Dilemmas in developing diversity programs

As such, diversity and inclusion needs to be a part of all learning activities as it is an essential part of any workplace and critical to fostering a diverse and inclusive organizational life. How, where and when it occurs is dependent on identifying both formal and informal solutions for planning, access, execution, reinforcement, as well as measurement.

Fresh perspectives are needed for all aspects of learning, including just-in-time solutions, creative and innovative delivery models, and unique modes of assessment. It should also provide an inclusive space and opportunity to engage with these issues and grapple with their complexities. So how does a modern learning leader ensure that diversity and inclusion is not an afterthought in the work we do?

Here are a few things to keep in mind. Develop a strategy. Work with your organization to commit to creating an inclusion strategy. This provides the perfect opportunity for learning leaders to help guide the strategy and direction of the organization. This partnership also helps to ensure that diversity and inclusion are tied to learning objectives as well as the financials for your organization.

Review your onboarding experience. The usual onboarding focuses on corporate culture and values. How do you highlight that to new employees?

Consider ways to include diversity and inclusion thinking regarding how onboarding is presented. Create well-rounded leadership development programs. Developing leaders is a high priority for organizations, as many studies have shown. When creating these programs perhaps use a different lens, not just based on race and gender, but focus on other areas of acquired diversity. Keep in mind, for example, educational background, social status and socioeconomic status, amongst other things.

This will help to ensure a well-rounded program that will cater to all participants. Look for ways to address diversity and inclusion. Include diversity and inclusion as part of employee engagement and organizational health surveys. Track the talent pipeline. Assess the success of your leadership development programs by tracking the diversity of the talent pipeline over time. Note a specific increase in the number of minorities promoted for example. And yet each year, the results seem underwhelming.

Diversity initiatives are policies and practices designed to improve the workplace experiences and outcomes of target group members. These initiatives most often target women and ethnic or racial minorities, but they can target any group who faces pervasive disadvantage in the broader society. They might include non-discrimination policies like emphasizing merit as the basis for pay and promotions, or training employees in implicit bias , programs that support target groups like diversity mentoring programs , or accountability practices like hiring a chief diversity officer or implementing a reporting system for discrimination.

For example, studies have found that a variety of diversity initiatives—including evaluating managers based on diversity and inclusion metrics, and diversity networking and affinity groups—can lead to either more or less representation of target groups. Even when leaders have good intentions for implementing diversity initiatives, they can produce several different kinds of unintended consequences. This is when a diversity initiative has an undesirable effect on the intended outcome, like when the program decreases representation or increases discrimination.

A likely cause of backfiring is the implicit signal that target groups need help to succeed. Because diversity initiatives are supposed to help target group members, some people infer that target group members might not be able to succeed on their own.

And this is problematic because it can lead to stereotyping and discrimination. We know the reason why target group members need extra help to succeed is because of systematic disadvantages they face in society. Negative spillover. This is when diversity initiatives have an undesirable effect on something other than the intended outcome. For example, diversity initiatives may result in negative attitudes among non-target group members.

The root cause of this reaction may be the signal that targets are likely to succeed in the organization. Unlike the first message—that targets need help to succeed—this is a message that leaders probably want to send when they implement a diversity initiative.

But it can also lead to some perceived unfairness among members of non-target groups, such as whites and men. This is because people tend to perceive intergroup relations as a zero-sum game. They see that as unfair, and ultimately this leads to a lack of engagement. They form negative attitudes toward the organization because they feel the organization is treating them unfairly. Community Assessment An administrator needs to identify the culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse groups in the program's locale.

The information is useful for assessing The percentage of minority and ethnic individuals residing in the catchment area. Assessment by Clients Important information about a program's level of cultural competence can be supplied only by the clients it serves. Program Self-Assessment Self-assessment of the treatment program's cultural competence should include the following areas: Administration policies.

Implementing Changes Based on Cultural Competence Assessment Most programs can benefit from administrative-level changes that can be accomplished quickly. Some suggestions follow: The ability to work sensitively with people from other cultures can be a criterion for evaluating staff performance.

