Do you find yourself paralyzed in front of people who are different from you? Are you worried that if you say or do the wrong thing you’ll offend someone, or worse, find yourself at the centre of a lawsuit?

You’re not alone. In the past ten years, the workforce has changed dramatically. More than ever, a workplace is a diverse collection of individuals proud of who they are: their gender, their sexual orientation, their religion, their ethnic background, and all the other components that make an individual unique.

The challenge becomes: how can we make these diverse individuals work as a team? We all know what happens to organizations that don’t have effective teamwork: they fail. Failing to embracing diversity can also have serious legal costs for corporations. In this one-day workshop, you’ll learn how you as an individual can celebrate diversity, and how you can help your workplace become a more diverse environment.

OBJECTIVES

• Understand what diversity and its related terms mean
• Be aware of how aware you are of diversity and where you can improve
• Understand how changes in the world have affected you and your view
• Be able to identify your stereotypes
• Understand what terms are politically correct and which are not, and why
• Be familiar with the four cornerstones of diversity
• Understand what the pitfalls are relating to diversity and how to avoid them
• Develop a technique for dealing with inappropriate behavior
• Develop a management style to encourage diversity
  Know what to do if you or one of your employees feels discriminated against

OUTLINE

• Introduction and Course Overview
• Defining Diversity
• How Does Diversity Affect Me?
  o Changes in My World
  o Self-Awareness Inventory
• Identifying Stereotypes
• Saying the Right Thing
• The Cornerstones of Diversity
  o Knowledge
  o Understanding
  o Acceptance
  o Behavior
• How to Discourage Diversity
• The STOP Technique
• Managing for Diversity
• Dealing with Discrimination
• Workshop Wrap-Up