Tag Archives: diversity training

Three Components of Diversity and Inclusion Training

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Please feel free to contact me to discuss how I can provide customized and exciting diversity and inclusion training for your organization. Stan Kimer, 919-787-7315. Stan@
TotalEngagementConsulting.com


UPDATED DECEMBER, 2015: I published a new blog to go along with this one – CONTENT of Diversity and Inclusion Training where I provide a sample outline of the topics I typically include in a training session.


Also check out links to additional blogs and resources at the bottom.

I recently was asked to submit a bid to a Fortune 500 firm for design and delivery of a one-day diversity and inclusion workshop for middle managers. As I studied my past material and prepared my bid, I realized that successful diversity training needs to contain three major components that I call heart, mind and action.

First, leaders need to be inwardly and sincerely (in their hearts) be convinced of the importance of diversity and inclusion, and how critical it is to their enterprise’s success. Unless leaders internalize this topic and are truly committed and passionate, they may just half-heartedly go through diversity actions. Eventually this will show through in mediocre execution and performance. True commitment and passion will lead to excellence in execution.

Second, leaders need to be given the content knowledge that speaks to their minds. In addition to inward passion, the intelligent and analytical mind needs to be provided compelling logic, business case information, principles and useable tools. Basically content knowledge adds the structure around the base of passion and commitment. Link to my blog about the business case for diversity.

And third, any successful training must also end with a call to action where leaders put in place ongoing plans to apply what they have learned. So often one day workshops conclude and after a week or two everyone is back to the “same old, same old.” I recommend brief accountability sessions where trained managers document their execution and development plans around diversity, and then share in pairs or small groups for even 10 minutes once a quarter. Passion and knowledge combined with deliberate action will lead to the best results.

FINAL NOTE: It is important that all employees within an enterprise receive diversity and inclusion training. Co-workers are most often the frequent cause of employees not feeling welcomed and becoming unhappy at work, and most often it is the non-management employees on the front lines who interact with your diverse customers.

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Link here to request an e-mail copy of my workshop descriptions.

Additional blog links:

A blog about how Diversity has become a Key Strategic Business Initiative.

In “The Business Case for Diversity” I provide a financial model for calculating return on investment for diversity initiatives.

In “Part 3 – Considerations of Aging” I write about the impact of aging and generational diversity on the workforce.

In “The Various Growing Types of Diversity” I discuss emerging hot topics in the diversity field, which continues to evolve.

A blog about how I provided diversity training for a company after a negative incident, and how it was a win-win for all parties.

A Local Breakthrough in Diversity Training

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In October, there was an unfortunate incident at a local shopping center in Raleigh when a security officer asked two lesbians who were sharing a brief kiss to leave, citing their “inappropriate behavior.” These two brave women spoke out publicly about the incident, and the shopping center management apologized and committed to assuring that the security staff received appropriate sensitivity and diversity training.

In November, I was hired to provide this training to 32 security officers. Instead of “going through the motions” and scheduling the training to only to appease others, the management team was truly committed to providing meaningful and relevant training for the staff. The senior manager worked throughout the day to assure that all 32 officers attended one of the training sessions, and he personally kicked off each with how important it is for his team to pay close attention and participate so they can grow their skills as security officers in dealing with the diverse people they interact with.

In all three sessions, which had between 10-12 officers, each participant was engaged and participated in the sessions, exhibiting sincere desire to learn from this unfortunate incident and gain stronger skills to improve interaction. In the evaluation, all participants stated that the diversity training material would be helpful to them in better performing their jobs.

Photo: Lesbian pioneer activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon who were partners for 56 years before Del passed away in 2008.

Lessons I feel we can all learn from this experience:
• People who speak out when they feel their rights have been violated help us all move forward. We owe them a big “Thank You!”
• When there is inappropriate action based on a lack of understanding around diversity, people can be sincerely open and can be trained to improve interactions with the diverse people of our community. We need to be slower to judge others and more open to educating others.
• Good can come from unfortunate situations when people work together to address them.
• It is important for leaders (in this case the senior manager of the security team) to set the tone by emphasizing the importance of diversity.

Take my GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) Diversity Test and see how strong your enterprise is in this area. Perhaps some LGBT specific or general diversity training can benefit your enterprise. Diversity Test Link.