Incorporating both formal and informal learning and development strategies can be highly effective in supporting knowledge around Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) and driving the necessary culture and behaviour change within your business. Achieving this can be done through:
Develop comprehensive training programmes that cover such topics as unconscious bias, microaggressions, privilege and intersectionality. These programmes can be conducted through workshops, seminars, webinars and e-learning modules.
Offer workshops that focus on the understanding of different cultures, religions and backgrounds. These workshops can help employees develop empathy and awareness.
Include ED&I components in leadership training to ensure leaders are equipped to drive culture change, create inclusive teams and model desired behaviours.
Make certain aspects of ED&I training mandatory for all employees to ensure a baseline understanding across the organisation.
Regularly assess the impact of your learning initiatives. Gather feedback from employees to understand their experiences and tailor areas for improvement.
Encourage employees to share personal stories that relate to ED&I and culture change. This humanises the concept and makes them more relatable.
Incorporate ED&I themes into everyday communication, meetings and discussions to reinforce learning and remind employees of the desired culture and behaviour.
Ensure that senior leaders actively participate in learning initiatives and model the desired behaviours. Their support is critical in driving any culture changes.
Even if you just chose one of these as a starting point – you are on the right road – Rome wasn’t built in a day!
Microtip – Organisations like the Federation of Small Business and the Diversity Trust offer free resources to support EDI training