Most organizations these days believe that "diversity" produces better results. But things get tricky when it comes to diversity training. It’s easy to do significant legal damage, especially with "let-it-all-hang-out" sessions .
One of the favorite moves of diversity training facilitators is to ask employees to drop all pretenses, and just go ahead and express feelings they have about other types of people. "Get them out on the table and let’s learn how to deal with them." The facilitator will usually say, "Let’s agree that what’s said here stays here."
This approach sounds good in theory. But it fails in application. Assume that some participants do make comments about members of protected groups:
"I’m uncomfortable around X’s."
"In my day, we …"
"X’s just don’t seem to have what it takes to succeed here."
"Where I grew up …"
"Our customers don’t want to be served by X’s."
Talk about dangerous legal territory. First of all, forget about "what’s said here stays here." That has no force in court whatsoever. So now you’ve got your managers on record saying that they have prejudices and discriminatory feelings. It’s practically a smoking gun when the lawsuits are filed.
Here are a few exercises that can get worthwhile discussion going, with less risk of fanning the flames.
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X’s and O’s
Instructions: Divide into teams to answer the questions. Then, get together to compare answers.
Take a look at these three diagrams, in which O represents someone who is different in some way.
XXXXXXXXXXX O XXXXXXXXXXX
X X X
X
X
O X
XXXXXXXXX X X
X X XXXXXXXXX X X
XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXOXXXXXX
1. In what ways might O be different?
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
2. What attitudes do the three diagrams represent?
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
3. Draw a fourth diagram depicting some other disposition of X’s and O’s.
Add more O’s if you like.
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HR Daily Advisor’s ‘Answers’
Of course, there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. Here are some responses that might be given.
1. How is O different? It might be a standard characteristic, such as sex, race, or religion, or it could be any other characteristic, such as level of education, physical stature, or disability. Or, O could be the leader.
2. Most observers would probably say that the first diagram indicates either interest by the X’s or perhaps X’s ganging up on the lone O. Or maybe they are admiring something about the O. Or watching a presentation of some kind.
The second diagram appears to many to mean exclusion of the O by the X’s; Perhaps because they don’t want O to participate, or perhaps O, due to, say a disability, cannot participate. However, it might also show that the O is lecturing to the X’s.
In the third diagram, the O seems to have been assimilated into the X’s.
3. Other diagrams
Here are a few possibilities if no one comes up with a new diagram:
XXXXX OOOOO XXXXX O
XXXXX OOOOO XXXXX
XXXXX OOOOO OOOOO OOO
XXXXX OOOOO OOOOO XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXX OOOOO OOOOO XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll look at another diversity training tool, and we’ll visit a unique program that can manage virtually all your policy challenges.
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