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The Diversity Sensitivity & Awareness seminar is designed for professionals who are in contact and want to strengthen relationships with a diverse staff.
The focus of Diversity Sensitivity & Awareness is relationships, perceptions, language use, and ethical considerations. The beneficial results of the class include:
- Formulating and understanding participants' own positions regarding diversity;
- Building communication across cultures, genders, orientations, and generations;
- Opening participants to interacting with others;
- Resolving conflict in a diverse work environment; and
- Increasing productivity of a diverse work team.
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Part I - The Perceptions of a Diverse Workforce
Diversity Sensitivity & Awareness
- Why do organizations need to do diversity work?
- Alienation
- Demographics
- Myths
- US history
- Reality versus ideals
- Levels of oppression
- Oppression
- The commonalities of all people
- Needs
- Instincts
- Emotions
- Fears
- Solutions
- Engage in introspection
- Eliminate negativity
- Communicate value to others
- Improving communications
This segment of the Diversity Sensitivity & Awareness workshop examines the nature of perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. Participants are put in the position to engage in self-examination. It is here that they discover attitudes and underlying beliefs that create roadblocks to their successful dealings with others.
The Diversity Sensitivity & Awareness session focuses on language use. Many people take for granted that language affects how the speaker feels and perceives the world, as well as how others feel and see the speaker.
The audience will begin to realize that the attitudes they express (generally in behaviors and statements) are an outcropping of their belief systems. By getting to the root of what they think and accept as true, they can begin to evaluate the effectiveness of these ideas and ultimately, start to change their behaviors.
One of the key ingredients to understand diversity is to examine the role of the media and how it shapes values of the society. A solid look at the role of news media has on what people understand to be true is a pivotal part of this learning process. |
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Part II - Diversity In the Workplace: The Legal Perspective
Regardless of the law, respect for diversity clearly is in the interest of a well-functioning, highly effective workplace. An employer has a great interest in making sure that diversity is respected, in order to have a happy, motivated and productive workforce. But there are also legal consequences for not respecting diversity. A greater danger lies in the perception that lack of advancement in the workplace is rooted in some disrespect for religion, race, national origin, or gender.
- Defining diversity
- Relevant federal and state laws
- Are exceptions justifiable?
- What kind of discrimination do these laws seek to prevent?
- What constitutes harassment?
- How does one prove that there is discrimination?
- What agencies deal with discrimination?
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The key is to create a work environment in which diversity complaints would be unnecessary.
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