Diversity and inclusion training are becoming an increasingly important topic for organizations in all industries. As discussions around this topic grow, it is imperative that all organizations look at their diversity training programs to see where they can improve to become more effective and, more importantly, understand what works and what doesn’t.
After reading this guide, you’ll have a better understanding of the various types of diversity programs, how to build an effective program within your organization, and why you should focus on this important topic.
Diversity and Inclusion training is an organized educational program designed to improve people’s understanding of how people of different backgrounds, cultures, ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, physical conditions and beliefs can best harmonize Awareness and understanding of cooperation.
It is also sometimes called DEI or DEIB, which means Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. It aims to highlight areas where people may hold biases or outdated beliefs, provide information to help eliminate those biases, and comprehensively train people to treat colleagues with respect and dignity.
An effective diversity and inclusion training program will teach employees how to identify biases in themselves or others, and show them how to get rid of the negative behaviors associated with them. It will provide information highlighting positive ways in which behavioural changes can affect themselves, colleagues and organisations.
Diversity and Inclusion Training Goals
Diversity and inclusion training is designed to create a more harmonious workplace by increasing employees’ knowledge and awareness of cultural, religious or racial differences while providing information To figure out how to achieve this overall goal, many companies will use surveys to ask employees what their short- and medium-term goals should be. Every organization will have different areas to work on, and their employees will be the best source of information on which areas are most pressing.
Some common goals identified by the organization are:
- Create a healthy work environment where people from different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and talents can collaborate effectively.
- Increase the number of women, people of color, or other underrepresented people in the organization.
- Increase the use of inclusive language in job postings, internal communications, and external communications.
- Increase time and money spent on diversity and inclusion training within your organization.
- Organizations can better understand where they need to focus their efforts when they spend time conducting internal investigations. It may be that the job posting is not inclusive, so no diverse applicants apply for the position.
This has reduced diversity within the organization. This is all due to inadequate description of job listings. McKinsey has delved into this topic and released a series of reports highlighting the business advantages enjoyed by companies with diverse workforces.
Notably, these reports found that “the most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform non-diversified companies in terms of profitability…We found that the higher the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. ” However, these reports also suggest that growth in this area has been slow, with many companies struggling to achieve significant results, and even reporting that diversity within their ranks has declined.
This demonstrates the difficulty of creating an effective diversity program and the importance of continuous efforts to improve diversity training within an organization. These reports also show that ongoing diversity and inclusion training is a key factor in retaining diverse talent within an organization. It makes sense – it’s hard to keep employees in an environment where they’re not welcome.
Real-World Examples of Why Diversity and Inclusion Training Matters
Starbucks. In 2018, Starbucks found itself in a PR crisis when an employee alerted two black men who were waiting for friends at a Philadelphia café without ordering anything.
