For several years now, most companies have increasingly paid attention to acting as diversely and inclusively as possible. However, implementation is not successful in all areas. To come a step closer to this goal, e-learning can be a good way: Draw attention to the topic, raise employees' awareness in this area, and support them accordingly.
Why Inclusion and Diversity in the Workplace are So Important
Various studies, such as the international McKinsey study, show: Diversity affects business success! Companies with a particularly high degree of diversity are very likely to be above-average profitable, and employees are significantly more satisfied with their jobs. This applies to all aspects, regardless of gender, ethnic origin, or social background.
The connection between diversity in management and business success is real. Promoting talents with different backgrounds, both men and women, different ethnicities, and academic backgrounds, is both a question of fairness and a business priority. – Julia Sperling, McKinsey Partner in Frankfurt
Other studies also show that the relevance of diversity and inclusion is largely underestimated, and in most companies, there is no clear accountability for the topic. However, it brings several benefits to companies when they promote a diverse and inclusive environment. According to the leading job portal Indeed, the following 5 advantages arise from diversity in the workplace:
Employees find better, more creative solutions to problems.
Diversity promotes better decision-making.
Company profits and team productivity increase.
Employee turnover within the team decreases.
The company's reputation improves significantly.
But it’s not just about promoting underrepresented groups – all employees must feel comfortable and safe in their working environment so they can engage successfully in their work.
Promote inclusion and diversity to enhance employee productivity and satisfaction.
How to Foster an Inclusive and Diverse Work Atmosphere with E-Learning
In today's world, it is no longer sufficient for a company to project a certain "openness"—employees demand clear actions! Learning platforms and e-learning tools offer a good opportunity to promote cultural change within companies. Because e-learning can create a space for exchange and knowledge acquisition.
As the responsible person, you can provide appropriate learning content on these relevant topics on demand. This content helps change mindsets and behaviors in the long term. Thus, e-learning contributes to open and inclusive corporate governance over the long term.
To ensure this truly succeeds, those in charge of training should pay attention to the following things:
1. Conduct regular surveys among employees
As in all areas, the same applies to the topic of inclusion: Monitor your measures and strive to improve them continuously. For a genuine change in action and thinking among employees to occur, they must naturally participate in your measures. However, this will only happen if they are appealing and content-wise valuable. Therefore, regularly engage with your own content and also check who is taking advantage of your training offerings.
If you notice that some individuals are increasingly not participating in these offerings, this is your indication of potential for improvement. Engage with these employees and collaboratively work on solutions so that your learning content is relevant and meaningful to them as well.
2. Offer all employees the same access to knowledge
People are not all alike, fortunately! You should consider this in your learning content and training measures.
An appropriate learning platform helps you address the different needs: You can create content in different languages or pay attention to plain language to ensure accessibility. Another option is provided through media diversity. Learning content does not always have to be in text form! Videos, podcasts, or quizzes offer great opportunities for knowledge delivery.
3. Make cultural diversity part of the training
If employees do not feel addressed by learning content, they will not engage with it. In particular, cultural bias can lead to employees feeling excluded and therefore not participating in your learning offerings.
This applies not only to the content itself but also to the form of presentation: When creating learning content, ensure that it represents as many employees as possible. In addition to varied media content, the actors in your training also count. Involve employees directly in the conception and let them become a part of your training. This way, you also guarantee the consideration of cultural differences, languages, or particularities in learning behavior.
4. Methodically reduce unconscious biases
Classical awareness-raising work is no longer sufficient to adequately address the important issue of inclusion and to achieve a real change within your team. Therefore, it is even more important to reveal and refute implicit biases. To approach these unconscious behaviors, there are various options in e-learning: Whether through role-plays or classic discussions – in all cases, it is crucial to approach each other.
In acute cases, it is also advisable to involve disadvantaged employees and give them a voice. Individuals learn best when confronted with real examples. When an employee sees how a particular behavior affects the well-being of a colleague, they will understand the problem faster. Move away from the hypothetical example and towards practice!
5. Involve direct supervisors in planning
When new things are introduced, those responsible often encounter skepticism. However, when supervisors lead by example, this quickly diminishes – after all, the opinion of those nearer usually counts more than that of the top boss. For more on this, see the article "Increase Motivation in E-Learning: Involve Managers!".
Learning platforms offer you, as the training responsible party, better opportunities to further develop and properly adapt content within your team. We must gradually part ways with universally applicable learning content in order to achieve actual learning successes! Make learning content as individual as the entire team – and this only works through the active participation of all involved.
Now that you have received a selection of helpful tips, you can directly address the topic of inclusion in your e-learning. Or are you still missing a suitable learning platform? Then schedule your free demo appointment now or try blink.it directly in the demo course on "Improving Time Management".
