A lot of people today consider diverse teams and inclusive environments major decision-making factors when looking for a job. That’s why organizations are investing in diversity and inclusion training programs for all their employees.
The human resource department usually manages all matters related to diversity and inclusion. However, this is something that requires special attention from every leader. That’s because they’re responsible for ensuring that it’s an inclusive workplace where employees are free from any conscious and unconscious biases. Workplace diversity training is a major factor in improving employee satisfaction.
When a workplace has diverse groups of people, it is common for them to act on certain unconscious biases without even realizing it. Diversity training can help identify those biases, reprogram their thought processes, and help them become better professionals.
Some workplaces have their own training course for employee training, but many rely on the internet to find the best options. In this article, we have mentioned the best ones among the many training programs you will find online in 2024.
Let’s get started.
8 Best Diversity and Inclusion Training Programs
The following are some of the best diversity and inclusion training programs you can go for to create a diverse workforce and inclusive work environment. You can work with HR professionals and managers to come up with a comprehensive diversity and inclusion training program.
You can choose between online training programs and in-person programs, depending on your company, budget, and location.
1. HR Diversity and Inclusion Training by HR University
Price: $199
Duration: 20 hours
HR University offers an excellent HR diversity and Inclusion Certification program, which is suitable for seasoned HR experts and new employees alike.
The online learning platform teaches and trains HR employees so they can develop their own programs supporting diversity and inclusion within the workplace. This helps them integrate diversity and inclusion strategies with their existing HR policies to positively address biases. This results in a company culture that is more productive and tolerant.
Through these training programs, you learn the latest and most important diversity and inclusion promoting practices in the corporate world. The courses are carefully designed by experts to address:
- Sexual orientation
- Racial minorities
- Types of bias and bias effects
- Sexual harassment based on gender differences
- Micro behaviors
- Countering unconscious bias
- Managing diversity
- Individuals with disabilities
You learn about these diversity issues through short videos, courses on management skills, interactive learning, and learning with Tracks. By spending just a few hours online, you can have a better understanding of how diversity impacts business and employee productivity.
This is not all, the program also teaches you how to:
- Monitor diversity within the workplace
- Implement an effective Inclusion and Diversity strategy
- Deal with workplace bullying
- Handle microaggression
- How to create a company’s vision on diversity and inclusion
Find out more about HR Diversity and Inclusion Program at HR University here.
2. Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace by SkillPath
Price: Free Needs Assessment with Custom Pricing
Duration: Based on the Needs Assessment
SkillPath is a company that’s dedicated to providing training programs, virtual seminars, webinars, toolkits, and other training resources to companies. They have various solutions for different companies of all sizes.
Their Diversity and inclusion in the Workplace training program is an enterprise solution that’s an instructor-led course.
In the course, you learn about the definition of inclusion and diversity today and how you can ensure it across the organization. You will also learn about the benefits of a diverse and inclusive team and its effect on creative thinking and the work process.
Furthermore, you’ll learn about the importance of communication and collaboration when talking about workplace diversity.
In total, there are four sessions according to the course outline. Here are the details:
- First Session – focused on the fundamentals of diversity and inclusion in various workplaces.
- Second Session – based on how people see themselves and the world.
- Third Session – the way people see others, with regard to themselves and their environments.
- Fourth Session – the appropriate way to work together to create a more diverse workplace.
The good thing about SkillPath is that they offer the program in various modalities. That’s usually based on your needs because after you get a needs assessment, you get a better idea of what you need.
You can download the outline PDF to get a better idea about the program.
If you want to learn more about SkillPath’s Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace training program, you can do so here.
3. Diversity and Inclusion Course by Navex Global
Price: Custom Pricing
Duration: 11-30 Minutes
Navex Global is a company that provides various products and solutions related to organizational management. They have a full-length course on diversity and inclusion that’s designed as a one-for-all course that can be used by any organization in any industry.
The course comes under their employment law training category and is designed for both managers and employees.
