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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training: Tips and Best Practices
Expert guidance for transformational DEI initiatives.
DEI training is a waste if it doesn’t take
We live in a world of complex cultural dynamics, subconscious biases, and evolving societal norms. Developing an effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training program today is not easy. But it is clearly becoming essential: According to research by JUST Capital, 94% of organizations say they’ve made a commitment to advancing DEI in the workplace.
When almost everyone is working on the same opportunity, there’s obviously an advantage to be gained in achieving better results. Researchers and experts in the field are defining new best practices for DEI training that can differentiate leaders from laggards. Read on to learn what they recommend.
Source: Survey Analysis by JUST Capital (2021)
“It's not that training doesn't work, it's that bad training doesn't work.”
Dereca Blackmon
CEO of Inclusion Design Group
Diversity, equity, and inclusion rises as a top L&D priority
45% of L&D professionals planned to deploy DEI programs in 2022, up from 34% in 2021.
55% of L&D professionals say their department owns or shares responsibility for company-wide DEI strategy.
86% of financial executives at companies in North America said they were expanding their budgets for DEI training.
- 80% of employees want to work for inclusive companies.
Additional Sources: OneStream Software survey; “Unleashing the power of inclusion” by Deloitte
Cornerstones of a successful DEI training program
Amid the complicated forces in today’s workplace, embedding DEI principles in a way teams will embrace requires a thoughtful approach centered on employees and their motivations.
Incorporating these key ingredients will put your organization on the path to leading in DEI.
Empower employees and managers
It’s important for the C-suite to set an example and consistently speak to DEI as a priority. But to cultivate a truly diverse and inclusive culture, employees and their managers need to be focusing on it regularly at the ground level.
One recommendation for making sure your DEI program resonates, according to Inclusion Design Group CEO Dereca Blackmon, is to use presurveys. “Research shows that forcing training down people's throats can create a backlash that can actually make things worse,” Blackmon says. “But we can't afford to abandon what's right just because it's not easy. We have to do the work beforehand to make sure people understand why training is important not only to their company but also to their personal success.”
Learn More: Rolling Out a Diversity and Inclusion Training Program in Your Company with Dereca Blackmon
Frame DEI training around professional growth
People are busy, with many competing interests in their professional and personal lives. If DEI is seen as unimportant – or worse, a burden or distraction – it won’t take hold. The training will be more successful if it is tied to meaningful skill-building and career advancement.
“Diversity and inclusion is the fundamental foundation of psychological safety,” says Crystal Lim-Lange, CEO of Forest Wolf. “But it helps to pitch it as a path to higher performance. People are not interested in remedial action that’s going to shame them, but they are interested in opportunities to become better and more successful.”
Account for the many dimensions of identity
DEI isn’t just about race, or gender, or ethnicity. Emerging generations identify by a wide range of traits that deserve recognition and understanding. To ensure your DEI training is comprehensive and geared for an ever-expanding spectrum of diversity, avoid being too narrow in scope.
LinkedIn Learning courses like the ones below illustrate how you can incorporate training around disabilities, age/generation diversity, and cross-cultural diversity, for example.
Inclusion and Equity for Workers with Disabilities with Liz Johnson
Diversity Across Generations: Supporting Workplace Inclusion with Madecraft and Linda Croyle
- Developing Cross-Cultural Intelligence with Tatiana Kolovou
Move from intention to impact
It’s all too easy for DEI to feel like a “fluffy” initiative, lacking in tangible outcomes. Avoid this pitfall by shifting your organizational directive from intention to impact.
“Sometimes, as leaders, we're over-reliant on our own perspectives, our own worldview, what we experience in the workplace, what we think is inclusive or not,” explains author and inclusion strategist Ruchika Tulshyan. “And we often miss out on seeking perspectives that are different than our own. And I think this really comes back to this idea of over-relying on our good intentions rather than the impact that our actions may have.”
Tulshyan offers a BRIDGE framework for making this shift:
Be uncomfortable
Reflect on what you don't know
Invite feedback
Defensiveness doesn't help
Grow from mistakes
Expect change takes time
Learn More: Moving DEI from Intention to Impact with Ruchika Tulshyan
Drive organizational accountability around DEI
As Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) strategist and consultant Dr. Tana M. Session explains, “When you think about creating and implementing a DEIB strategy, there has to be accountability to ensure that the strategy is successful.”
“As a leader,” Dr. Session continues, “you're familiar with setting goals and strategies, measuring success, and holding people accountable for accomplishing those goals. Well, your DEIB strategy needs to be respected, and managed in the very same way.”
In her LinkedIn Learning course, she offers a number of different ways to think about accountability as well as techniques to create this accountability:
Feedback from the bottom up: Conduct year-over-year surveys and find other ways to elicit direct, candid user feedback.
Measuring from the top down: Start with the CEO, turning feedback into data and data into action.
- External transparency: Connect with your community via focuses on employer branding and diverse talent attraction.
Learn More: Driving Organizational Accountability for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging with Dr. Tana M. Sessions
Make DEI learning content available and accessible
The course “Teaching with LinkedIn Learning” shares best practices for diversity and inclusion in online learning. To practice what you preach, it’s critical to ensure DEI principles are reflected in the learning platform itself.
One key takeaway: “The incredible power of online learning is that you have a tremendous reach to learners you may not have access to otherwise. Because of this reach, you might be working with populations you haven't before and, therefore, taking others and the way they learn into consideration is key.”
Recommendations include:
Integrate multi-pace instructions and formats that support various learning styles.
Consider adding visuals to support differentiated learning. For example: icons, graphs, and timelines.
Create experiential learning opportunities by building in scenarios that apply to everyday life.
Add social elements, and help learners connect and communicate outside of the course to learn more about each other.
Incorporate different demographics into your content and ensure language translates to a global audience.
Experiment with different types of instructional methods that resonate with multi-generations.
“When you start thinking about new audiences, it may be overwhelming at first, but ultimately, it is incredibly rewarding to have this reach and your impact can be endless.”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion training resources
Ready to start exploring courses and learning paths that can help your team take the lead with diversity, equity, and inclusion? Here are some valuable next steps you can take:
Review new curated DEI training content from LinkedIn Learning
Explore varied course content tied to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Follow the learning path: Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging for All
- Follow the learning path: Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging for Leaders and Managers
Help your employees develop skills they can use right away.
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