Establish Good Practices In Your Allyship Training Plan
Allyship is a continuous journey and a powerful L&D practice for any people-first company. Company diversity needs to be reflected in company policies that strive for improvement on an organizational level. Allyship training can provide the framework to create an equitable, inclusive company culture and show your workforce that they made the right choice coming to work for your organization. Still, there is a right and a wrong approach to allyship training. Read on to discover the dos and don'ts.
Allyship Training: The Dos
1. Do: Research Thoroughly
The concept of diversity encompasses a wide range of identities, which, themselves, encompass a multitude of varying experiences. To develop an effective, well-rounded allyship training program, you have to be conscious of experiences different than your own. Self-reflection is also of paramount importance when it comes to establishing positive individual practices that affect collective bodies. When constructing a socially aware allyship training program, you must give voice to different groups and gather different perspectives. Define the target areas you want to address, then research thoroughly to decide the best ways to approach the topics based on the beliefs and values of your own company. Gather as much feedback as you can from employees and find out what challenges or subject matter they want to see covered in your training program. Lastly, don't take anything for granted; even if you have already broached a topic in training sessions or workshops, it's always good to give your staff a refresher. Proactively approaching social issues builds a solid foundation for people to consider your company an ally as a whole.
2. Do: Make It Sustainable
Having a one-time diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training seminar is more often than not mandatory for companies nowadays. While it's still valuable to include in your onboarding curriculum, allyship training should be a longer-term practice, as it can establish positive behaviors within the workplace. First, you have to define short-term and long-term aims. Short-term targets showcase immediate results that can be measured through employee participation in initiatives like awareness discussions and educational workshops. Long-term objectives play an active role in how employees interact with each other and what impact your initiatives have on their everyday life in and out of work. Outline the desired outcomes and stretch out your strategy to last for more than a day. And, as always, make sure to consider employee feedback to improve your curriculum and bring positive, long-lasting change to your organization.
3. Do: Stay Vigilant And Proactive
Companies should dedicate resources and working hours to plan and work out the details of their allyship strategy. The curriculum may touch upon sensitive subjects, but modern organizations should encourage productive dialogue and provide opportunities for their staff to be proactive. Learning how to be allies to one another is a cornerstone in setting healthy balances between team members. Moreover, remaining vigilant to detect biased or unfair behaviors and protect your company's workforce is essential. Your allyship training material should also be well maintained and up to date. So, continuously ask for input from diverse perspectives.
Allyship Training: The Don'ts
1. Don't: Take It Lightly
Allyship training has a real-life impact. It isn't strictly aiming to improve workflow processes or employee productivity. Though it can also affect these areas, allyship training has a profound influence on everyday life as a whole. For this reason, it should be taken seriously from day one. Being informed can help you detect unhealthy behaviors in your workplace that can spread. Excusing these behaviors can endanger your own people, along with the healthy structures that your company culture was built on.
2. Don't: Talk Over
Developing an allyship training plan means that your company has objectives to tick off the list and subject areas to cover; even if there's already a rough idea of what topics to broach, resist the urge to dive in. Initiatives like these require experienced viewpoints. Regardless of the fact that you are ready to bring up these vital issues, it's always better to let the experts lead these discussions to avoid talking over others. One of the primary goals of any allyship training strategy is to amplify typically underrepresented voices. Allow your experts to facilitate conversations so that your people can see themselves at the front line. Sometimes, being a good ally lies in knowing when to step back and be an active listener. The course of action is to either outsource or select in-house experts that are ready to voluntarily start an open dialogue about these vital issues.
Conclusion
Committing to creating good allies in your workforce requires resources, time, and planning. Allyship training is an investment to cultivate a safe and diverse work environment, and a socially conscious way to show your employees that their company cares about them. However, you should consider that there are right and wrong ways to approach these conversations in order to create a positive, constructive workplace for all your employees. Navigating our online directory to find the ideal content provider for your allyship training is a great place to start.
