employers tend to look at the names and addresses of the individuals who apply for positions and make subconscious judgments about the ethnicity of the applicants that often lead to discriminatory practices.”
Blackburn added that especially when working in corporate America, among other jobs, the first step is recognizing the bias.
“Once it is recognized the individual should analyze whether their feelings are justified or just based on unsubstantiated beliefs perpetuated by worldviews, the past experiences that they have had or past experiences they have heard of from other people,” Blackburn said, adding that the way to stop implicit bias institutionally is to start with implicit bias training for the organization. “Next the organization should embark on hiring a consultant to assist with a cultural shift within the organization.”
Unfortunately, as much as people and corporations try to eliminate the thoughts of implicit bias, it is hard to keep them from resurfacing, Blackburn said, adding that “bias will always be prevalent in individuals as well as organizations.”
“The only thing that can be done is to constantly be mindful of the fact that bias does and will exist,” he said, adding that an annual bias training is a good way to minimize incidents where implicit bias can be a major detriment to the organization. “One of the best ways to address racial inequity is to create a committee or a team within the organization whose goal is to create a safe space for all employees to feel welcomed to voice their concerns without repercussions.”
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