Life is challenging and we need to continually adapt to the demands of a changing environment. The benefit of diversity and inclusion training for employees is that it gives our people a range of exposure that facilitates this. Diversity and inclusion training demands that we expand our skills in a number of areas and helps us to evolve towards greater wisdom. The combination of these factors enables real personal growth.
We all need the appropriate level of IQ to operate successfully in our jobs within the workplace. Beyond this to be able to operate successfully in a multicultural environment we also need to have well-developed Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as well as Cultural Intelligence (CQ). Online diversity training for employees expands awareness of these dimensions and imparts the necessary skills to operate at increasingly higher levels of competence.
Diversity training focuses on learning strategies in order to understand what is going on in different locations and cultures. The ability to cope with different national approaches, new cultures, different organisational climates, and even vocational demands is explored and solutions offered to strengthen behavioural flexibility. People also learn to adopt the mannerism and habits of new cultures with the ability to receive and reciprocate cross-culturally. Cross-cultural communication becomes easier over time and the desire to participate fully is enhanced as people become more confident in their ability to respond acceptably.
Leaving No Stone Unturned
With EQ, interpersonal and intra-personal skills come under the spotlight as the key to diversity and inclusion management at an individual and group level. The starting point with EQ is always the self and establishing emotional self-awareness. This brings to the forefront issues of individual independence, assertiveness, and self-actualisation drives that into our relationships with others.
We want our range of interpersonal relations to be optimal and this can only be achieved as we work on ourselves consistently and continuously as well. We need to bring empathy and social responsibility to bear in our interactions. In addition, we will need to learn a lot about stress tolerance and impulse control to secure the best outcomes situationally. Diversity and inclusion training must therefore impart growth in the area of interpersonal adaptability.
Given the need to shift perceptions, people must learn to check themselves as well as suspend judgment as they test for what they might have missed or need to re-evaluate. This can often lead to greater flexibility in problem-solving and introduce a general mood of optimism and positivity that age-old problems are in fact not insurmountable with the introduction of different attitudes and perspectives.
Stretching Our Potential
Learning during diversity and inclusion training can be further enhanced by combining aspects of Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) with EQ and CQ. This is because diversity and inclusion insights might strike at the core of our values and ethics. We become engaged in a journey of self-transformation. To remain congruent without ourselves we need to develop our comfort with chaos, dichotomy, and paradox. We need to see that it is in fact okay to embrace including non-conventional ideas and move our behaviours beyond our prior repertoire. We will do better at mastering aspects of diversity and inclusion management when we are better able to manage ourselves and retain our balance throughout the process. The goal would be to have “the ability to act with wisdom and compassion while maintaining inner and outer peace (equanimity), regardless of the circumstances.” Zohar and Marshall, 2000
When we consider all that diversity and inclusion training covers, we see the primary benefit is that individuals participating in this learning are likely to achieve more maturity holistically. They should—post involvement—have a greater vision to learn, more passion for the subject as well as discipline to utilise this learning combined with an active conscience. This is a powerful combination of learning in support of sustainable change.