Bernardo F
Organizational Psychologist, Diversity Consultant, Organization Development Consultant, Leadership Coach
What do you believe are and/or should be the key goals of diversity training (e.g., in organizational settings) and of diversity education (e.g., in university courses)?
(I will be facilitating an interactive session on this topic next week at a conference, http://som.gmu.edu/diversity, and your answers will help to set the stage for that session. Thanks!)
Answers (28)
The key goals of diversity training in organizations should be 1) educating the organization on why diversity is valuable to an organization - how diversity within an organization can lead to increased creativity, better solutions, etc and 2) how they can leverage their diversity for competitive advantage - how to maximize the benefits from having diverse perspectives , backgrounds, etc within the organization. While diveristy training often focuses on the first, I have rarely seen training include the second.
Thomas B
Visionary Leader and Experienced Consultant
Best Answers in: Organizational Development (2), Personnel Policies (1)
I agree with much of what Ms. Robinson says, and I would take her position a step further ..... Directly align the diversity "value proposition" with the organization's ...... i.e., how will Ms. Robinson's second perspective ultimately yield "external" benefits/value added to the company; increased market share, increased shareholder equity, opportunities within "non-traditional" markets, etc. Ms. Robinson's observation that she's rarely seen overt manifestations of her second point have been mine as well, so I'm not confident that we'll experience my "scenario" until organizational systems have accomplished (and can measure) Ms. Robinson's. The only addtional point I might add, which I've stated in previous "answers" I've shared, is that organizations must begin the "shift" from classic models of diversity to multicultural frameworks, particularly as more and more of a company's revenue and expansion is realized overseas.
Bernardo -- I want to suggest the below link to an address by Herbert Z. Wong. This is very much in line with Karen's comments. He proposes that:
(1) Diversity leadership is about maximizing the inclusion of everyone in the organization. Diversity is about all of us, and diversity must Include each of us;
(2) Diversity leadership seeks to increase the value-added opportunities and resources that result from knowing and understanding the similarities and differences in our workforce;
(3) Diversity leadership facilitates the creation of a positive working environment for the effective and successful contributions of individuals and teams to the organization;
(4) The diversity process would help to unify the organization; and
(5) The diversity process results in the synergism of the "human energy and resources" in the organization.
Links:
Karen and Thomas both provided excellent answers. Creating the business case as to why diversity training is imperative by tying it to bottom-line impact and competitive advantage is key. To add, I also think a goal is to impact and change the individual participant. A goal should be to create individual self-awareness of the participant's own biases, behaviors, attiudes, beliefs, values, etc. and how these impact the way they intereact with others and then provide them with specific action steps that focus on behavioral change. I think this is especially important for leadership development.
Barbara D
Vice President/Editor-in-Chief at DiversityCentral.com and Owner, The GilDeane Group, Inc.
Bernardo:
I would say:
1. To understand what diversity means (in both its narrow and broad definitions), and distinguish that from inclusion;
2. Why organizations are paying attention? Why employees pay attention (this would include history of exclusion, discrimination, bias, law suit settlements as well as the opportunities diversity presents for innovation, market share, competitive advantage, etc.)
3. What organizations are doing? Best practices I guess.
4. What people can do; these are the skills required to be effective in a multicultural workplace.
5. Responsibilities of leaders, change agents, diversity champions
6. And what I would add for university courses is a review of the literature--what are scholars uncovering about diversity in society, organizations.
Links:
I would add to the previous answers…
Emotional processing. Diversity is a subject that often brings negative feelings and conflict to the surface. Whether in an organizational or an educational context, a key goal should be to allow for the emotions associated with diversity issues to be processed in a safe environment.
The desired outcomes of diversity training from my view, either in a corporate/organizational setting or in the university, should be for the participants to come to understand: (a) why it is that diversity leads both to greater creativity and to greater conflict, (b) what is at stake for the individuals, the company, and society in developing and using the skills to productively learn from each other and work together collaboratively without becoming alike, and (c) how to become mindful of group processes so one can monitor oneself and facilitate outcomes that will make everyone better off and improve the future. I believe that these outcomes are also the essence of effective leadership and the key for organizational success over the long term.
