Building Diversity Competence for Individuals and Organizations

Chapter 13: Building Diversity Competence for Individuals OBJECTIVES: 1. Explain the concept of diversity competence and distinguish individual diversity competence from organizational diversity competence. 2. Explain the role of diversity training in a program for managing D&I, and describe how it should be designed. 3. Describe the differences between awareness and skills diversity training. 4. Discuss the pros and cons of providing specialized leadership development as part of a diversity training program. 5. Discuss the role of mentoring programs in a D&I training plan. 6. Discuss the role of Affinity Groups (ERGs) in D&I management, including positive aspects and cautions. 7. Describe the types of employee-supportive or family-friendly benefits that organizations offer and discuss their effectiveness.

Diversity Competence for Individuals and Organizations Diversity Competence A learning process leading to effectively responding to the challenges and opportunities posed by the presence of social- cultural diversity in a defined social system At work, it means learning how to alter one s behavior in a diverse environment Cox and Beale described development in phases of awareness, understanding, and action Is also used by others involved in promoting better management of diversity Diversity initiatives begin with Valuing Diversity activities Designed to educate and create a positive image about an ethnic or other group as a way of counteracting negative stereotypes

Building Individual's Diversity Competence Definition and prediction of success in managing DEI is not yet that advanced. In one review of the workforce diversity skills literature, researchers could find no comparable empirical evidence for validity of specific skills Counseling Psychology Identifying and developing skills for working in therapeutic sessions with clients from varied cultural backgrounds Multicultural competence A combination of awareness and skills related to effective communication with various cultural groups Dunning-Kruger effect The finding that someone with limited competence or knowledge in an area is likely to have little insight into this fact (i.e., ignorance is invisible)

Proposed Multicultural Competencies for Managers Chrobot-Mason developed a framework for multicultural competence for managers in diverse work settings with three stages Stage 1: Increasing Awareness Is aware of possible impact of one s values, attitudes, and experiences about diversity on interactions in the workplace Understands how institutional barriers affect behavior Stage 2: Behavioral and Coping Skills Monitors own language and action so that it is racially and culturally sensitive and appropriate. Tries to understand situations from the perspective of employees from minority groups. Stage 3: Continuous Development (Action Plan) Acts to eliminate bias and discriminatory decisions in the workplace. Works to develop and maintain minority representation at work.

A Model of Skills for Diversity and Inclusion Critical Incident Technique Used to illustrate how diversity skills might be empirically identified Concluded that the following were attributes for effectiveness Not only skills but also values and knowledge Varied with the employee s organizational level

Diversity Training Characteristics Diversity Training Learning activates to prepare people to interact more effectively at work with others different from them Diversity training is only an aspect of DEI programming, but an organization needs more Most organizations of any size present some form of what is called diversity training Early surveys found that DT was generally brief, more common in large organizations, sometimes mandatory

DT Goals Increase Awareness, Understanding, or Action Before doing DT, the diversity professional should be very clear on training purpose and goals Needs assessment can help determine DT goals

Awareness Training This model assumes that training should start be increasing awareness through informational and emotional approaches Attempts to draw attention to diversity issues as foundation for subsequent behavior change Kinds of awareness training 1. gives information on organization s diversity strategy and initiatives and why they are important, information about different identity groups, explanations of stereotypes, background on relevant laws and other information 2. informs about dynamics of in-groups and out-groups and social categorization processes. 3. aims to increase self-awareness about one s biases and attitudes and how they can affect behavior toward others

Skills Training Designed to help participants learn new skills for promoting DEI The most common framework is Social Learning Theory Key elements include Modeling of appropriate behavior Practice and feedback Positive consequences Development of a sense of self-efficacy One difficulty with this approach is the lack of a widely accepted and supported catalog of diversity skills

Awareness and/or Skills? In 2015 Lindsey conducted training in aspects of both awareness and skill and found that practice in perspective-taking (awareness and skill) was associated with self-reported behavior changes toward LGB individuals. Allyship involves both awareness and skill Allyship refers to support and advocacy provided to members of target groups by those in the non-stigmatized majority

Three Phases in Training Instructional design model A systematic approach to training in organizations that proceeds to three phases 1. Needs assessment Person analysis: who should be trained and their preparation and motivation for learning KSA analysis: training content needed Organization analysis: whether and where in the organization support for or resistance to training exists 2. Design Development Includes determining learning outcomes and the selection of training environment and methods 3. Evaluation Assess whether learning and results occurred and whether they were actually due to training rather than other events

Evaluation Criteria Kirkpatrick s Criteria (1994) Reaction Criteria What trainees think about training Learning Criteria Whether trainees learned targeted information or skills Behavior Criteria Whether trainees behave differently as a result Results Criteria Whether training has effects on the success of the organization itself

Examples of Diversity Training Content Interracial Dialogues List three reasons why people may experience interracial dialogues as stressful . Anxiety from interracial dialogues can come from unfamiliarity of conversations about race Confronting isms Demonstrate one appropriate response when someone makes racist or sexist comments or tells a joke that is hurtful to others. In some cases, a comment, story, or joke is spoken thoughtlessly without realization that it could give offense to others Active Listening Demonstrate the skill of active listening by participating in a conversation on a sensitive topic .

