To Ask if your workplace has ever held diversity and inclusion training?

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If so, what was it and did you find it valuable?

This is something being considered for our workplace, but just wanted to hear others experiences with it. What did you feel you gained from it, if anything?

And if you're workplace aren't doing it do you think they should be?

Yup - I run it for the larger team - we are a big company, about 9-10k of us - It’s ok - hit and miss. Some people buy into it - some don’t care one bit. I think it’s positive.

My old workplace did but there was almost nothing on women and disabled people who are the most discriminated groups in the world and most underrepresented in boardrooms and management positions.

Yep. Mandatory online and it was and still is a load of shit

@Gymmum82 how often is it held online and is it pre-recorded? Why is it shit?

Yes mandatory training. Waste of time like most corporate training is.

Yes online trsinj g every year. Its very bland. Id like to see some videos from people who hVe experiened abuse due to the above and how it hss affected their lives. That would make it more real.

Yes, we are a large company and do this regularly. We are 75% men and most is focussed on the issues women go through. It’s also a predominantly white company and able bodied, so there is a big focus on those that are not. It’s well received and as an initial sceptic I have completely changed my mind and I can see the massive changes in the last 10 yrs

Yes but I work for a university so it's pretty standard.

I had to correct them when I last did it.

I'm retired now thankfully. So never again do I have to sit through it.

What are they like?
What do they talk about?

Mandatory online and written by and for Americans. Largely irrelevant in an EMEA context. I was amused that some parts of it had to be cut out for our ME offices.

Yes, we do have it, but honestly no one has yet forced me and it’s something I’d have to do in addition to my regular workload. Any trainings we do, there’s no one there doing the work that would otherwise be done in those hours, so I never do mandatory trainings until someone threatens me, as I just don’t have the time. That’s a whole other issue.

But I have done unconscious bias training as part of my training to serve on recruitment panels and actually found it really valuable. It made me aware of things I did and thought, well, below my conscious awareness and was really eye opening.

Yes yearly...

It's mandatory training at the university I work at, delivered online as e-training.

I'd agree it's bland delivered this way. Felt like very obvious box-ticking rather than a course that offers real value and insight.

Safeguarding was online too, but at another workplace we had the council come in and deliver face to face and that was fantastic. I definitely think face to face EDI training would be far better than these e-training courses.

yup, mandatory & yearly - all video/online - people put it on at x3 speed & guess the answers to the questions at the end. It ticks someone's box I guess.

We've had vague training on it. It would be more helpful if they would outline easy/reasonable adjustments that can be made in a workplace to help.

Yes I've done it at multiple employers with varying quality. Some has been very very good at illuminating human behaviour and how to be inclusive. Some has been mind numbingly dull.

I think you get what you pay for - the best content will be in person and interactive and personalised but that will be more expensive than online vanilla off the shelf stuff.

Yes. Had one where we had to do an online unconscious bias test then had a session run by a trainer - this was interesting.

We do, regularly along with other ethics trainings. It’s made little to no difference to how I operate, and probably true for most of my colleagues but it does set a culture where it’s clear IDE is important, where we are all reminded of the right thing to do and know we could call out “wrong” behaviour and feel confident spotting that and be supporting in calling it out.

Yep. Online. Annually.

It’s a tick box exercise.

I recall in a previous company 10yrs ago the scenarios and accompanying pictures were very cliche. The ones that stick in my mind were:
A picture of someone bending over the get something out of the cupboard, and a person behind kicking him up the arse! The caption said that this wasn't appropriate in the work place! This was followed by a howl of laughter from the audience.

Another was a scenario about everyone going to the pub to celebrate something but they didn't invite the Muslim lady in the office as didn't want to offend her.

I always find the training fairly useless. If someone is happy to kick a colleague up the arse, they aren't going to have a light bulb moment after the training and think 'Oh, I never knew that wasn't appropriate at work!'

Yes, annually. First year was full of gender identity and very little about anything else.

It's since been "refreshed" and has improved in the last couple of years. This year's was actually really good. About unconscious bias and the danger of groupthink - and how this can be countered by people feeling able to speak out and share a different perspective that goes against the prevailing view in the room. But that they need to feel able to do so, which goes back to people feeling that they can be included - and not singled out or treated as less than or dismissed because of their race or their sex or their accessibility needs so so on. There has also been a big push on recognising that diversity means we won't always all agree, but that we can disagree respectfully.

Yes, it’s a complete tick box exercise. But I am very aware of my unconscious bias which I think is important to be aware of and reminded of.

I have noticed it’s now Diversity Equity and Inclusion, so what does that mean?

You have to complete it once every 4 years. It’s online permanently for new starters and whoever’s has expired. Have to pass a test at the end and retake it until you pass. 90% of it is completely irrelevant to our line of work. Complete waste of time

Ours was very very good - I went in expecting another dull training, but it was Interesting, engaging, thought provoking and I learnt lots.

It was delivered via Zoom by a lady whose job it is to deliver these trainings - but I can't remember the name of the organization. If you're interested let me know and I'll dig through my emails