Trevor M
Business Consultant
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From the point of view of the team leader, the key goal of diversity training should be to encourage full individual participation in group tasks. In my experience, many people with great ideas and skills will not come forth because of concern with their otherness. I think if we focus on the goals and demonstrate that the evident otherness is not considered to be a disturbance factor, then we can boost confidence in the integrity of our endeavour and people who might normally never openly participate will step forward and make their contribution. As a methodology, it's important in this regard not to reproach people for not participating. Rather, they should be treated as full and equal team members, regardless of the apparent contribution to date. For example, they can be granted full access to group results, even though they may not have openly participated in the group efforts to date. When they realize that they are accepted as they are, they will come out and show you that they now view themselves as accepted team members with a desire to reciprocate and contribute.
Of course, this approach won't work with those who simply do not want to be part of the team for whatever reason. (It will be best to weed those out.) But I've found that it works well with those who would like to join but are intimidated at the outset. Often, this approach can be applied with no verbal exchanges. Actions, as they say, speak louder than words.
Patrick F. M
Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at Rutgers University
Hi Bernardo,
Another key issue to impart during diversity training and diversity education is that bias is a human tendency. People often think they must espouse an impossible or unrealistic "I'm totally unbiased" stance in response to diversity concerns. This is simply untenable, sort of why the Christians couldn't follow the law in the Old Testament, but I digress. The point is that we all possess biases and diversity training/education should bring these to the fore, so that we can face them and learn to control them. Failing to acknowledge our biases, in turn, perpetuates explicit and implicit forms of bias.
Furthermore, we must instruct students and professionals of the value of diversity for individual and organizational effectiveness through improved work attitudes, individual-level performance, reduced withdrawal, and firm-level performance. Most importantly, however, we must teach these stakeholders that diversity alone does not guarantee positive results, but it is a matter of how effectively diversity is managed that makes the difference. Several aspects needed to manage diversity effectively are (1) cultural awareness, (2) empathy (through diversity-related experiences), (3) fair institutional/HR practices that support diversity, (4) equal access to training and development opportunities, (5) equal access to performance feedback, (6) equal access to advancement opportunities, (7) equal access to influence of others and decision-making in firms, and (8) top management support of diversity initiatives.
Chris O
Coach, E-Learning, OD & HR Consultant & Educator
Best Answers in: Mentoring (1), Staffing and Recruiting (1)
Let me start with a suggestion for a change in terms. I would rather not think of diversity "training." We train to learn repetitive tasks. I would rather think in terms of education in the workplace AND at the university level (truthfully - an education about the value of inclusion should begin much earlier).
With that in mind, I'd suggest that education in the workplace ought to involve the development of a set of values against which all stakeholders can measure their behaviors and attitudes. Previous contributors have expressed a very good set of overall values, and the only thing I can add to that is the values must be rooted in the organization's culture and consistently communicated - both verbally and non-verbally - by all levels of management.
From a university perspective, there should be a focus on the following:
1. Does diversity bring value to an organization? If so, what is it?
2. What does "diversity" mean? Are we talking about gender, racial, religious, cultural, etc. diversity? Or can the term mean more? Can it mean diversity of opinion, personality, approach, skills, etc.?
3. What would a plan to improve or encourage diversity look like in various organizational structures? What processes, procedures or policies might be required or affected by such an initiative? What sort of organizational education/communication is needed to support diversity?
4. Does front line management need help? IF so - what sort of help? Is awareness enough? Should managers understand cultural differences among workers and team members? How do managers lead through issues and challenges?
5. What are the stresses brought to the workplace by diversity initiatives? How will performance be measured and rewarded? Who gets promoted and why? What behaviors does the organization wish to encourage and discourage?
6. Can diversity initiatives change people's attitudes? As noted before, we ALL carry normal, human biases. These do not go away, so how does an organization first acknowledge and then manage this issue?
This is an exciting and interesting topic.
Nicolette T
Web Producer, Graphic & Interior Designer, Internet Marketing Pro
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1)
To create enough trust and open enough lines of communication to enable people to get out of their comfort zone and learn about one another. To do so is risky, because we risk offending people by saying the wrong thing or showing our ignorance - so often, we just try to ignore the whole issue of diversity. But to really benefit from diversity as individuals, and in groups, we need to be able to talk about differences that are often somewhat emotionally charged.
I think we. as a society, have become skilled at denying our racism. I think we are more apt to be aware of our bias against people who have different religious beliefs. I would like to explore my bigotry on these different beliefs.
Also the current presidential politics have surfaced 3 big 'isms--seixim, racism and agism. It's interesting to hear a young person's bias again old folks like McCain.
Good luck.
Rick C
Division Sales Director at Citi specializing in consumer & small business financial services and retail bank leadership
The answer to both is the fostering of inclusion. Too much focus is on teaching about accepting differences but more should be on how we make other ethnicities, races, etc welcomed and part of the greater dialogue.