According to their page, inclusive leadership and a diverse team helps maintain employee morale, make employees feel like they belong, which, in turn, helps companies attract top talent. If diversity and inclusion efforts are unsatisfactory, your organizational reputation and overall employee engagement can drop excessively.
The idea is to create an inclusive environment where attention is given equally to all stakeholders. For that, the course provides basic practical guidelines for creating inclusive workplaces, realistic ideas, and various tools like interactive games.
Furthermore, the course delves into the matter of unconscious bias, micro-inequities, and microaggressions. They offer learners some tips and tricks on how they can navigate through these challenges and the right tactics to avoid them in the future.
Keep in mind that having a diverse team doesn’t mean that there’s an inclusive environment. Inclusion training is just as important as diversity training programs, and that’s why they’re often considered as one. That’s why this course has diversity and inclusion training programs.
Some of the key concepts that will be covered in the course include:
- Various types of diversity
- The importance of diversity
- Handling multicultural environments
- Understanding the concept of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)
- The concept of EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity)
- Understanding ethnicity, sexual orientations, and cultural diversity
- Bias training
If you want to learn more about Navex Global’s Diversity and Inclusion course, you can go here.
4. Leading for Equity an Inclusion Workshops by Catalyst
Price: Custom Pricing
Duration: Two Hours
Catalyst is known for providing virtual learning workshops and solutions for organizations of all sizes. Their workshop on diversity and inclusion is aimed at leaders who need certain skills to succeed in today’s environment.
The course was built based on the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, where companies had to establish new models to ensure business continuity and viability. Furthermore, the rise of remote work and the responsibilities that come with it have created special circumstances.
Keeping that in mind, the company has modified its Leading for Equity and Inclusion Workshop to cater to changing demands. That includes remote delivery of the workshop and online courses, and online training to ensure the workshop is successful.
As a rule, the facilitator of the course is a Catalyst expert who will be helping learners live. The course is delivered on a secure virtual learning platform and can host up to 50 participants at a time.
Throughout the course, the learner gets highly interactive experiences that help learners connect with the facilitator. Furthermore, the learner will be getting the knowledge they need to develop skills for managing diverse teams, diverse clients, and training employees for more inclusive environments.
Some of the major topics of the workshop include:
- Becoming an inclusive leader
- Unconscious bias and bias training
- Learning inclusive communication
- Getting an idea about gender equity
- Understanding emotional tax in the workplace
- Managing diverse teams
- Understanding gender identity
If you’re interested in Catalyst’s Leading for Equity and Inclusion Workshop, you can go here.
5. Inclusion Training by Limeade
Price: Free
Duration: 30 Minutes
Limeade is a company that’s dedicated to making the employee experience better. They help companies create a culture that’s good for the business and its people. That includes providing diversity and inclusion training, as it makes up for a lot when it comes to the employee experience.
Their inclusion training is made to be short, and that’s why it’s a 30-minute training. According to the blog, inclusion is any sense of belonging and connection at work. That’s why it’s crucial to make sure that every employee feels connected to their workplace and co-workers.
In the 30-minute HR training course, you’ll learn various tools and understand how to promote inclusive behaviors within your company. The instructor also shares various scenarios that can help you understand how to bring an inclusive environment to your company.
A few things that the course covers include the following.
- The definition of inclusion
- Reason inclusion matters at work
- The right way to empower employees to be more inclusive
You’ll find presentation slides that you can use to present the course to your employees. Alternatively, you can watch the webinar on YouTube.
You can learn more about Limeade’s Inclusion Training here.
6. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training by Executive Diversity Services, Inc.
Price: Custom Pricing
Duration: Depends on Plan
The Executive Diversity Services, Inc. is a Seattle-based company that’s dedicated to training companies on diversity and inclusion best practices. The company offers tons of skill-building and practical training programs that are custom-tailored to each organization.
Most of their workshops are engaging, practical, and dynamic, and they focus on both leaders and employees.
