YES

Sharing knowledge is always useful

I’m an educator by trade and by inclination, so I place a high value on learning. As I frequently tell people, the alternative to knowledge is ignorance and ignorance has never solved a problem, so far as I know.

I promote educating all employees about issues related to diversity and inclusion is an integral part of improving workplace culture. That said, I also recognize that we live in a cynical world. It’s easy to roll our eyes at the idea of diversity and inclusion training as the pathway to fair, respectful workplaces. And those eye rolls have some merit. Studies have shown that focusing on individual attitudes and behaviours is less effective than addressing the systemic conditions that perpetuate disparity.

But here’s the thing …

Day after day, the individual interactions between people have a huge impact on workplace culture and we can leverage the power of education to improve those interactions. I passionately believe in the value of diversity and inclusion training. I also believe that systemic problems require systemic solutions. These beliefs are not incongruous; they’re complementary.

Here are a few ways to maximize the effectiveness of DEI training within your organization:

> First and foremost, make sure there’s buy-in from the top. When diversity training is viewed as just one more HR “thing,” it is destined to languish in the wasteland of tick-a-box activities. But when organizational leaders and senior staff are genuinely committed to fostering diversity and inclusion, they demonstrate that commitment by investing the necessary planning and resources, and by empowering key staff to make changes, as needed. As a result, DEI training becomes more robust, better monitored, and more aligned with strategic objectives.

> Don’t view training as a silver bullet. Diversity and inclusion education works best when it is part of a long-term, multipronged strategy to evolve and move your organization forward. Discriminatory ideas and practices run deep. It takes time and effort to unearth them, address them, and repair the damage they’ve caused.

There is no DEI course, conference, or seminar, that’s going to magically reinvent your workplace. Expecting education alone to do the heavy lifting is both unrealistic and unfair.

Yes, you should provide training to all employees. Everyone in the workplace should be able to recognize unacceptable situations and respond appropriately. But you also need to examine your policies and processes, like hiring practices, performance evaluations, parental leave protocols, etc. Do the work. Make the necessary changes.

> Monitor the effectiveness of your DEI training. As management theorist Peter Drucker observed, “what gets measured gets improved.” So don’t just put folks through training and move on. Gather feedback from participants. And don’t rely solely on shallow, quantitative data, like the number of participants who gave it a 4.5 out of 5 in a feedback survey. Dig deeper.

Ask meaningful questions and pay attention to the answers. What did they like about the training? What might be improved? Speak with those same participants a month or so later. Did anything change or improve, in their opinion? If it didn’t, why not?

> Experiment. Add. Adapt. Embrace the concept of continual improvement. Pilot different DEI training options with small groups. Expand beyond the basics, like unconscious bias, to topics like LGBTQ2+ diversity and inclusion, Indigenous culture, neurodiversity in the workplace, and more. And try different formats, like online training, workshops, lectures, etc. Different people learn in different ways. By adding variety, you’re able to accommodate individual learning styles and keep the training experience positive.

Diversity and inclusion training is not a “cure all” for what ails Canadian workplaces. That said, I believe education plays an integral role in the quest to improve workplace culture and foster equal opportunities for all employees. In fact, I can’t imagine how progress in these areas could be made without incorporating educational components into employee training programs.

As individuals and as a society, our beliefs are malleable, and our behaviours are adaptable. Through diversity and inclusion training, we can expand our knowledge and understanding of other cultures, other identities, and other life experiences. Subsequently, we can use this knowledge and understanding to make our professional interactions more respectful, supportive, and productive.

In the words of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan, “Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”