5 Tips to Improve Your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategy

When people think about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy, diversity training is likely one of the first things that come to mind. And if you look at the numbers, it makes sense. McKinsey & Company estimates that about $8 billion are spent on diversity training every year in the United States. Still, historically progressive companies like Apple and Google continue to grapple with costly lawsuits, workplace complaints, and negative media surrounding discrimination.  Despite the $8 billion investment, we still have what some call a “discrimination problem” or a “diversity issue.”

Most Diversity Training is Not Working

Despite the investment, here is the real problem: studies show that diversity training is not working.  Even studies more favorable to DEI trainers still conclude that diversity training is simply not working the way we want it to work. This long-standing human resources solution is failing us.

If we consider the circumstances of the majority of these trainings, it should not come as a surprise that we cannot undo a lifetime of learned behavior in one hour, or three, or six. The majority of diversity trainings are compulsory, one-time events conducted by outside consultants. Further, they’re typically initiated in reaction to a negative incident. This, folks, is not a recipe for success.

The reality is, improving DEI in the workplace is a complex long-term goal. It cannot possibly be boiled down into one training, much less a single blog post.  It takes years of collective dedication and action. There are, however, some things organizations can do to start their DEI strategy on the right foot. Here are five tips to get you started:

1. Stop framing diversity, equity, and inclusion as a problem.
2. Focus less on training, and more on systematic solutions.
3. Conduct a training needs analysis.
4. Train your leaders first.
5. Incorporate microlearning and other professional development.

1. STOP FRAMING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION AS A PROBLEM

Framing DEI as a problem makes employees think about discrimination rather than teamwork, about othering rather than coming together, and about what can be lost rather than what is clearly gained.

If you are unsure how this manifests in training, here are some examples of how companies frame DEI as a problem:

• Initiating training directly after an incident of implicit bias, a microaggression, or intentional discrimination.
• Using training as a form of punishment.
• Singling out a group of people for training. For example, having only police officers attend sexual harassment training.
• Using the victim/perpetrator frame or asking employees to role-play victim/perpetrator scenarios.

Studies show that using negative frames, or scenarios like the ones above, lead to negative training results.  One such study conducted by Dr. Shannon Rawski, a management and human resources professor at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, found that using a victim/harasser frame in sexual harassment training led to increased sexual harassment.  Further, researchers Frank Dobbin, Alexandra Kalev, and Erin Kelly noted that negative training outcomes result when training is mandatory or emphasizes lawsuits.

Instead, frame DEI as an element of teamwork or allyship and as a successful business strategy. If you need an example of a more positive frame, check out this TED Talk:

2. FOCUS LESS ON TRAINING, AND MORE ON SYSTEMATIC SOLUTIONS

Just this week, the Harvard Business Review published an article informing companies that they should not put all their DEI eggs in the workplace training basket. Unfortunately for all the diversity training junkies out there, the authors of this article concluded, “[i]f employers want to open opportunity to people of color, anti-bias training won’t do it.” Their recommendation? Look at the company’s systematic practices. The article provides some useful examples:

What companies usually do is…	Companies dedicated to DEI should…
recruit from majority-white colleges	recruit from historically Black colleges
allow mentor relationships to form naturally	establish formal programs where each new hire gets a mentor
let managers choose who gets additional training and development	ensure that every employee has the opportunity to receive training and development
hire outside consultants to take charge of your DEI	get all leadership, including managers involved in DEI

None of this is to say that all diversity training should be thrown out of the window, but it should not be the sole or primary source of DEI efforts. More importantly, if you choose to include diversity training in your DEI strategy, it has to be the right training for your company, which leads us to our next tip…

3. CONDUCT A TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS

There are plenty of diversity training horror stories out there. We have heard of everything from employees making wildly inappropriate jokes, to employees feeling uneasy about why they are being trained, to outright arguments.

