Striving for more diversity and inclusion across all areas of public and private domains should be a continuous aspiration for all of us. One of the areas where D&I initiatives are extremely important and can play a vital role in the overall results is the field of learning and development. Making your learning and development programs and strategies accessible, understandable and relevant for everyone involved is essential.
So here are the main areas you need to consider to encourage and cultivate an embracing learning and development environment in your workplace.
Ensure accessibility
One of the crucial things to keep in mind, if you want everyone to be able to take part in your learning programs, is that you need to make them accessible to everyone. Get input from as many different voices as possible to ensure none of the possible difficulties are overlooked.
No one should be left out due to physical, technical, or language barriers. That being said, make sure your L&D programs are adaptable and that you can modify them if necessary. Digital learning solutions are a practical option for successfully achieving accessibility without compromising on the interesting and engaging aspects.
Be sensible
It is equally important to be sensible of a variety of cultures and perspectives that can exist within one organization and take them into account when creating your L&D strategies. If you are wondering where to start try:
- asking for direct feedback
- avoiding triggering language
- focusing on teamwork
One of the best ways to achieve awareness is by asking for direct feedback and making sure no one feels excluded or uncomfortable saying their opinion or sharing their ideas. Additionally, avoid intentional or unintentional use of insensitive and/or inappropriate language that might trigger discomfort.
Finally, teamwork is crucial to take all the possible perspectives into account, so consider collaborating with external partners to come up with the best possible learning solutions.
Include variety and adaptability
Making sure everyone feels included requires openness to variety and adaptability. eLearning is a form of learning that is particularly adaptable and can easily be customized by using various multimedia tools and techniques. That includes:
- inclusive storytelling
- diverse animations
- graphics
- audio tools
- other mixed-media solutions
This results in highly adaptable learning solutions that can convey the same knowledge in many different but equally engaging formats.
Inclusion works for everyone’s benefit. Possibilities for different ideas and solutions that can result from teamwork and taking into account different perspectives are after all endless, and it is something we should all strive for. Therefore, everything that can help us on that path should be considered and employed for maximum effectiveness.
eWyse is an eLearning provider you can trust to deliver essential solutions and support when incorporating valuable initiatives into your organization. We found our place on the eLearning Industry’s list of Top content providers for diversity and inclusion training because of our experience and in-depth knowledge of the best possible answers for your learning needs.
Steps to take when you decide to launch a DEI Learning initiative:
1. Detect the problem – is your team diverse enough? If not, you should launch a strategy to attract more diversity. If yes, you should start working on inclusion. It is important to know what is the problem you are trying to solve before you get to work.
2. Collect the feedback – ask around the company (anonymous interviews) for feedback on the current status of diversity and inclusion. Make sure to ask different groups of people for feedback, so you can get a clear picture of the entire problem from different perspectives.
3. Create your KPIs and quantify them – decide what is your goal, what you want to achieve, and what needs to happen so you know your initiative is successful.
4. Get to work – with all the input from the previous three steps, start developing the courses that will help you reach your goals fast. Good luck!
Author: Tajana Kovačević