avoid the common traps of diversity training

Jarik Conrad

ne of the most dreaded

phrases in Corporate
America is diversity training.
Peoples eyes start to roll and they
squirm in their seats at the demand,
or mere suggestion, they attend. I
have already had that before, is a
typical reaction. They desperately
search to fill their calendars with
other responsibilities so they can
miss the class. In response, trainers
counter by giving the training fancy
names like inclusion or cultural
competence training, but when
people realize this is simply a code
name for diversity training, they
still react unfavorably.
While this response is
disheartening, it is quite
understandable. Much of what
organizations offer has been, at
best, boring and unhelpful;
damaging at worst. Effective

diversity training challenges not only

the participants, but the trainers as
well. It can be difficult for trainers
to present information objectively,
because they often struggle with
some of the same issues they are
trying to address. It is sometimes
evident in their body language,
attitude and tone that they, too, have
challenges understanding human
dynamics.
While there are many approaches
to developing and delivering
effective diversity training, the first
step for organizational leaders and
individuals responsible for the
training should be to avoid the most
common pitfalls.
Too Little Focus on the Impact
of Emotions: Failure to consider the
role of emotions in recognizing and
understanding relevant cultural

differences is a common, costly

mistake. Emotions shape our
perspectives and distort our ability
to analyze information accurately.
In other words, they convert the
objective to the subjective. Any
training that does not acknowledge
and identify the emotional
framework under girding issues is
useless.
Failure to Engage White Males:
Many White males dont consider
themselves to have a culture, so
when they hear talk of cultural
issues, they tend to think of other
groups. Some diversity trainers
have perpetuated this fallacy by
consciously or subconsciously
presenting diversity as other than
the White and male. For instance,
they often refer to protected
classes as including other racial

groups and women, while the civil

rights laws actually address race
and gender. In other words, a man
cannot be fired for being a man,
and a White person cannot be
fired for being a White person.
They are, therefore, protected.
In fact, consider other protected
categories that white males could
potentially belong toveterans,
the disabled and people over 40
years old. White males are truly
diverse.
Lack of a Compelling Business
Case: It is true that diversity
training doesnt always guarantee
exceptional business results.
However, nothing in business is
guaranteed. The ability to attract
and retain the best available
talent, and the ability to
understand and react to an
increasingly diverse customer base
is just the beginning of where
diversity training can make an
organization stronger.
Compliance Driven: Check-thebox training undermines the
whole concept of diversity. If
managers are implementing such
programs just because they have
been directed to do so, they are
likely to implement them
incorrectly, which will cause all
sorts of problems. When things do
not go right, people who say the
organization didnt need those
programs anyway would feel
reinforced in their beliefs. If
someone does something just
because you tell them to, in their
haste to just get it done, they
might miss opportunities to

10

explore creative, innovative

approaches beyond what they are
directed to do in order to achieve
the desired results.
Too Much Focus on Helping
Whites Underst and the
Challenges of Others: All too
often, the conscious or
subconscious approach taken by
human resources personnel,
consultants and trainers is the
idea of fixing White people.
Whites are far from the only
group struggling to understand
and embrace diversity. In fact,
not only do groups have difficulty
understanding other groups,
they often struggle with the
diversity within their own groups
as well.
Lack of Engagement from All
Levels of Management: Having
senior level management buy-in
for diversity initiatives is crucial.
The senior level sets the vision
and determines the priorities for
the organization. But they need
to walk the talk as well. In
other words, instead of
purchasing tables at the local
Martin Luther King Jr.
celebration and sending
members of the companys
diversity councils, they need to
show up themselves. While
senior
management
commitment is essential, many
of the day-to-day decisions
around hiring, training and
career development actually
happen at lower levels in
organizations. In fact, the firstline and middle-management

teams are often the main people

threatened by diversity efforts.
Reactive, Not Proactive: It is
common for organizations to
introduce these initiatives when
there have been complaints.
After someone has threatened
litigation is far too late in the
game to start thinking about a
diversity initiative. As with any
potential source of competitive
advantage, those who are ahead
of the curve with diversity have
a better chance of reaping the
rewards faster. Being reactive
with training and slow on
implementation is the perfect
recipe for never reaching the
ultimate goal.
Failure to Make Difficult
Decisions: Everything in this
article hinges on one thing: what
leaders do when times get tough.
What do you do if your top
salesperson has made some
culturally insensitive remarks?
What if a customer tells you he
does not like to work with
women? What if one of your
direct reports goes on vacation
as Michael and returns in two
weeks as Michelle? How leaders
handle these issues will make all
of the difference between success
and failure of any diversity
training initiative.
On top of avoiding these
common pitfalls, individuals
responsible for the training must
consider how it will be
communicated
to
the
organization, what goals will be

established by what timeframes, and

how progress will be measured. In
other words, the training must be
deliberate and strategic.
SV

As president of Conrad
Consulting Group, LLC, Jarik
Conrad helps leaders solve human
relations challenges. He is the
author of the newly released book,
The Fragile Mind, which
explores emotional intelligence,
race relations and urban violence.
Jarik has more than 15 years in
business leadership in various
industries including financial
services and transportation. He
earned his Ed.D. from the
University of North Florida, dual
masters degrees from Cornell
University and his BA from the
University of Illinois.

11

Copyright of Supervision is the property of National Research Bureau and its content may not
be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.