Free Diversity And Inclusion Training Courses: 8 to Consider

Diversity and inclusion are essential in business as there are a variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures who provide us with a balance of voices and diversity.

Here are some free DEI courses you can take:

1. University of Pennsylvania
2. University of Virginia
3. ESSEC Business School
4. University of Pittsburgh
5. Purdue
6. Udemy
7. LinkedIn Learning
8. Future Learn

If you are looking for modern diversity training that is used by companies such as Blackberry and Stanford University to help build empathy through narrative storytelling while using effective tactics to reduce social and psychological barriers to inclusion, equity, and diversity, contact Impactly today for a free demo.

How to make diversity and inclusion training more effective? 

• Hire Experts 

Just like we hire experts for the accounting department, one should hire an expert in diversity and inclusion who works with the organization and tailors the program according to the organization's requirements. Obviously, there will be several challenges like geographic location, demographics of the company, industry, and many more.

• Offer Flexible Training

As more companies face reality, the one-time sessions do not deliver lasting results. Giving all the information in one go will not help the employers or employees. Instead, breaking down the course into small chunks has several benefits, like it helps employees take a break from work for a few minutes rather than hours, it helps trainees retain information better. This way, administrators can have different approaches to various issues at different times. Along with it, there are several firms that offer these training online via webinars, courses, and even one-on-one coaching.

• Long Term Solutions 

To avoid a more diverse and inclusive company and avoid negative publicity, the company should focus on the long-term plans and find solutions. It is not advisable to find short-term solutions. Because then the employees will forget everything they learned in the program and neglect any sort of discrimination that is happening in the workplace. 

• Lead by Example 

When the employees receive mail regarding any links to diversity and inclusion training, they think it is just another corporate training exercise and not something serious. If the message comes from Human Resources, it will be important but not as impactful as a message from the CEO.

A small video or an in-person speech from the CEO or any influential leader will set the right tone for the rest of the course. They should not explain why they have certain rules just because the law says so; instead, it is the company's foundation and what they believe in. 

• Setting Clear Goals 

It is necessary that you are clear about what you want. It is useless to say that you want to promote diversity in your organization but don't know how to do it. You need to make sure that the diversity and inclusion training provided in your company matches your foundation and your goals.

• Be Patient 

As mentioned earlier, diversity and inclusion training can not be done in one day. These are learned over time, and they will not go away in a day. It is important to be patient with the employees and the leaders as it will take time for the results to be visible. 

Benefits of Diversity and Inclusion Training 

• Better Educated Staff

The most fundamental goal of this training is to inform and educate employees, enhance their cultural awareness, and teach them the skills necessary to cooperate with others and be successful.

• A Bigger Talent Pool

It isn't easy to find the right people who possess the necessary personality, skills, and motivation to do the job effectively. Eliminating potential hires due to factors such as gender, background or religion drastically decreases the number of available candidates. So having diverse and inclusive staff helps a lot. 

• Higher Creative Potential

Bringing employees together with diverse backgrounds allows for the inclusion of different perspectives that would otherwise have been ignored. This augments the creative potential of the organization.

• Better Decision Making

Diversity among your employees ensures a wide range of points of view and experiences, allowing everyone to make their own contribution to decision-making.

• Reduce Workplace Harassment

Teaching employees to be aware of their behavior and how it impacts others helps in preventing the occurrence of harassment and conflict.

Importance of Diversity and Inclusion Training 

Do not underestimate the need for diversity and inclusion in a workplace. There can be unconscious bias going on when the communication is not smooth. This is the main reason why people used to hire people with similar backgrounds. There are multiple reports showing the company, which is diverse and inclusive, delivers more profit and long-term value.

The chances of out-performance of the company increase, and there is a wider range of experience from diverse and inclusive people. When there is diversity in the workplace, it becomes easy to gather opinions from different groups. Thus, diversity and inclusion go hand-in-hand. 

There are chances of unconscious biases when there is only diversity and no inclusion. There might be a slight bit of racial discrimination or maybe bias about sexual orientation. 

For instance, the head of the department might assign extra work to the men of the department because they can work late at night and assume that all the females have to go home and cook food. This is why it is important to have diversity and inclusion training to improve relationships between coworkers. Nobody would like to stay in an environment where they are not welcomed, and the employers can not do anything to retain them in the firm. 

Crafting an Effective Diversity and Inclusion Training Program

When things are done right, diversity training can make employees feel happy and valued, promoting equality throughout the workplace. A happy workplace is highly productive. Therefore, creating an effective diversity training program can help dictate the organization's growth.

•  Developing a Clear Understanding of Training

The first step towards developing an effective diversity training program is to establish a clear, detailed definition of what the training program should contain. A clear path should be provided to employees to engage in respectful and positive interactions. Diversity training programs should address a wide range of issues and embrace different perspectives. 

• Creating Common Goals & Confronting Unconscious Bias

Putting out common goals is the best way to strengthen the bond between employees. Everyone has some unconscious biases towards certain things or people; it is important to spread awareness and help them take steps towards it, grow beyond these biases, and perform like a team. 

• Making Diversity Training a Continuous Learning Process

For diversity training to be impactful, it should be delivered over a period of time. It cannot be just an annual event. Instead, it should be a series of programs, events, mentoring sessions, and online training modules for continuous learning. It should be impactful. 

•  Develop a Tailored Diversity Training Program

Firms can not take a one-size-fits-all approach to their diversity training program. It should be tailored according to the diversity training objectives and inclusion challenges of each firm. You can tailor a training program for your firm through research and data analysis. The training modules should highlight data and examples related to your firm. 

In a nutshell 

There are a lot of benefits of diversity and inclusion training. It significantly helps the organization improve in various ways. Everyone is built differently, so is their learning style. Providing a wide range of education which involves speech, videos, activities, etc., can help everyone understand the importance of the training.