Does Diversity Training Work? Instead of asking does DT work, we should be asking under what circumstances a particular type of DT is most likely to work Meta-analysis of 260 samples over a period of 40 years Largest effects were found on participants reactions and cognitive learning Cognitive learning was more enduring than other outcomes Positive effects found for training that was integrated with longer initiatives, longer duration, and multi-method Training is a good investment only when effective; without evaluative data it is impossible to decide whether and how training should be continued, modified, or extended DT may be influenced by attributes of participants that are out of control of those who designed the training

Specialized Leadership Development Many organizations attempt to decrease turnover and increase representation of underrepresented groups in advanced positions by providing specialized learning experiences in leadership These are also offered by external consulting firms Specialized training seems to be more effective Without such programs, underrepresented groups may not have access to leadership training Sensitive topics can be discussed more openly They provide access to others in the same identity group who can provide support, networking and mentoring

Mentoring A developmental relationship between a younger person and someone more experienced. A mentor provides support, information, advice, connections and other benefits to the mentee Helpful and very beneficial for both men and women Informal mentoring relationships develop spontaneously between people attracted to each other for professional and personal reasons Ample evidence showed that informal mentoring experiences were associated with higher career and job satisfaction, compensation, salary growth, as well as lower turnover and higher advancement

Mentoring Processes There are two major processes in informal mentoring relationships Career Help the prot g prepare for career progress Psychosocial Enhance identity, effectiveness and comfort in professional role A complete mentoring relationship provides some level of both

What DEI Professionals Should Know About Mentoring Overall, women reported similar access to mentors compared to men, but also perceived more barriers to forming these relationships African Americans may perceive more barriers and also have less access Male mentors give more career support and female mentors give higher psychosocial support Males were more likely to report having served as a mentor Cross-race and cross-gender mentoring partnerships present additional issues May not understand challenges experienced by one another Peer mentoring: others at the same level Step-ahead mentoring: those only one level higher

Formal Mentoring Formal mentoring is organized by an employer or another organization, matches prot g s with mentors who agree to participate Sometimes they do not lead to the same quality of mentorship as informal, but this depends on how the program is set up and managed Higher success when mentors receive training and prot g s have input in the matching process Voluntary mentoring seems like a good alternative for underrepresented groups who have less access to informal mentors Mentoring Paradox refers to the fact that mentoring itself is fundamentally an exclusionary process in that the relationship exists between two people and excludes others

Networking and Affinity Groups Networking with others sharing professional interests and information is widely recommended Affinity groups or ERG s extend the networking idea to groups of people within an organization Groups meet with organizational approval usually during work hours Intended to provide an inclusive environment to those who might feel marginalized in the organization because of their small numbers or characteristics Groups are thought to improve morale and retention The purpose of ERGs has expanded from employee support to activities impacting business success A survey of large employers found that over $7,000 was budgeted annually for support of ERGs

Networking and Affinity Groups Continued Three types of ERG s 1. Centered on social causes 2. Professionally focused groups 3. Centered on demographic characteristics Cautions about ERGs Sometimes don t receive the highest marks from women Legal factors and risk National Labor Relations Act Restrict employer control or interference in so-called labor organizations

Building an Employee-Supportive Organization: Availability Work-Family (W-F) or Work-Life (W-L) benefits are designed to address this diversity Prior to the COVID pandemic, many organizations offered telecommuting ( work at home ), flextime, compressed workweeks, shift flexibility, and/or job sharing to at least some employees A minority of employers offered other family-friendly benefits Large-scale pre-pandemic surveys generally showed that most large employers provided unpaid leave for maternity, paternity, adoption or foster care or care of seriously ill family member The pandemic changed many things, among them benefits designed to support remote work, caregiving and health, 78% of respondents identified options for telework as increasing the most, with about half reporting increases in telemedicine services and leave to care for children

Building an Employee-Supportive Organization: Access The manager or supervisor typically must approve use of W-F benefits such as telecommuting or flextime and is an important gatekeeper in their use Gender bias in manager approvals was examined by Brescoll (2013) Requests were most often approved for higher-status men wishing to advance their careers Low-status men were still more likely to be approved than high- level women Right to request policies have been suggested as one means of improving access to flexible work

Effects of W-F Benefits and Culture Meta-analyses show that positive perceptions of workplace support and organizational W-F culture each predicted lower employee conflict Higher scores on a single index of W-F benefit availability were associated with higher perceived productivity, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship, and lower WFC, turnover intent, and burnout Five recommendations to management for helping employees to manage WFC Develop a supportive W-F culture Identify ways in which work interferes with family concerns Train supervisors to develop high-quality relationships with supervisees Give supervisors autonomy to work at an individual case level Motivate supervisors to include criteria of W-F in performance reviews

Work-Life Policies in Other Countries The US stands in stark contrast to most other industrialized nations in its weak support for parents and children. The US ranks near the bottom with only its FMLA leave that is unpaid, available only to about half the workforce, and limited to 12 weeks US has a lack of federally-funded family benefits Child care in other countries is generally publicly funded and more widely available W-F relationships have often been seen as a woman s issue