1. Diversity Training: What impact does it have on organizational
performance?
Luvon Hudson
Department of Training and Development, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
Introduction Materials and methods Benefits of Diversity Training Best Practices
Cultures shape expectations for most interactions including A study is illustrated below to show individual opinions of what is Engage the participants and push them out of their comfort
Diversity training varies from one organization to the next but
training events. To maximize training effectiveness in other important when considering diversity for an organization. The zone, forcing them to think about things in a different way.
can be defined as raising personal awareness about individual
cultures, trainers need to understand how cultural results are taken from 2010 Society for Human Resource The diversity program should be practical and "real world"
differences in the workplace and how those differences inhibit
differences may affect the expectations of their audiences. Management Workplace Diversity Practices study of 402 of its focused. It should unify the participants with a positive tone,
or enhance the way people work together and get work done.
members with 367 members answering the question (Henneman, not create an "us" against "them" mentality.
Diversity training emerged during the 1980s to ‘‘help businesses
To achieve that understanding, intercultural trainers bring 2011). Tailor training toward reaching cultural competency, to
turn diversity into an asset and to combat the racism, sexism,
four important components to diversity training: culture, Using a Likert Scale the results showed what participants valued as address the current needs of your employees.
and intergroup conflict being experienced in the workplace’’
behavior, perception, and communication. These four being “Very Important” in terms of: Leadership involvement in the direction of organization's
(Fowler, 2005, p. 401).
components comprise the main strengths that diversity Improved public image of the organization 76% cultural competence strategy helps employees hone their skills
Cultures are one of the many categories of diversity. Cultural
training receives from intercultural training. Over the years, Improved financial bottom line 72% on specific points of emphasis.
differences shape our understanding of education, teaching,
intercultural trainers have honed their skills by using Increased organizational competitiveness 71% Metrics should be used to gauge the effectiveness of the
critical thinking, and peer learning.
various training methods to address the main concerns of Decreased complaints and litigation 69% cultural intelligence strategy in order to continually improve
To maximize training effectiveness in other cultures, trainers
each element( Fowler, 2005, p. 405). Retention of a diverse workforce 69% elements of the overarching program (Gupta, 2009, p. 12).
need to understand how cultural differences may affect the
Recruitment of a diverse workforce 66%
expectations of their audiences. Most organizations today are
multi/intercultural and therefore training must be delivered in a
way to accommodate the variations in cultural expectations.
Figure 4. Diversity Model
http://www.eclipseadvantage.com/eclipseadvantage.asp?id=120
Figure 1. The many categories of
diversity that organizations must
consider when delivering training.
Conclusion
The diversity setting is always changing as companies have to
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/crosb002/leadership/2008/03/egodigwe_diversity_training.php
deal with different challenges. Most organizations today are
tasked with becoming more culturally aware and diversifying
on global scales. Therefore, the trends require diversity training
Figure 2. The rationale for working on the cultural component in Figure 3. 2010 Study conducted to address and understand how national culture and individual
diversity training is that the trainer can use context—the by SHRM Workplace Diversity differences could affect organizations members’ behaviors.
circumstances surrounding an act or event—to help people Practices Group.
(indicating that culture is contextually based).
Three Fundamental Goals of The research conducted revealed that organizational culture
and training and development programs are inseparably
Diversity Training linked. The culture of an organization molds and shapes
2.Comprehending Cultural Awareness through Diversity Results Why Implement Diversity programs such as diversity training which produces a positive
Training relationship between some HRD practices such as learning
Possible methods examined include highly tailored cross-cultural
3.Improving Organizational Behavior (Changing Attitudes and
curricula, virtual training, global leadership programs, Training? and training and organizational values of collaboration,
Perceptions of Individual Differences in Organizations) The number of women, Asian Americans, African Americans, creativity, quality, delegation, and humane treatment.
international team building exercises, and knowledge
4.Optimizing Organizational Performance and Hispanic workers are growing faster than the number of
management systems to maximize organizational performance.
white male workers
The purpose of this research was to reveal the effects that diversity Lower birth rates in the U.S. will result in a smaller labor force
Training Design leading to outsourcing to firms in developing nations
Diversity training design need to focus on incorporating has on improving multinational team performance. The aim is to
Median age of America’s workforce is increasing
methods to include: discuss whether diversity and cultural conceptualizations can
70% of workers between the ages of 45 and 74 intend to work in
Works Cited
explain organizational behavior and to discuss tactics to enhance
teaching and learning in multinational environments. retirement (philadelphia.edu.jo). (2009). Managing the diverse workforce. Retrieved March 13, 2012
oDirect Intergroup Contact: Proposes that prejudice can be
from www.philadelphia.edu.jo/academics/ksartawi/uploads/Principles8.ppt
reduced by increasing contact between groups.
The results are highlighted as: Fowler, S. M. (2005).Training across cultures: What intercultural
oPromoting Social Learning: Considers that people learn from •Benefits of Diversity Training trainers bring to diversity training. International Journal of
•Why Implement Diversity Training Intercultural Relations 30 (2006): 401–411.
one another, including such concepts as observational learning,
•What are the Best Practices for Trainers as they implement Gupta, S. R. (2009). Training Soapbox: Achieve Cultural Competency.
imitation, and modeling.
Diversity Training Training 46 (3): 12
oSocial Re-Categorization: Considers that people learn from Henneman, T. (2011). Making the pieces fit. Workforce Management
Key findings are presented to show statistical data that supports 90 (8).
one another, including such concepts as observational learning,
imitation, and modeling. the need of understanding diversity to increase both
organizational success and suggestions for achieving optional
oCognitive Interventions: Let people know that their own results when faced with diverse audiences while training is
outcomes depend on another’s performance and it is important implemented. For further information
that they form an accurate impression of other. Please contact lmhudson@ncsu.edu.