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One of the most common ways that companies attempt to address organizational diversity is through formal training. Yet research on the effectiveness of such programs has yielded mixed results: Some studies show that diversity training is effective, others show it’s ineffective, and still others show that it may actually lead to backlash. This has led to pessimism regarding diversity training, with some claiming it simply doesn’t work.
We believe that pessimism is premature. For one, a recent meta-analysis of over 40 years of diversity training evaluations showed that diversity training can work, especially when it targets awareness and skill development and occurs over a significant period of time. But this doesn’t mean there’s a single perfect solution to creating diverse and inclusive organizations. Diversity training effectiveness depends on the specific training method used, the personality characteristics of those who are trained, and the specific outcomes that are measured after training concludes.
Our research highlights how changing a few aspects of diversity training might actually make a difference, depending on how they’re applied within organizations. While our work takes the form of small-scale experiments with undergraduate students, we believe it has potential to be used smartly inside companies. And since undergraduate students are undoubtedly future employees, we view uncovering what works for this group as a first step in discovering what might work for the broader population of working adults. Additionally, using a population of students affords us a greater degree of experimental control (by incorporating a control condition where no diversity training is received for comparison purposes, comparing the effects of specific training exercises with one another, and measuring multiple outcomes over time), which allows us to uncover truths regarding diversity training effectiveness in a way that may not be as feasible in businesses or other organizations.
One training exercise that we analyzed, and that shows promise, is perspective-taking, which is essentially the process of mentally walking in someone else’s shoes. Results from our experiment involving 118 undergraduate students showed that taking the perspective of LGBT individuals or racial minorities — by writing a few sentences imagining the distinct challenges a marginalized minority might face — can improve pro-diversity attitudes and behavioral intentions toward these groups. These effects persisted even when outcomes were measured eight months after training. Even more exciting is the fact that perspective-taking was shown to be capable of producing crossover effects. In our experiment, taking the perspective of LBGT individuals was shown to be associated with more positive attitudes and behaviors toward racial minorities, and vice versa.
Another activity that has empirical support is goal setting. Recent evidence shows that this strategy — more broadly used to motivate improved aspects of someone’s job performance — can be successfully adapted by asking diversity training participants to set specific, measurable, and challenging (yet attainable) goals related to diversity in the workplace. For example, a trainee might set a goal to challenge inappropriate comments about marginalized groups when overhearing them in the future (in combination with receiving information about how best to handle such situations). Our experiment with 158 undergraduate students showed that goal setting within diversity training led to more pro-diversity behaviors three months after training and improved pro-diversity attitudes nine months after training. These long-lasting effects are notable, given that diversity training sessions in organizations are usually few and far between.
Both of these exercises (perspective-taking and goal setting) produced effects on behavioral outcomes, such as displaying more support and engaging in less mistreatment toward marginalized minorities. These are arguably the most important outcomes, but are often neglected in diversity training research in favor of attitudinal outcomes (the prejudice and bias that one feels toward marginalized groups) and cognitive outcomes (how well-informed someone is regarding stereotypes and biases against marginalized groups).
Our work also shows that personality characteristics may influence the effectiveness of training, making particular strategies more effective for some employees and less effective for others. For example, perspective-taking may be more effective for individuals who lack empathy than for those who are highly empathetic. We think this is the case because individuals who are high in empathy may be more likely to engage in spontaneous perspective-taking on their own, whereas individuals who are low on this characteristic may need a diversity training activity as a prompt. Similarly, our work (which we presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology) has shown that individuals who are high on social dominance orientation — the degree to which an individual prefers majority groups dominating minorities within a social hierarchy — tend to be more resistant to diversity training than individuals who are low on this trait. However, there is hope: Having an authority figure endorse the importance of diversity initiatives can enhance the effect of training for these individuals, in effect providing a means to appeal to and reach potentially resistant trainees.
So, as you design or tweak your company’s diversity training program, keep these findings in mind. A blanket program will likely be a waste of your time — and your employees’ time. But by tailoring empirically supported exercises and activities to your goals and your employees’ characteristics, you can make progress in making your organization more welcoming and inclusive.
The benefits of having diverse (and inclusive) workplaces are indisputable. From reducing employee turnover to building better, more innovative products, D&I can positively affect both a company’s culture and its bottom line.
But before you and your company can reap the rewards, the HR team and managers from other departments need to undergo diversity training. This is so those critical workers can understand, implement, and sustain diversity-related measures at all times.
The process begins by looking at legal and company-defined rules around diversity.
After that, the tasks ask the user to research diversity, list the benefits diversity and inclusion brings, in addition to figuring out actionable ways to establish and sustain a truly inclusive and diverse workplace.
At the end of the process, a senior HR employee will review the user’s training and provide feedback.