Andrew T
President and Chief Vision Officer / Executive Coach / athorn@telioscorp.com
I think it starts with a definition of what diversity means. It is very confusing for many people. Everybody that leaves an educational experience focused on diversity must be able to define what it means to others.
Diversity is a confusing and sometimes divisive (because it is not understood) word. Many organizations are reducing its use in favor or "inclusion". While I think it is easier to understand the word inclusion, it is very important that it does not replace diversity. In order to do that, the two words must be defined clearly in order to benefit the most.
Another important goal would be to become aware of the many different parts each of us bring to the table. Too many times we overlook "who others are" because "we know what they do" or "what group they represent." Each person must learn to see the whole picture.
The biggest opportunity may be to help each person gain an understanding of their own unique qualities and learn how to identify the unique qualities of others. The only way to do this is to give them an experience in diversity. Until they see the value it will just be a foreign language.
Finally - I believe another important goal is to learn how to openly inquire about differences without being offensive or afraid. If we learn how to do that we overcome fears, assumptions and judgments and become more capable of embracing, valuing and even celebrating the differences in others.
Good luck next week. I know you will be great.
The "Ah Ha" moment. I'd create a scenario in the start of the training in which people are forced to make incorrect assumptions about a person or situation only to find out they were wrong (things aren't always what they seem) and go from there.
To deliver concept, paradigm, policy, process, and active practice exposure foundational for sustainable thought/behavior shifts in participants. Most organizations prefer that diversity training "touch" or land gently on the topic --without shifting anything substantively.
Kopitzee P
Director, Thought Leader Partnership at Marshall Goldsmith School of Management
In addition to the responses already provided, I would suggest addressing the issue of resistance and individual-level contribution. There are certain forms of diversity that are more "acceptable" than others and consequently, certain social identity groups continue to experience discrimination, less access, etc. Effectively working with people to be aware of these forms of resistance is imperative to actually developing a true sense of inclusion in any organizational setting (corporate, education, etc). It is not uncommon for well educated and seemingly tolerant individuals to be completely unaware of particular biases. As previously stated, no one is "immune" from bias and effectively identifying situations of individual biases and having the skills/tools to work through them is imperative to practical and relevant diversity education. Diversity interventions focused on the level of policy alone do not directly address the individuals in the organization who create and experience the respective org culture. Addressing resistance (an individual-level variable) serves more directly the interpersonal nature of cross-cultural contacts.
Most importantly I think schools and organizations goals should include: 1. Increase their awareness of diversity. 2. Appreciate Difference and be open to them (openness to difference is a great assessment to look at this topic). 3. Transforming the way organizations do business so that they shift their view of diversity from “overcoming injustices” to really reaching out and wanting to work with diverse employees, customers and markets. Diversity training sessions should not be a once only event, but happen on a regular basis within the organization so that it becomes part of the organizational culture, not a training du jour.
Also, I feel that diversity in organizations should include military spouses (they will soon be included in HR protected classes) because our military spouses are discriminated against in the workplace and are still hired at a lower ratio than civilian counterparts; and at lower wages.
Links:
Jacyn L
University Specialist in Institutional Assessment, Policies and Procedures and Diversity/Cultural Competence
In answer to the first part of the question, the goals of diversity training in an organizational setting should be preparing those trained to address diversity considerations effectively in carrying out their respective roles in service of the organization's mission. The goals must extend beyond awareness and understanding to application -- a concept I refer to as "applied understanding."
Mustafa F O
Professor of Human Resource Management at the Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, England
Diversity training should be tailored to the organisational requirements. It can come in a package of:
1. awareness raising
2. management development (skills of negotiation, buy in, change agency, law, human resource, marketing, finance, project management)
3. organisational development (linking diversity with organisational procedures, systems and structures)
A combination of these can be offered depending on diversity needs and level of sophistication of the organisation. This is the short answer of course.
All the best with the session Bernardo...
Diversity is important to the existence of companies in the global environment we live in. It is important that all in the company recognize what a diverse team brings to the table - a better answer/product/opportunity not to mention increased productivity.
Kit T
Senior Organization Development consultant, Diversity/Cultural Competency, Appreciative Inquiry, teams, HR strategy,
Briefly, I’m convinced that diversity training and diversity education should both be grounded in new dyadic relationships across difference that give insight into the life stories of the other and create an interpersonal bond facilitating the natural, reciprocal caring that is the glue of any healthy community. The group (of employees, citizens, students, etc.) should have enough time interacting with each other in healthy and productive exploration of each others’ reality to develop a sense of safe community where their truth can be told and they can learn the truth of others. That community is the model for what they can experience in the outer world, and becomes the experience they yearn to create in their daily life. Having experienced it, they can hold that image in their mind as they move forward to build new relationships outside the training room/classroom.
