Diversity training creates awareness of the differences in the workforce in order to increase team cohesion. The goal is to facilitate positive interactions while reducing prejudice and discrimination. Teaching employees to embrace coworkers of diverse cultures and backgrounds helps them feel secure in the work environment. It raises awareness of unconscious bias, how an employee’s actions may unintentionally offend a coworker, and how a supportive workplace encourages everyone to contribute to business growth. These are reasons why managers need to participate in diversity training.
These are some areas of diversity training that your managers should be trained in.
Targeted Recruitment
Training managers to attract diverse candidates to job openings increases diversity in your organization. This is why actively seeking applicants in cultural groups that need greater representation in your company is important. The more targeted managers are when hiring, the more diverse employees you will have in managerial roles in the coming years.
Diverse Mentorship
Having managers match diverse mentors and mentees enhance career development within your organization. Creating these partnerships fosters internal growth while achieving diversity in your workforce. This is especially important for advancing women and people of color into managerial roles.
Workplace Sensitivity
Managers must understand how one employee’s actions can unintentionally offend another. They can use this information to promote awareness of others’ differences and comfort levels. Understanding how one’s attitudes and behaviors can hurt their coworkers improves teamwork and decision-making. Being sensitive to personal behavior also helps prevent discrimination and harassment.
Unconscious Bias
Management should understand hidden associations or feelings of bias that may exist in an employee’s mind. Because these biases do not necessarily align with a person’s conscious beliefs, they are especially important to talk about. Managers can help their team understand how coworkers may be impacted by unconscious bias and actions that continue to reinforce these biases. They also can encourage employees to review and question their own unconscious biases in order to treat coworkers equally.
Measured Success
Managers need to know how their success will be measured when reaching their diversity goals. Clear targets and a system to monitor progress must be in place to increase motivation and urgency in attaining these objectives. Holding managers accountable for their actions encourages them to make decisions that align with the company’s diversity initiatives.
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