Program policy can encourage staff members to pursue continuing education in cultural competence, focused on groups served by the program. Developing a Long-Term, Ongoing Cultural Competence Process To move toward cultural competence, programs need a long-term, ongoing commitment to change, including staff selection and training.

Steps To Take Based on results of the cultural competence assessment, an administrator might take the following steps: Obtain new screening and assessment instruments. Identify and acquire screening and assessment materials for the diverse groups in the client population e. Both foreign-born clients who are learning English and those with cognitive impairments may benefit from oral screening methods.

Train staff to use these materials and methods. Open a dialog with staff. Convene brown-bag lunches to engage staff members in discussions and activities that offer an opportunity to explore attitudes, beliefs, and values related to cultural diversity and cultural competence.

Explore staff development needs. Ask staff members what resources would help them serve culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse groups. Use this information to develop ongoing staff training programs. Revise the budget. Allocate funds to support staff in attending conferences, seminars, and workshops on cultural competence and treatment issues relevant to the program. Investigate funding opportunities.

Explore resources that are available to provide special services needed by potential clients. Many Federal grant programs are designed to fund services for underrepresented and underserved populations.

Remove barriers. Address any special barriers to treatment for diverse groups identified in the assessment phase. For example, foreign-born clients may need vocational help, translation services, or English-as-a-second-language classes.

Inform staff and clients of resources on diversity and substance use disorders. Provide information about the resources that are available to support clients from diverse groups. Staff Selection and Training The program's openness to differences in background among clients and staff members should be communicated clearly both to potential clients and to referral sources in the surrounding community.

Selecting a diverse staff Programs need to recruit staff members whose backgrounds are similar to those of the clients being treated. The following planning approach may be helpful in increasing the number of counselors from different backgrounds: Target specific ethnic and cultural groups served by the program, and assess the barriers to finding and hiring clinical staff with the same backgrounds.

In areas where these groups constitute a small percentage of the population, hiring qualified counselors from the same backgrounds may be difficult.

Tap into State and national recruiting sources, such as the Single State Agency and job search and recruitment Web sites. Develop a plan to encourage potential counselors to enter the treatment field through internships. Look at providing incentives for promising candidates, including training. Recruit diverse candidates from local colleges; consider granting fellowships to assist advanced students in completing their degrees.

Interviewing and hiring culturally competent staff Cultural competence is not merely a set of skills; it is also a desire to use those skills to understand others. Training staff All counselors have cultural blind spots. Training of staff members needs to focus on Self-assessment of cultural biases and attitudes. Undertaking Program Planning A core set of administrative and structural principles is important for every program providing treatment to diverse groups.

Criteria for Types of Programming What type of programming will be provided for clients from minority groups in the community? A program can decide to serve diverse clients Within a nonspecialized treatment program, providing one-on-one counseling as needed.

Administrative Support for Counselors When clients from diverse groups are to be treated in a general program, the counselor who works with them should be experienced and supportive. Specialized Treatment Programs If a specialized program is deemed necessary, administrators should be aware that the program must follow mandatory State requirements and meet the same licensure regulations as other treatment programs.

Identified special client populations Clients for whom specialized programs are highly recommended include Foreign-born clients. The special language needs of some immigrant groups may be met best through specialized programming. Bilingual counselors need to be available when treating clients who speak a language other than English. Specialized programs for recent immigrants also may require focusing on U. For clients with limited English-language skills, important documents e.

Clients benefiting from an ethnocentric approach. Individuals from minority groups may have problems with identity, self-esteem, and cultural alienation. Ethnocentric programs that build on the individual's strengths and ethnic roots can be empowering. Treatment programs developed for Native Americans and Alaska Natives—using both Western and traditional healing methods—represent an example of the enhanced effectiveness that ethnocentric programs can achieve.

Components of specialized programs Specialized programs for a particular group should include Staff members, supervisors, and administrators representing backgrounds similar to those of the clients. Although it is important that program staff members reflect the diversity of the client population, it should not be assumed that counseling staff members will be competent simply because they share the clients' ethnicity or culture.

