Workplace diversity training

Diversity training in the workplace is an area of
increasing interest and challenges. As the case for
managing diversity in organisations has gained more
acceptance and influence, how this is translated into
practice in organisations has begun to receive
attention. Diversity training currently comes in many
forms. The most basic kind simply involves the
provision of information on the law of the land or the
organisation’s policy in this area, perhaps with the
hope that this will change behaviour. An improvement
on this is the more practical approach of using case
studies or ‘controversial scenarios’ (Johnson and
Redmond, 2000). These are used to engage employees
in exploring how they would behave in circumstances
involving sexism, racism or ageism, for example. Most
advanced are programmes that utilise teams with a
diverse make-up, but an agreed goal, as a means of
providing actual experience of ‘working with diversity’.