Diversity Training

Many organizations offer some form of diversity training to employees. Training may span a wide variety of formats (e.g., lectures, workshops, and digital courses) and cover a wide variety of topics, such as:

• Raising awareness of and disrupting certain forms of bias, including racism, sexism, and ableism;

• Teaching skills for specific situations, such as how to conduct an inclusive recruitment process;

• Offering tools for contributing to a more diverse and inclusive workplace overall, such as how to be an effective ally, how to engage in cross-cultural communication, and how to manage a diverse team.

Diversity training can be distinguished from compliance training, which teaches employees how to avoid acts of illegal discrimination, bullying, or harassment. Diversity training is about building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace culture above and beyond what the law requires.

In the vast majority of cases, conducting diversity training is perfectly legal, even if the training is mandatory and even if some employees disagree with its contents. In fact, a well-executed diversity training program can reduce legal risk by teaching employees and leaders how to cultivate a respectful workplace.

Best practices for designing diversity training while minimizing legal risk include:

• Make sure concepts used in the training are clearly defined and explained so that it is harder for participants to misinterpret or distort the material;

• Avoid using disparaging or essentialist language about any demographic group;

• Encourage respectful disagreement with the training content;

• Ensure the training emphasizes the importance of creating an inclusive and harassment-free workplace for everyone in the organization.