For example, middle-class African-American counselors may not share the life experiences of African-American clients who live in inner-city poverty.

Native-American programs may find that their Western-trained Native counselors need training and support before they can treat clients effectively using Native healing ceremonies and traditions.

Staff training and supervision. Cultural training is important for counselors in an ethnocentric program. Programs serving foreign-born clients need to employ staff members who are multilingual and multicultural. It is important to be aware that a counselor from the same culture as the client may still need cultural sensitivity training. Culture changes within a country over time. A counselor whose family immigrated during his or her childhood may not be attuned to the culture of the recent immigrant.

Also, the level of acculturation can change drastically between immigrants and their children born in this country. Unbiased assessment tools. Program staff should be sensitive to issues of cultural bias in assessment procedures.

To ensure appropriate test interpretation, programs should use standardized and program-based instruments that have norms for the ethnic or cultural groups that are being treated. Special programming components. Treatment programs that serve a particular group should be culturally relevant for the particular group in content, delivery of services, and philosophy. Before designing a specialized program, administrators should seek help and advice from other providers who have developed programs for the same population.

Focus groups comprising recovering members of a specific minority population, drawn from program alumni, also can be valuable. Clients With Disabilities Clients who are deaf One-half of one percent of the American population is deaf, but people who are deaf are underrepresented among the population that seeks treatment McCrone Other clients with disabilities Individuals who are disabled have higher rates of substance use disorders than the general population Moore and Li Designing Ongoing Outreach Efforts Community involvement and outreach are critical parts of any long-term, cultural competence plan.

The following steps can be taken: Network with appropriate organizations. Contact organizations concerned with the culturally diverse groups the program serves. Solicit their involvement and input in the design and implementation of service delivery initiatives with these groups. Work to identify and remove barriers to treatment for diverse groups. Address clients' need for transportation services, limited free time to participate in treatment, and the need for childcare services.

Appendix 4-A. Click on Audience to access information on African-Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians and Pacific Islanders, disabled individuals, Hispanic and Latino populations, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. The Provider's Guide to Quality and Culture erc. Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness Spector —This book includes chapters on traditional views of health in African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian and Pacific Islander communities and appendixes that list population-specific resources.

Preparing for Cultural Competence Assessment Managing Multiculturalism in Substance Abuse Services Gordon —This book focuses on developing a multicultural framework for treatment, program evaluation, and leadership. It includes tools to evaluate the needs of the community and the effectiveness of cultural competence training. Assessment questionnaires that focus on the community, clients, and the program itself are included in appendix A.

The tools and information can be adapted for drug treatment programs. Health Resources and Services Administration. Training Cultural Competency Tool order forms at www. Toolkit for Cross-Cultural Communication www.

Handbook for Developing Multicultural Awareness, 3d edition Pedersen —This book employs a three-stage model of multicultural training, focusing on culturally learned assumptions, accurate information, and counseling skills; it also discusses ethical dilemmas and conflict management.

Lessons can be used for group training or self-instruction and are designed to teach new attitudes and behaviors for interacting with people from diverse cultures. Culture and the Clinical Encounter: An Intercultural Sensitizer for the Health Professions Gropper —This book presents cross-cultural health care scenarios with possible outcomes from which the reader chooses.

Each choice is discussed in a separate answer key. The question-and-answer format makes this a useful training tool. Intercultural Communication Institute www. The National Center for Cultural Competence www. Appendix 4-B. Copyright Notice. In this Page. Cultural Competence Resources Appendix 4-B. Community Diversity Form. Other titles in these collections. Recent Activity. Clear Turn Off Turn On. Support Center Support Center. External link.

Please review our privacy policy. Cultural diversity. Stage 1. Cultural Destructiveness. Cultural Incapacity. Cultural Blindness. Cultural Precompetence. Cultural Competence. Cultural Proficiency. Age Distribution. Hispanic Origin. Puerto Rican.

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