The diversity training process checklist should be launched every quarter, and when a new HR employee joins the company.
The first step of this process for diversity training is to write down your basic details. This will help to distinguish who has completed their training.
Add your basic details in the form field below.
By adding basic details such as your name, department, job title, email, and the date, it’ll be clear who has completed the diversity training.
The last form field (the members field) assigns the group you choose from the dropdown to review the final task in this checklist. Assign the “senior HR review team” to review your training.
Today’s date
The form field below automatically assigns senior members of the HR team, via role assignments, to review the user’s progress.
However, for this to work, a senior HR review team group must be created before any user launches this checklist. The group should also be called “Senior HR review team”.
The next section will guide you through the steps of learning why diversity is important in the workplace, and how working with a diverse group of people is beneficial across the board.
Read the legal requirements concerning diversity hiring and provide links to your research.
In the U.S., there are laws surrounding diversity hiring practices. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) put in place federal laws to protect certain classes of people (like pregnant women, for instance) during the recruitment and hiring process.
Via an online search, read about the laws regarding diversity hiring and provide the links to the quality resources you’ve used. Laws may vary by location.
Research the requirements (both legal and company-defined) related to workplace diversity and list your findings below.
After doing research, use the ‘legal workplace diversity requirements’ box to list important legal requirements to abide by – i.e. affirmative action laws. Laws may vary by location.
State only the names/titles of the laws.
The ‘company-defined diversity requirements’ box is to list the rules and regulations your company itself has put into place – i.e. diversity quotas. These will vary depending on your company and company culture.
State only the names/titles of the rules/regulations.
Legal workplace diversity requirements
Company-defined diversity requirements
Understand the benefits of a diverse workplace by writing down 3 positives.
Having a diverse mix of people in the workplace can provide a host of benefits. From your research and any prior knowledge, write down 3 positive effects that come from having a diverse team. (These could be from a culture or business perspective.)
Note down why diversity is important for your company.
It’s no longer uncommon for companies to create diversity codes of conduct, diversity quotas, or diversity mission statements. All of these initiatives help companies to reinforce their diversity-related cultures, practices, and goals both internally and externally.
As a manager or member of the HR team, note down why diversity is particularly important for your company. Use the text box underneath to write a detailed answer.
Diversity’s importance to your company
Acknowledge the different types of diverse groups by ticking off the sub-checklist below.
Diversity means variety. To have a diverse workforce means to have a variety of people from different backgrounds, experiences, and cultures.
Tick off the sub-checklist tasks once you’ve read through the list of diverse groups.
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People of color/minority races
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People who are pregnant, parents, and carers
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People who have disabilities
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People with other native languages
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People with other religious backgrounds
Learn how different groups can be impacted at work by negative biases and note your findings below.
Depending on the person and their background, they could be subjected to negative biases from fellow colleagues. For example, an employee who’s 55 years old could be perceived as too old to do the job properly by younger colleagues, despite them having excelled in their field for the last few decades.
Conduct research, or use any previous knowledge, to write how 3 diversity groups can be impacted at work by negative biases.
If you have used this training checklist before, take 3 different groups than the ones you wrote about last time. This ensures you’ll consider a range of perspectives.
Write a diversity mission statement, even if a company-wide statement is already in place.
Diversity mission statements have internal and external benefits. Existing employees can abide by the statement, while prospective employees and the world-at-large can understand your company’s ethical standpoint on diversity.
Even if there’s a mission statement already in place, write out a new one for your company. It’s good practice should the mission statement need updating or changing.
Diversity mission statement
Now that the importance of diversity in the workplace has been realized, it’s time to look at best practices for sustaining diversity.
Look at how top companies approach diversity and provide links to your research.
Some of the best-performing companies are also leaders of diversity and inclusion. The DiversityInc website is a great resource for information on diversity in the workplace; they’ve even compiled a list of the top 50 companies for diversity in 2019.
In the form fields below, provide links to show your research.
If you have used DiversityInc as a part of your research, remember to include the links.
List some of the diversity initiatives that top companies have implemented.
Now that you’ve researched initiatives that are being put into practice by leading companies, it’s time to list those diversity initiatives in the fields below.
By listing them, it will help you understand how other companies are managing diversity.
Note the current diversity initiatives that have been implemented at your company.
As a manager or HR employee, it’s important to know what diversity initiatives are currently in place at your company. By knowing this, you can get behind the initiatives and make sure they’re being facilitated properly.
If you aren’t sure of the diversity initiatives currently in place, ask a senior HR employee.
Current diversity initiatives
Research 3 other valuable diversity initiatives that could be put in place, noting them below.
There will be times when certain diversity initiatives are changed, swapped, or taken out of practice entirely. This is so effective initiatives can take their predecessor’s place.
