Ways to create an inclusive employee training program

Viren Kapadia January 18, 2021
Ways to create an inclusive employee training program

Diversity and inclusion training program can improve equality in your workplace.

Creating inclusion training programs is a great way to address biases and prejudices within the workplace.

The best way to ensure that inclusive training is successful is to alter it as per your company’s needs.

Though businesses of all sizes have made significant developments in becoming more inclusive and diverse over the past few decades, it's still a hustle for many to overcome the biases that bound how some workers see those who are different from them.

Why businesses need a diversity training program?

Charm and retain employees

Employees want more out of their companies nowadays. Besides a salary, they want culture. An inclusive training program is a key to retain these valuable team members for the long-term.

Positive teamwork

When you spend 8+ hours a day at work, you want to enjoy your co-workers. And you also want teammates who spring up ideas off each other and help when others are stuck on a task. One way to bring up team collaboration is with inclusive training

Enhances productivity

This goes hand and hand with positive teamwork. The better your employees interact and connect, the stronger the teams become. And the more teams communicate, the more productive the company becomes.

Better customer relations

It’s no secret that business is becoming more global. And with the digital evolution, your business reach is farther. An inclusive training program will not only help internally but externally with these customers.

More creative solutions

No matter what industry you are dealing in and what competitors you may have, you should stay ahead of this competition. This includes thinking creatively and coming up with new strategies to promote business. Inclusive training can help team members better brainstorm with each other. And when the team collaborates, different opinions can bring about the most creative solutions.

Less legal and HR issues

You may think your employees and managers are well versed in how to treat one another, but this could not be the case always. There are several cases of discernment every year by employees. A strong inclusive training program can educate your employees on how to properly interact with each other.

Why businesses need a diversity training program?

It is not enough to lay out a list of prohibitive rules and expect people to follow them. This is, in fact, the exact opposite of what makes for successful inclusive training.

Inclusive training that presents diversity acceptance as a choice that benefits everyone in the workplace results in positive returns that are long term. Effective training should be created on the below measures:

Create common goals : Common goals create common bonds. Think about soldiers charging a hill – if all of them don’t move forward at the same time, the efforts will fail.

Confront unconscious bias : Everyone has unconscious biases that originate in the brain – the amygdala, to be precise. This part of the brain reacts strongly when it sees pictures of races different from its owner. Identifying the tribal nature of people and working with it can help eliminate this “other-ness” response.

Focus on inclusion : Inclusion goes beyond just hiring for diversity. Inclusion actively strives for, embraces, and inspires different ways of approaching and solving problems.

Choose wisely : Diversity training topics can be awe-inspiring. Conducting a training needs valuation before you begin can help you to prioritize for your company.

Move away from prohibitive language : Introduce the idea of choosing to lean into a diverse workplace instead of demanding or requiring that all employees accept each other. Adults don’t like to be told what to do – so don’t do that in your training.

Create an open culture : Even though companies can benefit from the inclusion training program, it is crucial to understand that training alone is not sufficient. Workplace diversity requires an open culture that not only operates under the guidelines of the organization but also includes daily practices and activities oriented indirectly towards inclusion.

Include workers of all levels : Training should not be mandatory only for lower-level workers. All employees, regardless of their status in the company, can and should benefit from the sessions.

All employees must participate, including the senior level, workplace diversity is weakest at the leadership level. Leaders of all races, genders, and sexual orientations must participate in any training program for their benefit and to make it clear that the organization is committed.

An inclusive training program has the potential to positively address biases that may occur within an organization. Showing that inclusive training is important to your organization as well as your training strategy will go a long way in showing dedication to create a truly inclusive workplace.

Providing this training can help boost talent retention. When you focus on both diversity and inclusion and show employees that they’re being welcomed in your organization, helps retain them. Employees who feel underappreciated or left out are more likely to be unhappy and ultimately, leave the organization.

Today’s workers want employers not to discriminate, also to encourage openness about differences. Creating an inclusive, diverse environment helps drive up business value because employees are more fulfilled by the work they do, and therefore strive for higher quality work.

If any organization has a more diverse team they can boost productivity and innovation as well. Contradictory perspectives offer more creativity and idea generation and that’s how teams can learn from each another. With more diverse skillsets, life experiences, and ideas, organizations can produce and create in more innovative ways.

Diversity and inclusion training can help to hire managers, and even those not in a hiring role, tackle their own unconscious biases while in turn helping to build more diversity within the organization. Because unconscious biases can affect thoughts, words, and actions insubstantial (and often harmful) ways, it’s important to learn what they are and how to minimize their impact.

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