DESIGNING & IMPLEMENTING a DIVERSITY TRAINING PROGRAM DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING A DIVERSITY TRAINING PROGRAM

Good evening

Designing and Implementing a Diversity Training Program

Identify and discuss three objectives of the diversity training program.

The purpose of a diversity training program is to protect both employees and employers. If employees feel that they are being unfairly treated, they need to understand what constitutes discrimination and harassment under corporate policy, and what their legal and workplace-specific rights may be, in terms of addressing complaints. They need to know what type of workplace language, hiring policies, promotional reviews, and general demeanor is considered acceptable. Diversity policies must not be vague and tacitly understood as part of the corporate culture, because different people with different backgrounds come to work with varied ideas of how to comport themselves. Diversity policies provide specificity. The first objective of training is that organizational policies pertaining to diversity and harassment are communicated to employees.

Employees should also leave the training with improved attitudes and skills. The ways in which diversity issues are discussed during training should be designed to make employees feel secure that their workplace values their dignity. It should convey an atmosphere of tolerance and openness. Workers should leave the training session with a positive attitude about their company's employment policies: "diversity contributes to a richness in the organization by having a variety of views, approaches, and actions to use in strategic planning, tactical planning, problem solving, and decision-making" (Guidelines for conducting diversity training, 2011, Office of Personnel Management). They should also leave with skills that enable them to better communicate with fellow employees of different backgrounds.

Finally, diversity training programs should be designed...

Discuss the content that should be included in the training program to ensure that employees have a sufficient understanding of workforce diversity.
First and foremost, employees should be aware of the specific, formal policies of the company in writing. The wording of diversity policies regarding harassment should be written in plain language. There should be a list of the relevant persons to contact when issues of harassment or unfair treatment arise.

Secondly, there should be an educational component to raising awareness. Employees should be able to read and role-play scenarios that depict typical workplace problems pertaining to the issue of diversity. This can serve as a springboard to discussion, and help employees see both sides of different workplace-related difficulties. These scenarios should contain some ambiguity so that the discussions are meaningful. Although diversity training is not 'on the job' training like learning technical procedures at the company, employees must be encouraged to engage in a certain degree of creative thinking about diversity for the program to be effective. The program must be interactive, so it does not seem like yet another boring 'meeting.' "Awareness-based diversity training aims at heightening awareness of diversity issues and revealing workers' unexamined assumptions and tendencies to stereotype...The major objectives of awareness-based training are to provide information about diversity, heighten awareness and sensitivity through uncovering hidden assumptions and biases, assess attitudes and values, correct myths and stereotypes, and foster individual and group sharing" (Diversity training, 2011, NCRVE).

Employees should hear presentations of persons of diverse backgrounds…