How to Teach About Diversity in the Workplace

Learning about diversity makes an organization stronger.

All workplaces are diverse. While some workplaces are noticeably diverse, and others appear on the surface to be homogeneous, all workplaces have employees with different beliefs, backgrounds and lifestyles. As such, it is important to teach employees about diversity in the workplace. By understanding workplace diversity, employees will be better able to understand and respect the differing opinions and viewpoints of their colleagues.

Instructions

1. Structure your organization's diversity training. Do you want to plan a one-day training event? A series of two-hour training sessions? Planning the course structure will help you determine how to organize each portion of the diversity training. For example, a one-day session may cover many topics in one sitting. In a course with several sessions, understanding diversity can be covered in session one, respecting diversity can be covered in session two and learning how diversity makes an organization stronger can be covered in session three.

2. Schedule the training classes for employees. If your diversity training is mandatory, schedule the classes when people will most likely be able to attend. If the classes are voluntary, ensure that people are given a reason to attend, such as a free meal, giveaways or the chance to win prizes.

3. Select a dynamic speaker for your organization's diversity training, and ensure that the training is interactive. A dynamic speaker will hold the listeners' attention, and the interactive environment will allow people to participate and remain interested throughout the presentation.

4. Explain diversity to the members of your organization. It is a misconception that diversity only deals with ethnicity and skin tone. Diversity incorporates differences in gender, age, religion, disability status, beliefs, culture and more. Explain that diversity is all-encompassing and is much deeper than a person's accent or skin color.

5. Choose a few key points about diversity to be the focus of your training. For example, you may choose to discuss the meaning of diversity, why diversity is important and diversity issues faced in your workplace. Sticking to a few main points will allow people to stay focused on your discussion without getting confused or overwhelmed.

6. Plan an event to make diversity training enjoyable. This will motivate people to attend and pay attention to your workplace diversity training. You may choose to play a trivia game about diversity in which employees can win prizes. Or, ask each participant to bring in a potluck dish which represents their family or ethnicity. Food and games are effective ways to engage people in enjoyable aspects of diversity.

7. Allow time for small group discussion at the end of the diversity training or at the end of each session. During this time, encourage attendees to discuss what they learned and what misconceptions they had about diversity. The presentation's speaker should answer any questions that employees may have.

8. Ask participants to fill out an anonymous quiz and survey at the end of the session. The goal of the quiz will be to see if participants retained information about diversity. The goal of the survey will be to determine how employees felt about the training: was it necessary, relevant or helpful? What can be done better in the future? Also, ask employees to write down any diversity-related concerns that they may have. Use the quiz and survey results to plan what should be covered in future diversity training.

References

• Experience.com: Diversity in the Workplace
• Workplace Diversity: How to Handle Resistance