Webinar | Beyond Window Dressing: Diversity Training in the Wake of Changing Social Consciousness
Hosted by Human Capital Institute
Recorded Thursday, January 14, 2021
Listen to the conversation between TRACOM’s Dan Day and Jana Seijts, an award-winning Lecturer of Management Communications at the Ivey Business School.
Today’s movement to address social inequities and injustices is forcing organizations to rethink their diversity efforts, for the right reasons: it’s not only good policy, it’s good business strategy.
Organizations thrive when they consist of people from different races, genders, ages and behavioral preferences. A recent global leadership study found that organizations with above-average diversity are eight times more likely to be in the top 10 percent for financial performance in that business category.
Yet organizations around the world are struggling with their diversity initiatives. In a recent study, fewer than one in four leaders reported their organization consistently recruits and promotes from a diverse talent pool. Only 27 percent of leaders feel that inclusion is a strong part of their organization’s values and culture.
Diversity training needs to go deeper than “window dressing.” We must develop an understanding of what all humans have in common: behavioral habits. Research has found a correlation between Versatility—our ability to observe the behaviors of others and adapt accordingly to build productive relationships—and diversity-related performance among leaders.
During this webinar, we explore:
- Where diversity training often falls short and how to improve it
- Moving the conversation beyond differences to focus on behaviors
- How high versatility builds relationships and low versatility undermines them
- How you can train people to change their mindset and behaviors in 2021
Read Jana Seijts and Dan Day’s continued research on this subject in the article “Rethinking EDI Training Amid Today’s Changing Social Consciousness” published in the March/April issue of the Ivey Business Journal.
In this article they address the pitfalls employers face when trying to check a box and focus training singularly on race or gender. Seijts and Day talk about how organizations can implement holistic training that provides lasting change to their employees’ behaviors.