With this in mind, it’s useful to know of other diversity initiatives, should your company’s diversity initiatives change in the future.
Recognize diverse hiring practices by reading through the written material and ticking off the sub-checklist.
Diverse hiring practices
Hiring from multiple placesHiring from only one place can hinder attempts to hire diversely. By widening the places a company recruits from, your broader will receive applications from a wider range of people.
Instead of focusing efforts only online, it’s useful to think of offline venues to recruit from. Attending campus recruitment fairs is a great way for graduating talent to become interested in your company.
Inclusive job advertisementsDepending on how the job advertisement is written and presented, certain people may be put off from applying for the job. Research has shown men apply for jobs where they meet 60% of the criteria, while women only apply if they believe they meet 100%.
Textio is a particularly helpful resource for taking out biased or gendered language in job ads.
There’s also a Process Street guide on how to write a job description, which includes free templates for you to use.
Blind hiring techniquesBlind hiring techniques stop our biases getting in the way of recruiting great candidates. A simple blind hiring technique is removing the name field from employee applications, thereby eliminating any unconscious prejudices we could have about their background, gender, race, or religion.
Blind hiring works: according to a study by Harvard and Princeton, blind auditions increased the probability of female musicians being hired between 25% and 46%.
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Hiring from multiple places
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Inclusive job advertisements
Know how to collect quantitative diversity data.
Without quantitative data on diversity, your team won’t have any solid metrics to refer to. Therefore, it’s crucial to internally source and collect data.
A fast, frictionless method of gathering diversity data is by running the Process Street diversity questions survey. The survey is written and formatted in a non-intrusive way, and employees can complete the survey within minutes.
Inclusion goes hand-in-hand with diversity. While diversity practices help to ensure a diverse range of people are hired and present in the workplace, inclusion initiatives help to make workers feel secure and happier at work.
Note the difference between diversity and inclusion by defining the two terms.
Diversity is defined separately to inclusion, and vice versa. But when diversity and inclusion (D&I) are used together, they help to create happier, better functioning work environments.
After researching or utilizing prior knowledge, write down the definition of diversity first, and then inclusion.
Understand the positives of diverse and inclusive workplaces and write down the benefits below.
The benefits of having a diverse workplace should now be clear. However, a diverse workplace should also be inclusive.
Write down the benefits of having a diverse and an inclusive workplace below, using previous experience or research to guide your answers.
Benefits of diversity and inclusion together
Learn what D&I activities are and how they’re used by reading through the linked resource.
D&I activities help to foster awareness, discussion, and support around sensitive topics.
This Officevibe blog post is a stellar resource for learning what diversity and inclusion activities are, why they’re important, and even provides tips for leaders hoping to use D&I activities effectively.
List the current D&I activities in place at your company in the text box below.
Similarly to how you listed your company’s current diversity initiatives, do the same for the D&I activities currently put in place and add them below.
If you aren’t sure of which D&I activities are currently in place, ask a senior HR employee.
List of current D&I activities
Suggest 3 useful D&I activities that could be useful in the future.
Seeing as you’ve undertaken research on what D&I activities are and have listed the ones your company has in place, it’s time to suggest 3 useful D&I activities that could be used at work in the future.
By doing this, it will ensure you have a solid grasp of D&I activities.
Note down any diversity organizations that your company has associations with or work with.
A great way to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace is by associating, working, and even partnering with diversity organizations. Not only is this helpful for current employees, but it also shows potential employees your company’s standpoint on D&I.
Using the text field below, note down any diversity organizations that you know your company is currently associated or working with.
If you aren’t sure of who your company is currently associated or working with, ask a senior HR employee.
Consider any possible future relationships with diversity organizations that would benefit your employees.
Chambers Associate have written a list of 10 diversity organizations that your company, your employees, and you could benefit from knowing. The organizations in questions could help with further training, provide additional resources, or act as an extra support network for your employees.
It’s important to bring organizations such as these to your employees’ attention, and even have your company work with a selection of them. Consider which organizations it would be beneficial to build bridges with in the future.
Future diversity organizations
Know how to handle complaints by learning about the employee complaint procedure checklist.
Workplaces aren’t always harmonious. But as long as the problems are brought up, the issues can be resolved.
Using the Process Street employee complaint procedure checklist is a great way for employees to initially lodge their complaint(s), and then for the HR team to take over and do what they do best.
Learn more about the checklist itself by clicking this link.
The diversity training procedure has almost been completed. The last step will require a senior member of the HR team to review your training.
Review the training by providing notes on the user’s progress, then send the notes directly to them.
This step is for the (senior) HR employee reviewing the user’s training.
Provide any notes you have them (including praise, if they’ve done a particularly good job) in the text box below.
Then send the notes straight to them via the email widget below.