Tips on Training
There are an enormous number of different types of training and training vendors that can impact your diversity, equity and inclusion results. Here are some tips on using training in your organization.
- View training as support for your initiatives to improve DEI, not as the cure. Improving DEI results requires commitment from the top of the organization, and changing policies and processes to drive better results. Use training to help build commitment and support the changes being made in your organization. Using training as the solution to DEI does not work.
- Identify the problem you are trying to solve with your training. Measure the results and ROI and adjust from there. Without a clear idea of what you expect from your training, you will be unlikely to select the most useful training for your organization.
- If you are unsure what problem you are looking to solve, look to the playbook. Which area of the playbook is most daunting? Where are you having the biggest challenges? Use the data you are collecting (both in terms of employee demographics and surveys on employee inclusion/engagement) to determine the areas of greatest need. You might also want to refer to McKinsey's model on change management to identify where training is most needed.
- The training that may be most useful for your company may not be DEI specific training. Rather, manager training, training on interviewing and hiring, and/or building psychological safety might be more immediately important in your organization.
- Types of training that companies report needing include racial equity training, DEI training, management training, leadership training, change management and strategy. Improving racial equity requires changes in both understanding and processes throughout the organization, and training plans will need to recognize this.
- Build race awareness with implicit bias training and then racial equity training. Implicit bias training raises awareness of our uncounscious, racist biases. Racial equity training directly addresses how race impacts us and our relationships. Neither of these trainings are sufficent on their own, but will help the understanding needed to support better and more inclusive processes.
- Identify the appropriate locus of the training
- Leadership is critical to making change
- If leadership is not fully committed, start there. Provide leadership racial equity training, DEI business case and strategy training. Many leaders need to explore white fragility and how that impacts the organization and leadership.
- Is your leadership ready for challenging conversations and hearing uncomfortable truths? Too many leaders do not respond well to racial challenges. Consider emotional intelligence training.
- Consider management training. Most managers do not receive good training on how to deal with issues, manage a meeting or coach employees. Lack of skills in these areas can result in discriminatory outcomes.
- Regardless of the locus of training, leadership needs to be visible and loud in supporting the training.
- Leadership is critical to making change
- Evaluate the delivery of your training. How can you implement long lasting results?
- One-time seminars rarely produce lasting behaviorial changes. Consider trainings that meet over time, or form employee groups that check in over time to support each other in producing changes. Here's more information on retention (and this).
- Employee Resource Groups can be effective, and sending leaders of these groups to conference-based training can help build evangelism within your organization.
- Vet your potential training partner - Look for the right fit for your organization at this time - no one firm is the right answer for everyone. In addition to standard vendor evaluation questions (such as size of organizations worked with, experience in subject area, qualifications of the specific consultant), here are some tips for choosing training partners for work to support racial equity:
- DEI and racial equity should be part of the organization's identity and core to the work that the firm does. It should not be a "add-on" service.
- Look at the firm's mission and vision statements. DEI and racial equity should be incorporated in the firm's values.
- Directly ask about how the firm addresses race in their trainings. You want race, oppression and whiteness to be discussed explicitly. Look for training that explains how racism shows up. Race should be addressed even in trainings that are not specifically DEI and race equity training (for example, in management and leadership training).
- Ask about how the firm addresses intersectionality. This should be part of the program.
- Look for a systemic approach to addressing organizational transformation. Many training programs turn into "random acts of equity". If the training is not tied to organizational change, it can cause more harm than good.
- Check the trainer will be able to address your specific audience - will the trainer be able to include examples and metrics that will resonate with your employees.
- DEI and racial equity should be part of the organization's identity and core to the work that the firm does. It should not be a "add-on" service.