Even as we approach 2020, many organizations are still struggling with how to conduct diversity and inclusion training. Regardless of the makeup of an organization’s workforce, diversity and inclusion training can be an eye-opening exercise. Unfortunately, good intentions and expenditure on training too often do not result in lasting change.

Here are four ways to infuse real meaning into diversity and inspire tangible progress:

Ongoing Learning Programs

A one-hour or single-day training program is simply the first step to bringing about real change. Without subsequent follow-ups, there is a tendency for people to revert to the behavior and attitudes that they held prior to the training. By enacting a long-term strategy that periodically makes room for course correction, a business leader can give their employees the best chance to live up to the values of the organization.

Think about long-term goals for the organization and share them with the team. Just as it is with any other objective, knowing the ultimate destination helps people prepare themselves to work for it.

Promoting Good Habits

Beyond revealing to staff what behaviors and words may come across as insensitive to different people, good diversity training instills good habits. Once this new synergy takes hold, it will foster stronger relationships between the team and that reward will pay dividends far into the future.

These attitudes come in especially handy when dealing across international boundaries. People around the world work to very different values and attitudes than what we see in and around our own offices. By starting the change at home, you give your company an edge globally.

Encouraging Constant Dialog

We live in a time where current events constantly become triggers for boycotts and protests. Pandering to any particular sub-group or movement tends to create an equally strong counter-movement that can torpedo a business just as easily. If you try to please everyone, you will please no one. The only way is the middle path of constant dialog without prejudice.

Instead of taking sides and risking alienating potential customers, make your workplace an environment that welcomes everyone, all the time. It is not just basic decency, it makes perfect business sense, too.

Developing Diverse Teams

Diverse teams do not just pop out of thin air after a series of diversity training lectures. Consider whether paying for a training course compares in value with real change that your staff can see and sense. Rather than trying to teach them about how diversity works, introduce individuals of diverse backgrounds at all levels of the company.

The practical lessons gained from sitting next to and working with different people are far superior to anything taught by a third person. Replace training sessions with experiences that leave meaningful lifelong impressions. They are the seeds of real change.

Please contact me today if you have any questions about creating a sustainable training plan to promote diversity and inclusion in your workplace.