Here’s something rare: a sensible analysis of “diversity” training, in an article in the Harvard Business Review by the CEO of a company that “strengthens leadership in people and in organizations.” Excerpt:
“A study of 829 companies over 31 years showed that diversity training had ‘no positive effects in the average workplace.’ Millions of dollars a year were spent on the training resulting in, well, nothing. Attitudes — and the diversity of the organizations — remained the same.
“It gets worse. The researchers — Frank Dobbin of Harvard, Alexandra Kalev of Berkeley, and Erin Kelly of the University of Minnesota — concluded that ‘In firms where training is mandatory or emphasizes the threat of lawsuits, training actually has negative effects on management diversity.'”
In other words, the whole diversity training business is a scam. Here’s what the author offers as an alternative. “The solution? Instead of seeing people as categories, we need to see people as people. Stop training people to be more accepting of diversity. It’s too conceptual, and it doesn’t work. Instead, train them to do their work with a diverse set of individuals. Not categories of people. People.”
All of which sounds like common sense, and something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
