It is very important for companies to have diversity and inclusion strategies.
Diversity training in organizations allow employees to enhance their knowledge and improve their skills which are both required for effective communication and organizational performance improvement. Diversity training enables employees to work together effectively to support the mission, vision and goals of an organization. Cultural diversity is an integral part of an organization's inclusion and diversity strategy.
Limitation of Liability
When organizations invest time and money in diversity training programs for their employees, the organizations minimize risks of sexual harassment issues, discrimination and other work-related issues. Programs that serve to improve communication among employees and improve employee knowledge of potential work-related risk are benefits of a diversity training program. Also, complaint audits--which serve to detect and resolve employee issues--are benefits to diversity training for employees.
Customer Satisfaction
PrismDiversity.com explains how approaches to increasing employee knowledge of culture and language differences in customer service enable employees to better serve customers. This type of diversity training increases employee understanding of barriers in customer service. Understanding these barriers enable employees and customers to communicate more effectively. It also enables employees to provide accurate information and accommodate customers in a respectful manner.
Global Expansion
Providing diversity training for employees presents an opportunity for an organization to grow globally. This may occur as employees are prepared to understand, analyze, manage, service and control multicultural relationships.
Success Indicators
Two Canadian diversity specialists, Glen and Helgi Eyford, have determined that if the following factors are considered normal in an organization, diversity training has been successful. The mere presentation of these factors are advantageous to an organization:
There is broad participation in effort among all workers.
The influence of diversity thinking is found in most programs, systems and activities.
Discussion of diversity issues is consistently held in both informal and formal groups.
People own the effort and create their own ways of using diversity.
The organization provides a budget, resources and learning opportunities for diversity strategies.
Employees recognize diverse needs and volunteer their own resources to accommodate the needs.
People model diversity thinking and behavior for each other rather than focusing on those who are unaware of organizational diversity policies and practices.
Improved Employee Retention
As employees are taught to manage conflict, to act proactively--integrating diversity resources in their daily thinking and activities, and to become leadership driven, they become more confident at work, their performance improves, and they become more satisfied about their workplace. Diversity training enables identification and elimination of the hidden assumptions that prevent the progression and retainment of diverse talent. An example of a hidden assumption involves white managers at a company who realized that they gave white employees more of a chance to prove themselves and make mistakes than minority employees. The managers gave better feedback to the white employees. Their final decision was to create a more inclusive workplace, allowing minorities to also prove themselves at work.
Tags: diversity training, become more, benefits diversity, benefits diversity training, customer service, diversity thinking