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Workplace Sensitivity Training Made Easier
Studies show that cultural sensitivity training usually fails to make a long-term impact in workplaces. Online learning platforms can change that.
Providing workplace sensitivity training that actually makes a difference is notoriously difficult. Luckily, emerging technologies such as online learning platforms can help learning and development (L&D) leaders not only address these challenges, but also define and execute more effective processes that enable long-term cultural change.
To understand how you can build a better workplace sensitivity training program, learn what’s holding back most DEI initiatives right now and unpack how to create a new process that addresses these barriers.
What is holding back workplace sensitivity training?
Research finds that there are three major issues holding back most workplace sensitivity training programs from achieving the desired results.
1. Companies aren’t committing to it in the long term
A 2019 study found that many workplace sensitivity training initiatives were ineffective because workplaces tended to favor short, one-shot solutions that can be quickly completed and “the requisite diversity boxes ticked.”
This study, and several others reported on by the BBC, found that such ephemeral one-off training not only fails to provide lasting improvements, but can actually make stereotypes more prevalent in the minds of employees.
Sources: BMC Psychology, BBC
2. Employees are pushing back against it
According to a recent report by Gartner:
- 44% of employees say a growing number of their colleagues feel alienated by DEI efforts
- 42% report their peers view their organization’s DEI efforts as divisive
- 42% even report their peers “resent” DEI efforts
Per this report, DEI pushback comes from two places:
- Threat to individual identity: the individual feels personally shamed or blamed for DEI challenges.
- Threat to social identity: Employees feel unfairly targeted
Source: “How to Navigate Pushback to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts,” Gartner
3. L&D isn’t taking a leading role
According to the 2022 and 2023 Workplace Learning Reports, L&D has yet to take a substantial leading role in developing workplace sensitivity training:
- Only 45% of L&D professionals actually had plans to implement DEI programs in 2022.
- Only 55% of L&D pros say they own or share ownership for DEI programs.
How to make cultural sensitivity training more effective in your organization
Improving the long-term effectiveness of your workplace sensitivity training requires addressing all three of the issues above. Your DEI programs must:
- Remain an ongoing, long-term commitment
- Avoid making particular individuals or groups feel judged or persecuted
- Be led in a planned, sustainable way by L&D professionals
A program facilitated by an online learning platform can help you achieve all three of these goals at once.
What your workplace sensitivity training program needs and how to get it
This six-step process makes it surprisingly easy to build the workplace sensitivity training program you need to see real results — and to foster the kind of workplace culture that ensures those results take root permanently.
Step 1: Gain leadership buy-in and build leadership DEI skills
Getting the enthusiastic buy-in of your leadership is crucial for both acquiring the resources you need to implement your initiatives in the long-term and demonstrating the importance of these initiatives throughout the organization.
How LinkedIn Learning can help:
This eight-course LinkedIn Learning path is designed to provide leaders with an understanding of the true importance of workplace sensitivity training and the skills to advocate for it effectively.
Other helpful courses:
Step 2: Sow the seeds of a DEI culture
If you really want your workplace sensitivity training to take root, you have to proactively foster a workplace culture that understands and enthusiastically embraces its importance. Framing DEI as culturally and strategically crucial will help secure employee buy-in and prevent feelings of resentment.
How LinkedIn Learning can help:
This six-course learning path is designed to help L&D professionals take active steps toward developing a work culture that celebrates diversity and actively works toward cross-cultural allyship and collaboration.
Other helpful courses:
Step 3: Begin building the skills
When offering workplace sensitivity training courses to employees, focus on training practical skills and mindsets that will help employees rethink how they approach their work and workplace on a day-to-day basis.
How LinkedIn Learning can help:
With courses including Inclusive Mindset, Unlocking Authentic Communication in a Culturally Diverse Workplace, and Confronting Bias: Thriving Across Our Differences, this seven-course learning path focuses on teaching the practical skills that make true workplace sensitivity possible.
Other helpful courses:
Step 4: Account for all aspects of diversity
Develop an awareness, acceptance, and sensitivity toward all forms of diversity, including race, gender, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, ability diversity, and more.
How LinkedIn Learning can help:
These courses address many areas of the diversity spectrum with an emphasis on becoming an ally to all.
Courses:
Step 5: Formalize a process for accountability
Develop ways to continuously monitor and measure your progress and use them throughout the training process.
How LinkedIn Learning can help:
This learning path focuses on ways in which HR professionals and leaders can develop measurably inclusive employee experiences by revisiting processes such as hiring, performance reviews, and more.
Courses:
Step 6: Never stop improving
Commit to workplace sensitivity training initiatives in perpetuity. Continue to set DEI goals and monitor your program’s effectiveness, and never stop advocating for greater diversity, equity, and belonging in your workplace.
How LinkedIn Learning can help:
This six-course learning path is a great resource for any professional, regardless of role or level, who wants to lead the charge in making their organization a more inclusive place.
Courses:
LinkedIn Learning makes workplace sensitivity training easier
LinkedIn Learning can provide expert-taught courses on all the subjects you need to cover, which your employees will be able to access any time they want. Your L&D leadership can even monitor course participation and progress toward goals right from the LinkedIn Learning platform hub, making measurement and progress evaluation easier than ever.
Explore the full library of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) content on LinkedIn Learning.
Help your employees develop skills they can use right away.
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