The Critical Nature of Cultural Sensitivity/Diversity Training Today
"This is not another preachy lecture"
Diversity training has evolved from the days when people and employees received lectures on do’s and don’ts in
their organization or workplace. If you are in a business or on-profit environment, somewhere in the human
resource department, you already have a list of government, industry, and organizational standards for conduct in
the workplace. It is a good idea to find them and read them. The rules are there to help you comply with
regulations, but real cultural sensitivity goes beyond rules and just being politically correct. Some of the early
training attempted to build sensitivity in people but ended up creating more problems than it helped. The old style
training often reinforced stereotypes and ended with exercises that were recitations of the worst experiences I ever
had with someone from another group or culture. Bad news.
That is not what you or your organization needs. Training should be about building real skills and raising
competencies that enable you to succeed in a diverse and global environment. The question remains: Why should
soft skills like cross-cultural competencies and sensitivity/diversity training be important in today’s environment?
Globalization is still a major force in the world and we live in an ever more connected world. You can get on the net
and in seconds be working with people from different parts of the United States and all over the world. Goods and
services flow across the globe instantaneously. So, in the morning I may be connecting with suppliers in Japan and
in the afternoon selling products to Cairo or Stockholm. Even non-profit organizations are connecting via global
efforts to “think globally and work locally”. It is a small world and we are increasingly interconnected.
Even if you don’t do work on the Internet or sell goods in the international market, the number of international
workers and the diversity of local populations of people is increasing. For those of us in the United States, the
immigration laws were changed after 1965 to increase the number of younger workers in the United States (see the
demographic data on the next page). As a result of the immigration laws, the percent of foreign born people in the
United States is as great, if not greater, than in the early 1900’s. Guest workers are a large part of life in most of
the countries of the world. Diversity is a global phenomenon. Our classrooms and social groups are also more
diverse than ever before- and this can be beneficial if people have cross-cultural skills.
What this means for the average person is that you are likely to have a very rich and diverse social environment
and workplace. This diversity need not be viewed as something negative- that’s the old thinking. What studies have
shown is that when people from different backgrounds, different life experiences, even different departments or
disciplines get together and learn to really listen and communicate, something extraordinary happens. Creativity
and productivity often rises. Diversity is a definite positive.
< Back | Next >
their organization or workplace. If you are in a business or on-profit environment, somewhere in the human
resource department, you already have a list of government, industry, and organizational standards for conduct in
the workplace. It is a good idea to find them and read them. The rules are there to help you comply with
regulations, but real cultural sensitivity goes beyond rules and just being politically correct. Some of the early
training attempted to build sensitivity in people but ended up creating more problems than it helped. The old style
training often reinforced stereotypes and ended with exercises that were recitations of the worst experiences I ever
had with someone from another group or culture. Bad news.
That is not what you or your organization needs. Training should be about building real skills and raising
competencies that enable you to succeed in a diverse and global environment. The question remains: Why should
soft skills like cross-cultural competencies and sensitivity/diversity training be important in today’s environment?
Globalization is still a major force in the world and we live in an ever more connected world. You can get on the net
and in seconds be working with people from different parts of the United States and all over the world. Goods and
services flow across the globe instantaneously. So, in the morning I may be connecting with suppliers in Japan and
in the afternoon selling products to Cairo or Stockholm. Even non-profit organizations are connecting via global
efforts to “think globally and work locally”. It is a small world and we are increasingly interconnected.
Even if you don’t do work on the Internet or sell goods in the international market, the number of international
workers and the diversity of local populations of people is increasing. For those of us in the United States, the
immigration laws were changed after 1965 to increase the number of younger workers in the United States (see the
demographic data on the next page). As a result of the immigration laws, the percent of foreign born people in the
United States is as great, if not greater, than in the early 1900’s. Guest workers are a large part of life in most of
the countries of the world. Diversity is a global phenomenon. Our classrooms and social groups are also more
diverse than ever before- and this can be beneficial if people have cross-cultural skills.
What this means for the average person is that you are likely to have a very rich and diverse social environment
and workplace. This diversity need not be viewed as something negative- that’s the old thinking. What studies have
shown is that when people from different backgrounds, different life experiences, even different departments or
disciplines get together and learn to really listen and communicate, something extraordinary happens. Creativity
and productivity often rises. Diversity is a definite positive.
< Back | Next >
© 2005 Goldfinch Training. All Rights Reserved.