Dear Diversity
& Inclusion Pioneers:
Diversity
expertise is considered a valuable resource for meeting the
challenges of promoting inclusion and capitalizing on the promise
of diversity for gaining a competitive edge in a global marketplace.
It
doesn't matter if you are new to diversity work, you simply
need more expertise, or you are a seasoned professional seeking
resources, the information on this site is more than you can
imagine finding in one place.
The diversity
training field is becoming more competitive because it is part
of a multibillion dollar industry resulting from recent demographic
trends, globalization, and the anti-workplace discrimination
laws. Most of the people in the field are pioneers who have
academic, community organization, or corporate experience, but
little intensive training in cultural competency development.
Until recently, programs for training the expertise did not
exist. Even today only a few exist and those tend to concentrate
on the American experience. DTUI provides professionals with
global competency development resources to meet the challenges
of an increasingly interdependent world.
Most diversity
experts are trainers. Many people who have participated in diversity
training share with us at DTUI that the good feelings they took
away from the training waned after a few days. They claim that
training did not leave them with enough information and skills
to sustain their enthusiasm or make a noticeable difference
in their relationships with people who are different. Others
tell us that required diversity trainings have left them bitter
about having anyone exposed to such “nonsense.”
One reason for their negative experiences is that diversity
training content continues to overemphasize raising participants’
awareness of cultural differences. Awareness is only one part
of cultural competency. People want to take away things from
training that they can use. You can’t blame them. At the
same time, awareness train can have considerable value and often
needs to take place before other competencies can be addressed.
From the
trainers’ perspective, organizations tend to offer few
resources in terms of time and money to accomplish the desired
training goals. Providing cost-effective, yet high impact, training
is not easy. Fortunately, recent innovations have made it possible
to reach a lot more people in a cost-effective way.
In addition,
only recently have we learned more about what cultural competency
encompasses and how to go about training the expertise. Unfortunately,
the information comes primarily out of the psychological research
literature, which has not been widely disseminated to practitioners.
While more and more professionals are using the term cultural
competency, each defines it differently. This indicates that
the concept is new to many. This is the reason we use the terms
diversity training and cultural competency development interchangeably
at this time.
It takes
more than diversity training to change an organization even
if your work stands above the competition. Diversity training
is merely one tool among many that can be effectively used to
promote organizational inclusion. It is very important to understand
what an organization needs to become more inclusive before deciding
if diversity training is suitable. We have found, for example,
in our work that all too often a change in policies and procedures
and consistently following them can solve problems without the
use of diversity training. Understanding how to identify cultural
competencies and link them to productivity within an organization
are the keys to the secrets of diversity expertise.
This web
site offers a lot of cultural competency information and resources.
A range of educational materials, including state of the art
literature, training tools, organizational assessment, developing
workshops with a personal touch, managing group dynamics, consulting
to management, and loads of other stuff exists on the site.
You'll save
time and money, avoid trial and error learning, learn to manage
challenging group dynamics, and learn secrets of the trade that
many are unaware of. The result is that you will build your
confidence, become an asset, and establish yourself as an expert.
My personal
goal is to give you so much valuable information that you will
keep returning to the site for continuous education. We are
proud of DTUI and know that you will receive value from each
visit, so BOOKMARK this site now for easy access.
This site
cannot have been possible without the hard work and commitment
of a lot of wonderful and competent people. I would like to
personally thank Gordon Brown, Philip Raphael, Sherry Williams,
Rita Rizzo, Mariah Gayler, Jean Fisher, Patti Eger, Todd Murat,
Mogenns Gilmore, Scott Vandehey, and Geneè Jackson for
their help with making DTUI’s website an awarding winning
resource. We would also like to thank the tens of thousands
of visitors to the DTUI site since 1998. Your emails and phone
calls were filled with wonderful testimonials that energized
us every step of the way.
Don't forget
to learn more about our approach to cultural competency development,
visit our resource page, and learn more about DTUI course offerings.
If
you like this information, I suggest that you also learn about
the DTUI Cultural Competency Development approach.
Click Here to learn
about our approach to cultural competency development!
Click
Here for details about the diversity training market!
