How do we ensure that DE&I training and awareness isn’t just a checkbox item for June? Companies must deploy a year-round strategy that includes DE&I themes and principles for lasting change.
While Pride is certainly not exclusive to workplaces, many companies use June as a month to educate employees and celebrate inclusiveness and diversity. The education and celebration is meant to bring awareness and recognition, let some know, “we see you” and inform others of the history behind the celebration with the goal of bringing more inclusivity to the workplace. The same could be said for another June holiday, Juneteenth. And then there’s Safety Month, which totally doesn’t fit alongside Pride and Juneteenth, but it’s another workplace initiative in June. We feel for the HR leaders who have to plan for all three initiatives in one month!
What these three initiatives do have in common is that most companies use them as an opportunity to educate in the hopes of changing behaviors. In the case of Pride and Juneteenth, these behavior changes come with some incredible outcomes:
45% of employees believe that managers have the highest potential to boost diversity. This shows that it’s not just about executive alignment around diversity, people leaders need to be educated, aligned, and empowered to build diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures. The same is true when talking about safety-first, growth-oriented, customer-centered, or similar types of cultures. Education - whether about DE&I and compliance or safety and sales, plays a role in developing culture and employee experience.
So how do we ensure that DE&I training and awareness isn’t just a checkbox item for June? Companies must deploy a year-round strategy that includes DE&I themes and principles into employee and people leader training, communications, and programs. When all of that education and training is packed into one month it rarely leads to long-term behavior changes.
Turning training initiatives, employee education, and knowledge sharing into something that drives business results and behavior changes require you to do a few things:
Use this time now to think about the biggest takeaways your employees have had from this last month. How can you continue sharing those stories, those lessons, and those experiences throughout the year?
Sounds tough, but we’ve made all of the above really convenient with Trivie. Even more so because we play nice with your LMS and content. We’d love to chat and help make all of your training initiatives more engaging, measurable, and effective.
