What are the best ways to include diversity in employee engagement training?

FGDs, surveys and one to one discussions are a great way to study and understand the expectations of employees, their attitudes and perspectives. This helps in identifying the problem areas and gaps which can be further used as the basis for curating the employee engagement training.

Countries like India, by default you see diversity in organisations , you dont have to put efforts, but diversity means different thing for different orgs, you need to be clear of what you want from this area. Once you have clarity, including diversity in employee engagement training is not a tough task.

Incorporating diversity into employee engagement training is crucial for creating an inclusive workplace. Ensure that leadership is committed to diversity and inclusion. Their support and involvement will set the tone for the entire organization. Conduct an assessment of your organization's current diversity and inclusion practices. This will help identify areas that need improvement. Customize your training programs to address the specific needs and challenges of your workforce. Recognize that different groups may have different experiences and concerns. Provide training that helps employees understand different cultures, customs & communication styles. This can reduce misunderstandings and foster better relationships among colleagues.

DEI needs to be about data in addition to intention, emotion and action. Convert data into meaningful insights and to assess your current state ( before you design any training) do this: ? Study your diversity data - demographics, gender, age, communities, etc ? Study where you see patterns - chances are your diversity numbers are skewed around lower and mid levels (unless the organisations has consciously address diversity and inclusion efforts and has goals on it) ? Capture the employee sentiment - what are their needs, how do they perceive their work environment, policies, practices and support systems ? Check what's happening with peer companies

This is key. Not understanding diversity and inclusion is a sign you're not understanding your engagement goals. Ie how can you train on employee engagement if you don't know what that training solves? Confirm is it to improve: diversity, inclusion, buy-in to your goals, and where and why employees may not be engaged. Tailor your training with that knowledge and ensure who you're training know that goal.

Firstly, raising one's own self awareness to how they act in a way that promotes inclusion, whether it's embracing curiosity (not judgement), or being curious about one's lived experiences. It's important in such training to illuminate the different expectation, needs and set of experience different people go through, and needless to say - how each and every member in the team in fact contributes to diversity. So we would probably want people to 1. Embrace curiosity about others' lived experience. 2. Create foundations for discussions through safe space and fostering psychological safety. 3.discussing experiences at work that might impact my sense of feeling safe or included and how we can, together mitigate them

Think about your company goals - If you understand for what reason employees aren't engaged, and understand what 'good' looks like with the training outcomes (in line with these goals), you're on to a winner ??

When an employee is being welcomed to an organization during onboarding, the company's mission, vision, and values are always highlighted as a topic on the agenda. Diversity, equity and inclusion deserve that same main stage and should be at the forefront of any organization's values.

Part of diversity is understanding and celebrating that everyone learns differently. By diversifying methods and acknowledging different learning preferences, training becomes more inclusive and effective for everyone. 1. Blended Learning- Combine in-person and digital methods to suit different learning styles - visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. 2. Interactive Sessions- Use workshops and discussions to foster understanding of diverse perspectives. 3. Customizable Materials- Offer training content with adjustable features like language and captioned videos. 4.Inclusive Content- Ensure materials reflect a range of cultures and experiences, promoting broader understanding.

To include diversity in employee engagement training, invite guest speakers from varied backgrounds to enrich learning with unique perspectives. Form a diverse training team representing different cultures, genders, cognitive diversity and ages for a broader viewpoint. Use real-world scenarios in training to foster empathy and understanding of diverse perspectives. Encourage collaborative learning, where employees from varied backgrounds work together, promoting mutual respect. Regularly seek employee feedback to ensure training remains relevant and inclusive, adapting content as needed. This approach makes training more comprehensive and respectful of all employees' experiences.

I'm not sure if the delivery of training requires diversity, providing the content and considerations within the training ensures that the whole workforce are considered with engagement, including but not limited to diversity. Not saying it's not a good idea, but not as important as the content itself.

Create a safe space for employees to contribute, sensitivity training can support in achieving this. List behaviours which are non negotiable for the organization. Call out behaviours which are supportive and coach/mentor employees where behaviours are less than desirable. Identify employee champions who role model the desired behaviours and have them lead engagement activities.

? Ensure you have goals before delivering training. ? Keep the training up to date. ? Get feedback when you deliver. ? Refresher training - if required - particularly depending on the difference it has made and if that difference is tapering off.

Employee engagement training should incorporate diverse perspectives. To ensure alignment with a varied workforce, it is crucial to update this training regularly. Conducting engagement questionnaires regularly can provide insights, highlighting successes and areas that need refinement. The Big Five Personality Questionnaire can offer insights into employees' learning preferences, while demographic surveys can reveal their backgrounds. Recognizing different learning styles, such as visual aids or hands-on activities, can enhance the efficacy of the training. It is also essential to continuously collect and analyze feedback to ensure an adaptive and inclusive training methodology.

Enhance employee engagement training by integrating diverse perspectives and voices into content and discussions, fostering inclusivity and understanding among participants. Utilize AI-driven insights and tap into the diverse knowledge pool of the LinkedIn community to continually evolve training approaches, ensuring relevance and effectiveness in addressing diversity and inclusion.

We as experienced senior professionals know that making diversity a part of employee training needs a well-rounded plan. Hence we stress on how important it is for the leaders to support and show that diversity matters. It is also suggested to have programs where experienced employees can help and support newer ones from different backgrounds. Wherein experts understand that training should always adapt to handle new diversity issues and help everyone understand different cultures. It is also recommended using real examples and interactive activities to make the training more practical. We believe that diversity should be a part of everything the company does, not just a separate training from hiring new people to everyday work.

There is lots of recent articles and research starting to suggest that companies who are focusing on diversity are having the opposite effect. Does DE&I need to evolve? We are talking more about Belonging which gives a slightly different dimension to the classic DE&I knowledge and especially educating people. Looking at the whole human being and making sure we create a space where they can be their true authentic selves and feel like they belong allows us to be more expansive and adds freshness to our content

Saturation is required, if you have a culture that is resistant to acknowledging or welcoming diversity. Every element of your engagement strategy should actively attend to the diversity of the group, ideally, with the inbuilt assumption that your employee group will be fully representative of the community. There’s power and impact in designing systems, communication and culture with an inbuilt expectation that people from diverse backgrounds and experiences will be a part of the organisation, because the message that sends is that they were expected, considered and welcomed.