Based on the category, there are five training courses within the program:
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training
- Unconscious Bias – The Role Bias Plays in Inequity
- The Respectful Workplace – The 5 Keys to building a More Respectful Workplace
- Managing Conflict – The Intercultural Conflict Inventory
- Building Greater Cultural Competence
The course goes over building effective teams, cross-cultural communication, cultural diversity training, diverse client customer service, generational value differences, and interpersonal conflict management, among others.
If you want to learn more about the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training workshop by Executive Diversity Services, you can go here.
7. Optimizing Diversity on Teams on Coursera
Price: Free to Enroll with Paid Certificate
Duration: Self-Paced (12 Hours on Average)
Coursera has grown to become one of the biggest online learning communities with thousands of courses on different subjects. They have a massive number of courses on business leadership and management, and that includes diversity and inclusion.
Their Optimizing Diversity on Teams courses is part of the Culture-Driver Team Building Specialization program. The course is offered by the University of Pennsylvania.
According to the people who completed the course, 50% of them got a pay increase or promotion after they got done with the course.
Other than that, the self-paced course is completely online, and it is part of a 5-series course. Regardless of that, you can get a shareable certificate upon completion that can be shared on your website or LinkedIn.
Divided into four weeks, you have to give approximately 3 hours per week. You’ll be completing the course in the following order:
- Week One – Promoting Diversity in the Workplace
- Two – Team Diversity Basics
- Three – Managing Conflict
- Four – Diversity Case Study
If you want to learn more about the Optimizing Diversity on Teams course on Coursera, you can go here.
8. Gender Equality and Sexual Diversity on Udemy
Price: Free with a Paid Version
Duration: 6 Hours
Similar to Coursera, Udemy is also a massive learning platform with thousands of programs on various topics. They have a wide range of training programs and courses on all things, diversity, and inclusion. You can find bias training, compliance training, retention training, and much more.
However, their course on Gender Equality and Sexual Diversity is a great program to introduce to your company. That’s because it highlights one of the most major issues in the workplace.
During the course, you’ll be learning the following.
- Familiarize yourself with international institutions and norms
- Become familiar with basic definitions and concepts
- Learn about various public policies that are designed to fight discrimination
- Learn about the history of the fight against gender and sexual discrimination
The free version of the course will let you view all the online video content. However, only the paid version will get you the certificate of completion, instructor Q&A, and instructor direct message capability.
If you want to learn more about Udemy’s Gender Equality and Sexual Diversity course, you can do so here.
Bottom Line
People say that over a certain period of time, you can learn to be nondiscriminatory. However, the truth is, there will always be unconscious biases that can only be tackled through training programs.
No matter what business school you attend or how cool your team members are, you still need proper diversity and inclusion training.
When looking to invest in a training program for your company, you should always try to get the best ones on the market. The ones listed above are among the top ones you can opt for, and that’s why most of their pricing is custom. They tend to tailor their programs according to the company to maximize their efforts.
A diverse workplace ensures better productivity, higher motivation, and relaxed employees. It makes it easier to manage your teams and minimizes internal conflicts. That’s why it’s best to opt for a diversity and inclusion training program as soon as possible and bring your workforce to the same level.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about diversity and inclusion training:
What is diversity and inclusion training?
Diversity and inclusion training is defined as the process of teaching people about the benefits of having a diverse workplace, reducing prejudice and discrimination in an organization. It also teaches employees how to work together as one team.
Why is diversity and inclusion training important?
Diversity and inclusion training shows the importance of all voices being heard at your company; it’s not just beneficial for your workforce but will contribute positively towards your business goals too.
What is the best diversity training?
The best diversity training is one that covers the following: the benefits of diversity; why having a diverse workforce important for your business; how diversifying an organization create synergy, improves productivity, and reduces prejudice within teams; and the process to make change happen at work (e.g., what can you do if someone makes insensitive comments?).