Researchers have found that inclusive environments and a diverse workplace boost employee morale, increase customer satisfaction, and improve profit margins.  Promoting diversity and inclusion, however, requires more than just eliminating intentional acts of harassment (including sexual harassment and other forms of harassment) and discrimination.  Instead, we must also attempt to understand how unconscious bias and implicit bias can impact the decisions we make and our interactions with others in the workplace. The best diversity training programs teach employees how to understand their potential biases, and how to counteract those biases to foster diversity and inclusion.

A diversity training program should teach employees tangible steps they can take to make workplaces more inclusive. In addition, the employee training needs to teach employees that everyone can be both a victim and a perpetrator of bias. Biases are based on more than just one's protected characteristics. Regardless of an employees' protected characteristics such as race, gender, disability, or age, they may also be the victim of bias based on other characteristics, such as height, weight, or appearance. An effective training program will train employees on the variety of different biases they could hold and how to combat them.

What is unconscious bias and why does it occur?

• Intentional vs. unintentional discrimination
• Why our brains create schemas and generalizations to process information
• How our brains often make quick “gut instinct” decisions and then rationalize our decisions afterwards
• Why we exhibit implicit biases

Types of Bias

• Implicit biases based on individual characteristics such as race, gender, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, height, weight, and attractiveness
• How to measure your level of bias with the Implicit Association Test (IAT)
• How everyone exhibits some type or types of bias
• Why people can exhibit bias against their own personal characteristics

Diversity and Inclusion and the Workplace

• How implicit bias can impact the workplace
• Examples of bias relating to gender, race, sexual orientation, and gender identity

How do we “interrupt” unconscious bias from impacting our workplace decisions and behavior?

• Why is it difficult to eliminate implicit bias
• How to become aware of which particular biases you may exhibit
• How to question our automatic assumptions
• Avoiding labels
• Allyship: How to become an ally in the effort to reduce the impact of implicit bias in the workplace
• Bystander Intervention: What to do if you experience or witness bias in the workplace
• How to speak up
• Interactions with co-workers and others in the workplace
• Meetings
• Assignments
• Promotions
• Performance evaluations

Recruiting and Hiring (Manager Version)

• How to minimize the impact of implicit bias in the recruitment and hiring process
• Job descriptions
• Use of word-of-mouth recruiting
• Reviewing resumes
• Interviews

Assignments, Performance Assessment, and Promotions (Manager Version)

• Work assignments
• Task assignment assessments
• Performance assessments
• Promotion decisions
• Expanding the promotion pool of candidates

Diversity and Inclusion

• Impact of bias on organizational effectiveness
• Strategic benefits of diverse and inclusive workplaces
• Financial benefits of diverse and inclusive workplaces