So, before you even get to the training, you must determine whether training is what you actually need. If the answer is yes, then what specifically do the employees need to be trained in? A training needs analysis can answer both of these questions, but they are often neglected in diversity training.

In general, training needs analyses take many forms depending on the industry, company size, area of training, whether you’re training the organization or an individual, and other factors. For example, an onboarding training needs analysis for technical skills for a new hire will look vastly different from a training needs analysis for communication skills for an entire department.

To create a DEI focused training needs analysis, consider doing the following:

a. Establish DEI goals using the SMART goal method.

Establishing defined and attainable goals require you to consider your “why” questions. Why are you conducting an analysis? Why training? Who needs to be trained? What exactly is the competency you are seeking to improve? A good way to work through establishing goals is to use the SMART goal method.

b. Audit current and potential resources for your DEI strategy.

Most organizations have gone through some iteration of diversity training or established some sort of DEI strategy. So first, figure out where the organization is at. What curriculum have current employees already seen? Most importantly, have employees received outdated training?

Organizations should also audit financial and time resources. What will the organization invest? Will there be a new hire? Who will spearhead the DEI strategy? Best practice, as mentioned in some of the articles linked in this blog post, is to make sure you have representation across the board. DEI is not something human resource departments can or should do alone.

c. Determine which knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) you will target.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities, or KSA’s, are what any employee must have to perform a job. KSA’s will look different for every position or career path.

In the context of diversity training, employees will encounter DEI in different ways depending on their job duties. Accordingly, at least some portions of a DEI training curriculum should be different depending on an employee’s role. For example, management training should provide a manager with intervention and leadership skills. Entry-level employee training, on the other hand, may focus more on interpersonal communication and learning to use workplace resources.

d. Communicate! Obtain information from your employees.

Your best resource for understanding what your employees need is your employees. Conducting anonymous surveys, reviewing past performance reviews, and reviewing any other communications that have come from your employees is extremely important.

Further, employee communications can not only help you determine what topics you need to cover in your training but also how. For example, if you have a large remote workforce (which is a lot of companies right now), you may want to rethink your format. If you have a very extroverted department—ahem, sales—and also a very introverted group, you may consider varying training cohort sizes.

4. TRAIN YOUR LEADERS FIRST

Just this month, Robert Half reported that about half of the professionals they surveyed (49%) “have quit a job due to a bad boss.” Also, last year, HR Dive reported that according to a VitalSmarts survey, more than 75% of employees said their managers had “glaring flaws.” Anyone who has worked to improve DEI in their workplace knows that no matter how good your recruitment strategy is, if the company cannot retain talent, your hard-fought gains will zero out fast.

So, regardless of whether you decide to conduct company-wide training, you must get your management team up to speed and on board with the company’s direction.

5. INCORPORATE MICROLEARNING AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Microlearning, sometimes referred to as microtraining, is the process of learning in short bursts. These bursts, often formatted as trainings, are typically between 10 and 30 minutes long. They can be standalone trainings or make a part of a series organized into modules. Participants can complete them as daily warm-ups, or as a portion of a longer weekly meeting.

What are the benefits of microlearning?

Since microlearning opportunities are short, they are easy to incorporate into larger meetings or training agendas. They also promote repetition since completing them does not require as much planning around other workplace duties. Lastly, participants are less stressed about attending because they know it is brief, and attention spans are much less challenged.

Microlearning Resources

Other Professional Development

Research compiled by various federal agencies involved in labor and education, including the Department of Labor, found that “[t]he more closely training is related to a real job or occupation, the better the results for training participants.”

Although we all know that DEI is related to all jobs or occupations, DEI curriculum tends to be created on a “for every employee” basis. Using broad strokes, although efficient, may make it more difficult for particular employees to see how it applies to their job function.

Thus, instead of applying the one-size-fits-all approach, try incorporating DEI into other job-specific professional development. For example, during exercise portions of the training, you can create realistic hypothetical fact patterns that incorporate DEI.