Tip of the Day: Engage, not enrage employees during diversity training

Diversity training generally makes employees apprehensive at best and defensive at worst -- a fact that EBN contributor Jarik Conrad concedes. However, he offers several traps for you to avoid in crafting a diversity training program so it can be less scary and more successful.

What do's and don'ts have you picked up along the way about diversity training? Do tell! Comment below.

News You Can Use: Diversity programs expanding

Diversity strategies are a hot topic, states new research from the Institute for Corporate Productivity. Nearly three quarters of organizations plan to expand their diversity programs, and nearly half already have a diversity strategy in place. For large companies (over 10,000 workers) that number dips to only 11% without a strategy already in place.

“Diversity programs have gone from nice-to-have to must-have for most firms,” said Jay Jamrog, i4cp senior vice president of research. “Strong diversity strategies help in the attraction and retention of top talent as well as customer relations, and companies not paying attention to that are missing the boat.”

Scone: Lack of diversity feeding workplace discrimination

Here’s something to chew on with your morning coffee:

Interesting that, in a year where an African American and a woman both had a legitimate shot at becoming president, the upper echelons of corporate America still are dominated by white men. And that recent research shows that although most workers and executives believe that diversity improves companies, there is little being done to actually make the workplace more diverse and nearly half of workers say they’ve been discriminated against at work.

According to staffing company Adecco USA, 60% of workers say a diverse workplace is a top priority for their employer. Seventy-eight percent of respondents in a separate survey by Epsen Fuller/IMD agree diversity is an important strategy. (Read the Sept. 15 EBN for expanded coverage on the Epsen Fuller/IMD survey.)

However, Epsen Fuller/IMD also finds that nearly half of respondents reported no women were among executive management at their company, that the number of ethnic minorities has increased just 9.8% in the last three years and that most don’t expect those numbers to change at all over the next three years. Further, the majority of HR execs polled say they have no plans in place to increase C-suite diversity within their companies.

Such apathy indicates that the C-suite is all talk and no action when it comes to pursuing a diverse workforce. And their indifference may be coming back to bite them, as Adecco reports that 47% of employees say they’ve experienced discrimination at work (discrimination based on: age, 52%; gender, 43%; race, 32%; religion, 9%; and disability, 7%).

It’s sad and just unacceptable that such low diversity and high discrimination numbers persist in our workplaces and culture at large. I challenge benefit managers to truly walk the talk on diversity – not just policies on paper, but true and tangible action. It’s one area where you cannot hide the lack of results.