Beyond that, my goals are to open them to the generally unexamined assumptions and cultural stories that they carry through their daily lives, as well as those of others- to recognize each of us as products of culture. I aim to open their eyes to the patterns of interactions within their own groups, as well as across groups in their society, and how those patterns developed and are perpetuated. They should then see that they have already begun to experience the dissolution of many barriers to healthy community and explicitly recognize and name the ways in which they have begun to learn new patterns—personal best practices, if you will, that they can replicate in their daily interactions. These can be bolstered by stories of successful, or even unsuccessful but positively courageous, attempts to bridge differences in their own lives and in the larger society throughout time. Again, the point is to facilitate hopeful, committed intention (and skill) to build healthy, diverse generative community wherever they are.
Bernardo—I can’t find any aspect that is germane to these goals that is different, in my mind, for students versus others. Any differences in practice, I suspect, are due to unexamined assumptions in the educator/trainers’ mind about the audience, or differences in accountability by the larger systems they are working in.
Nice question!
Kit
Bob S
Seasoned Training and Development Professional (bstewar@neca.org)
Best Answers in: Mentoring (4), Organizational Development (3), Advertising (1), Ethics (1), Small Business (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Dear Bernardo,
I have a very "pragmatic" view of why diversity training and diversity education exist. And not knocking anyone's answers below, but they are very idealistic compared to the realistic "goals." They may have addressed what should be (and in some cases, what might actually be), but in most cases, "what is" actually stands in stark contrast.
In reality, what the goals of diversity training and education appear to be are simple - it meets Human Resources/Government requirements. People by-and-large attend the trainings and classes out of an employment obligation so that it can be checked off on a sheet that the person had done their required training. And like most Human Resources "required" trainings, like anti-harrassment training, what it provides HR is a means for firing someone by saying, "You can't say you didn't know about this because I have record you attended the class."
I am sorry for having such a non-idealistic view of diversity training, but I have sat through the classes and have taught them myself. I know what the reality of it is.
Notice I have never said the content was bad at all - but the goals and methods by which they are "required" are not about the content. It is about meeting the Human Resources requirements.
Now...in terms of content, that is a different issue. The true definition of seeking diversity is taking views, backgrounds, beliefs, and other "differences" that, when brought together, add to reaching the collective greater common goal. I think in a lot of ways, society has turned that definition into something much more stifled by saying that diversity means we have a good "mix" of skin colors, sexes, or origins, regardless of the greater common goal. The "mix" becomes the new common goal. Nothing in that says that those in the "mix" add to the collective greater common goal - all it says it that from the outside looking in, there's a mix. And if that is the goal, companies are achieving it. But if the deeper philosophical goal isn't being met, then this form of "diversity" fails.
Bob
Hi Bernardo,
Thanks for inviting my input. Here are a couple themes that come to mind:
Bias (I really like to focus on unconcious and concious bias and its impacts)
Awareness-building (i.e., presence of mind, not just political correctness)
Clearer indicators (incl. metrics) &/or scenarios that speak to how diversity and inclusion impact goal achievement or business delivery
Hope that's helpful and that the session turns out well.
Best regards,
Randall
Bernardo, what a valuable and timely question. I believe that we are at the beginning of a major shift in diversity training and education.
Over the last decade or so people have become more aware about the importance of diversity issues. For example, "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman's summarizes such trends. This leads to the conclusion that knowledge and applications about diversity issues will become more and more important to successful leaders and organizations.
More specifically, I envision that the focus of future diversity training and education will integrate concepts and trends of 1) "The New Relationship Economy," 2) "We are smarter than me," and 3) "Second Life," to name a few. Therefore, teaching and learning about diversity will support the development of building and sustaining professional and social relationships.
Ideally the focus of education should be behavioral change and increased levels of intercultural competence, the ability to engage differences more directly and with greater empathy. The reality is often that organizations are unwilling to invest the time and financial resources necessary to effect deeper change. Absent those investments, training becomes a matter of "checking the box" - diversity training completed, move on to the important business of the organization.
To be better able to see through other people's eyes, feel through their heart, hear through their ears, think with their minds, and speak and not speak, act and not act, knowing that.