Selecting the right diversity and inclusion training provider is a complicated process, especially given the many goals that every DEI professional has to achieve and the myriad of providers in the marketplace, each with their own features and messaging.
So, how do you sift through all the noise?
You continue reading this article because we’re going to give you the four items to consider before selecting the right DEI training provider.
Step One: Know What You Need
Are you looking for company-wide training or something more specific, like focusing only on senior leadership? This answer may change per company, and sometimes be different in the same company depending on when the question is asked. Some companies feel the need to start with senior leadership and then open up training to the rest of the company.
Of course, all of this gets to the broader question of whether you want something that’s instructor-led or self-paced and online. More of that in step two.
Beyond that, it’s important to know how important data is to you. Are you interested in tracking the completion of content? Maybe you want to see aggregate assessment results?
Step Two: Get the Right Format
There’s a lot of ways to deliver DEI training: Online learning. Instructor-led training. Mobile app learning.
Within each of these, there are sub-categories, like “full-length courses” and “short-length courses” and then there’s in-person or virtual workshops. To make matters slightly more confusing, “short-length” means 5 minutes for some folks, whereas for others it means half an hour or even an hour.
What does that mean for you as you look to select the right mix of DEI learning content for your organization and your employees?
You should go into conversations with vendors with an open mind about their offerings but also have a general understanding of what your needs will be.
At RW3 CultureWizard, we believe in a cooperative relationship with potential clients, where we provide broad access to everything we have to offer while educating individuals on what different categories are out there so they can select exactly what they need.
Step Three: Credentials Matter
There’s a lot of vendors out there. Some vendors have been around for decades, and some are newer players in the space. Many vendors like to focus on the negatives of DEI, pointing out what’s wrong in corporate cultures today, and though no one disagrees that there is significant room for improvement, we’ve found that you’ll meet less resistance to your DEI initiatives if you focus on what steps folks can take to bring inclusion to their organizations and to their immediate teams.
The key is selecting a vendor who has the experience and the ability to help you foster an inclusive workplace.
Ask how their approach to DEI translates to action-oriented, easy-to-understand best practices and instructions for employees.
Step Four: Integration and Customization
You’ll want to make sure that whatever provider you select will work with you to integrate into your existing Learning Management System (LMS) if you have one, and that they’ll partner with you to make sure that the content works for you.
As an example, some vendors use the terminology of Unconscious Bias instead of Implicit Bias. You may have made the decision to refer to it as Implicit Bias. Will the vendor offer to customize their courses in order to use language that you’ve already been leveraging within your organization? And will they do so quickly and for a reasonable fee?
Some vendors don’t have in-house tech teams so this ability is not easy for them to do. You’ll want to ask about that as you work on selecting the right vendor.
ConclusionFundamentally, selecting the right DEI provider is all about finding the vendor who understands your company’s needs and is willing to work with you to fit those needs. So, armed with this information, go out there knowing that you know which questions to ask and what level of service you should expect!
Ready to learn how RW3 CultureWizard can fit your training needs?
