July 24th, 2014
Last week I introduced a series of posts I am going to write regarding diversity training and at least some initial ideas of the specific issues that I will focus on. As I get additional feedback and input, the length of this series and the topics that I focus on will likely evolve.
It is generally called something else, but I do a lot of diversity training and have been doing it for about a decade now. I am good at what I do. There are certainly other folks doing this work that I respect and admire (and I will make a point to plug some of them in some part of this series), but I am comfortable saying that my design and delivery of diversity training is as good as any that you will find.
I have been fortunate to be able to do presentations, workshops and other work with a lot of different kinds of organizations. Big, small, for-profit, nonprofit, across industry and geography…I do not know if there is a kind of organization I have not worked with.
One of the challenges impacting the effectiveness of diversity training is how people come to it. There are people that choose to come to diversity training and those sessions are pretty easy, those sessions are what I like to refer to as “choir meetings.” There are also people that do not and might not ever choose to come to diversity training, but are sent there. Those sessions start off in a much different place, there is a much different energy in the room.
One of my sweet spots is flipping those folks. One of the things that I am really good at is getting those folks to look at and think about diversity and inclusion in completely different ways and providing them with a learning experience much different from what they were expecting. But a real challenge for diversity training is the expectations that people have coming into it, and it is a challenge that most forms of training, learning and development do not have to deal with. Even if people do not like training in general, there is usually far less resistance and frustration about attending management or leadership training, communication training, safety training etc.
Another unique challenge that diversity training faces is that if someone has been through training that was ineffective, poorly designed, poorly delivered or illogical, they tend to hold the whole body of work accountable. “Diversity is a crock because look at this silly workshop I went to!” When a leadership session is ineffective (as many of them are), poorly designed, poorly delivered or illogical, people do not hold that against the entire concept of leadership…it was just a bad session, or a bad presenter.
Diversity is also viewed by a lot of folks as automatically redundant. “I went to a diversity class 11 years ago, why do I have to do it again!” Again, they do not tend to feel that way about communication training or safety training, it is common sense that there is always more to learn in those areas.
People like to be offended that they have to attend diversity training.
So, there are some unique challenges facing diversity training, and in all honesty, I think we have contributed to some of this as practitioners. Part of the reason that I entered this field was that I saw a lot stuff being done that I felt was antiquated and not terribly effective. We have room for improvement. We have been part of the problem, but we will also be a big part of the solution.
But this perception is part of our challenge and I do not think that there is much that we can do about it, at least in the short term.
One possible option to consider is delivering parts of this work in “stealth mode.” For example…assertive communication training, dealing with conflict and conflict management…these issues and practices are integral to building an inclusive culture and you can probably do some solid training around these issues without using the word diversity. If that helps you get some traction and remove some of the resistance that you face, then more power to you.
The long term solution, and the real solution, is in changing the perception, and I believe the way to do that is to change the reality by delivering more positive, sound and actionable learning and development experiences relative to diversity and inclusion. I am hopeful that this series will be helpful toward that end.
What has worked for you and what has not worked for you with your training efforts? What kind of resistance do you face and have you had success in overcoming it?
Be good to each other.
Upcoming public offerings –>>
August 3rd – I am doing a pre-conference workshop “The Art of Leadership” with the lovely and talented Doug Shaw at the Illinois SHRM Conference.
August 5th – I am doing a pre-conference workshop “Culture Builder Bootcamp: The What, Why and How of Building an Inclusive Organizational Culture,” at the Missouri SHRM Conference.
September 2nd – FORWARD! St. Paul: Diversity and Inclusion Workshop with a Bias for Action
September 3rd – FORWARD! Minneapolis: Diversity and Inclusion Workshop with a Bias for Action
FORWARD! is a new and highly actionable 1/2 workshop, ping me if you are interested in bringing this workshop into your organization of if you would like to help bring it to your community.
September 17th – I will be delivering one of the keynote messages for the Kansas SHRM Conference.
See you when I see you.
I’m actually facilitating at one of those “we have to be here” diversity sessions next week (I love a challenge). I think it’s so important to know what you’re walking into – whether the training is required/optional, will management be in the room to change the dynamic, is the culture ingrained or malleable, etc.
My greatest wins have come from focusing more on dialogue than being pressured by the time and getting through all the materials. I also think that even when you have to do the “business case” type sessions, it’s more effective to give the facts in small doses and let them react/interact with at least one “gut punch” exercise to shake them out of their preconceived notions of D&I training.
If you can’t tell, I really love this work… 🙂