How to Make DEI Learning & Development Count

The best way to make DEI Learning and Development Training count is to simply do it from the very beginning! DEI training should be embedded into the full employee lifecycle as soon as an applicant becomes a new joiner. Whenever I consult and create roadmaps for my clients through Holistic Inclusion Consulting, I always share the importance of being proactive especially when it relates to DEI.

In practice, this means baking DEI training into the onboarding process. Every new joiner should participate in a session or online course that outlines an introduction to DEI within the workplace. These courses should culminate in a quiz at the end of each section to help employees understand the primary goals of each course.

These trainings and quizzes should be expected on a monthly basis. This establishes the expectation and understanding that DEI is incorporated into every employee’s experience. Ongoing interactive DEI workshop training needs to be embedded the same way that annual security or harassment training are a requirement for all employees. 

4 Successful DEI L&D Actions that Work:

1. Enroll New Joiners in HIC Microaggression Course:

• Employees create awareness surrounding the common occurrences of microaggressions
• Employees explore the outcomes associated with the experience of microaggressions
• Employees discover techniques to minimize the occurrence of microaggressions
• Employees discover ways to respond when someone has been microaggressive

This Course Includes:

• 1 hour on-demand video
• Full lifetime access
• Access on mobile and TV
• Certificate of completion

2. Create DEI New Joiner Welcome Emails for Incoming Employees

• Define diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace
• Share the DEI goals for the current year on a team, department, and organizational level
• Include one way new joiners can help push the DEI needle forward

3. Set up a Bot that Adds All New Joiners to the DEI Committee channel

• Ask, How are you going to push DEI forward on your team?
• Ask, How will you measure your impact?

4. Conduct Quarterly Interactive DEI Workshop Trainings for All Employees

• Q1: HIC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Foundations 
• Q2: HIC Driving Impact with a DEI Lens: Tools for Allyship and Impact
• Q3: HIC Our Implicit Bias 
• Q4: HIC Understanding & Mitigating Microaggression

The Inclusive Organization is an excellent gift for all employees!

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AUTHOR BIO: NETTA JENKINS

Netta Jenkins is a doctoral student and leading voice in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, Anti-Racism field whose soaring 250k+ LinkedIn audience engagement was doubtless a key factor in Forbes naming her as one of the top 7 anti-racism consultants in the world. This led to her ground-breaking TEDx talk "Reimagining the Workplace".

Currently, Netta is Vice President of Global Inclusion for Unqork, a technology organization and is an advisory board member for Betterment, an online investment company. Prior to Unqork, Netta created and executed strategy for five years as Vice President, Global Inclusion for IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IAC) tech and media brands with her research data driven knowledge. Netta is working with Marc Lore, former CEO, Walmart and NBA Owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, to build the most inclusive city in America, Telosa. A new city in the US hasn’t been built in over 100 years. 

An acclaimed author with a transformational book released and published by Wiley titled “The Inclusive Organization” that is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Netta has a deep background in communications, leadership, and behavioral psychology. 

Netta has been advising corporations and audiences of all kinds for over 15 years on the most effective strategies to address systemic gaps in the workplace through Holistic Inclusion Consulting. As a result, she was listed as 2020 Linkedin top voice and has won multiple awards for her impact on corporate and startup diversity.