What Employees Want: Skills in D&I
What Employees Want: Skills in D&I
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High levels of training in diversity management can help organizations reap benefits from workplace diversity, but less than half of employees feel they're getting the skills-based diversity & inclusion training they need.
Cedric Herring, in his research on the business benefits of diversity points to research showing that the negative relationship some research shows between racial diversity and group processes is generally not present in groups with high levels of training in career development and diversity management.
In a 2009 study of a cross-section of over 1250 American workers on their perspectives on workplace diversity, the National Urban League found that less than half of all workers believe their workplace imparts the skills needed to help them interact with people who are different from themselves. More specifically, workers expressed a desire for skills-based training focused on developing competencies in the areas of diversity and inclusion.
Organizations that are successful at building strong skills in cross-cultural competency and other forms of diversity and inclusion position themselves to reap the benefits a diverse workforce can offer.
Reference:
Herring, Cedric, Does Diversity Pay? Race, Gender, and the Business Case for Diversity, American Sociological Review, Vol. 74, No. 2, April 2009, pp. 208-224.
National Urban League, Diversity Practices that Work: The American Worker Speaks II, 2009.