Diversity And Inclusion Workshops: 7 Important Topics To Be Discussed

A diversity and inclusion workshop refers to a comprehensive training program that strives to introduce concepts of diversity and inclusion in an organization. The demand for this kind of program has seen a dramatic rise as there is an inflow of ethnic and racial diversity in the current work culture. 

In addition, the structure of a comprehensive diversity workshop gets carried out in a manner that will offer the advantages of building an inclusive workspace. A typical diversity and inclusion training workshop educates workers to operate alongside co-workers of diverse races, capabilities, or backgrounds. It concerns helping attendees achieve and execute the right mindset regarding amiability in the organization.

These workshops are not only limited to increasing awareness about various topics. But also, they assist people in implementing specific behavior adaptations that may positively benefit future relations with co-workers. 

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.

Why is Conducting Diversity and Inclusion Workshops Essential in Today’s Workplace?

The trait of most modern organizations concerns two fundamental aspects. The primary is the number of people working concurrently, and the other is the diversity in the team. These aspects are a product of years of cooperation and integration between entirely different people, either biologically or culturally. 

However, conflicts might arise between the employees for various reasons, leading to a toxic organizational environment. Some of the top reasons why diversity and inclusion workshops are crucial for every modern workplace are as follows:

• Ignorance: One of the most pressing problems that arise is the lack of understanding amongst your workforce about their co-workers coming from different backgrounds or cultures. This unfamiliarity can lead to prejudice or harassment in the workplace. 

• Reduced productivity: Inability to work together results in the overall reduction in the productivity and efficiency of any workforce. It is especially apparent whether the employees are brainstorming on a group assignment or are required to forward details between departments. 

• Short tenures: The less-than-perfect work conditions will lead to many workers deciding to leave. These short terms will perhaps harm the company and its reputation.

• Unfavorable reputation: Another drawback of not including diversity and training workshops is that the bad incidents that workers go through will become public. Other people will refrain from joining the business due to this reputation.

Features of Diversity and Inclusion Training Workshops 

Diversity and inclusion training workshops involve the following features to counter the several problems mentioned above:

• Cultural sensitivities

Since organizations interact with diverse nationalities due to increasing globalization, they must remain capable of having favorable experiences with any person. Thus, the topic on which they should focus is to educate a person on the cultural complexities at a base level. 

It implies that the workers can refrain from making rash judgments regarding the person's ethnicity. In addition to this, it will guarantee that employees can communicate with fellow workers better, understanding a little about their backgrounds. 

• Inclusion

Adding inclusion topics in diversity and inclusion workshops teaches us to look beyond ethnicities, races, orientations and perform together in close harmony.

A business can work well to put aside any preconceived ideas or biases and strive towards including all kinds of people in their functions. An inclusive workspace will need all the workers to make comparable efforts to unify the group and overcome specific boundaries. 

• Unconscious bias

It concerns looking beyond the prejudices based on stereotypes that pertain to religion, race, or orientation. In fact, it can contribute a lot to the organization as these stereotypes always tend to hold an unfavorable sense. 

• Ethical practices

Diversity and inclusion workshops likewise lead to general workplace conduct. Also, you can learn to be considerate to not only fellow workers but also clients with ethical practices. It conveys awareness regarding specific topics like conscious favoritism and bullying to lower the odds. In general, diversity and inclusion workshops will draft model workplace conduct so that an employee can follow suit. 

• Anti-Ageism

It is also known as general diversity and inclusion. In fact, it involves defining the suitable way to approach a more senior co-worker. In addition, treating them with consideration and post-program communication with an older colleague can be diverse in comparison to others. 

Thus, the diversity and inclusion workshops make it a point to make workers aware of circumstances or language that might impact an older co-worker. 

Some Topics Discussed in Diversity and Inclusion Workshops

A comprehensive diversity and inclusion workshop will comprise a variety of topics to give a worker a better picture of perfect workplace conduct. Nevertheless, most workshops exclude issues like sexual harassment, discrimination, and other typical topics.

Hence the topics covered in a specific diversity workshop comprise: 

• International inclusion: This topic in a diversity and inclusion workshop includes action-based schedules that will end in favorable differences in your workplace. In other terms, it traces the measures that an employee will have to place in an inclusive workplace.

• Microaggressions: Microaggressions refer to the improper action targeted at marginalized individuals. In addition, these tend to go overlooked by HR experts if they do not get trained appropriately. 

• Racism: Even when your company's racist elements might get eliminated, there are still subtle remains left. Therefore, diversity and inclusion workshops will make the workers aware of these remnants. 

• Common stereotypes: The existence of stereotypes is nuanced, but it has ongoing implications in the workplace. The diversity and inclusion workshop will further educate on possible stereotypes that a person may have and assist in breaking them down.

• Implicit bias: Implicit prejudice refers to the preconceived notion that a person may have towards another worker for the natural traits they possess. The existence of unconscious prejudice in the workplace can be harmful to the organization’s harmony. 

• Culture diversity: One of the primary objectives of the diversity and inclusion workshop is to enlighten workers about other cultures. It can assist in reducing biases and make workers have an open mind to the cultures they remain exposed to in a workplace. 

• Bystander Intervention: Bystander intervention training is assisting co-workers in controlling or interfering in circumstances that depict improper conduct. It can significantly add to the decrease in sexual harassment. 

Advantages of Conducting Diversity and Inclusion Workshop 

From building a more welcoming environment to general business growth, a diversity and inclusion workshop can do a fantastic deal for a business if executed correctly. Here are some advantages of diversity and inclusion workshops.

• Diverse perspective: The most apparent advantage is the growth in innovation. A business maintaining a diverse workforce remains adept at obtaining different viewpoints. These perspectives can lead to more profitable decisions and more practical business processes.

• More hiring opportunities: Another benefit is the upsurge in talent. If specific rights are given to distinctive groups while employing, it can considerably reduce the number of qualified candidates for the job. Thus, it is necessary to let go of all kinds of prejudices, especially unconscious ones, when it comes to hiring.

The Bottom Line 

The primary purpose of diversity and inclusion workshops must concentrate on the workers as human beings and not as mere employees. Therefore, business owners need not consider diversity workshops as a challenging directive put forth by the government. Instead, these diversity and inclusion workshops make employees more productive in a safe working environment and feel welcomed.