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Diversity Benefits
Workplace Answers, 866.456.5301
www.workplaceanswers.com
Reviewed By: Linda Pacheco
"Diversity? Affirmative Action? Are they the same? This doesn’t apply to me. What a waste of my time!"
Have you heard comments similar to these? If so, how do you provide training and still deliver a WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) for your employees?
Workplace Answers has a solution. It is a self-paced, online learning course called "Diversity Benefits." It provides a comprehensive look at the issue of diversity in the workplace and the importance of providing training for all employees, especially supervisors, due to the litigious nature of our times.
Delivered via the Internet, Diversity Benefits is completely self-paced. Designed to take approximately one hour to complete, this course helps employers by explaining the “business case” for valuing diversity, which includes increasing inclusion of, and participation by, staff at all levels while deepening workplace understanding of diversity characteristics and categories that are protected by law.
The course is divided into four sections:
• Dimensions of Diversity
• Race, Religion, & Related Categories
• Sex, Gender, Disability, Personality, & Piercings
• Height, Weight, & Other Emerging Types of Disabilities
Your employees can comfortably complete the course in one sitting or take it over time. Workplace Answers keeps track of their progress so each time they log back into the course, they continue from where they left off.
In addition to the course content, additional material is available through the top navigation toolbar. A glossary of terms, your company’s diversity or harassment policy (or a sample policy if you choose not to customize), and a help menu are available. Upon completion of the course, a certificate with the student's name can be printed.
The information covered in this course is delivered in an easy-to-navigate, easy-to-understand fashion. Progressing thru a series of slides, participants read the information presented directly on the slide, or click on a series of pictures that relay information via a story.
"Practical Points" recap the information provided very concisely. Famous quotations are used sporadically throughout the course to help illustrate a point, and a nice feature is each quote can be printed.
The Workplace Answers "Diversity Coverage Wheel" organizes diversity characteristics according to legal protection.
The scenarios are my favorite aspect of this course. Using the information previously presented, participants are now asked to apply this knowledge to a scenario that is very representative of real life. After reading the situation, participants are asked to answer questions about it and decide the best way to handle it. They cannot move forward in the course without answering the questions and then reviewing the answers provided.
Beware! Some of the scenarios are very realistic and use words or language, especially slang that can be shocking or offensive. This is intentional. Workplace Answers wants to show how harmful lack of understanding or lack of respect can be to the workplace.
It is also very important to understand how innocently people may say or do something, not realizing it can be offensive, and yet still cause harm to the workplace. I feel that Workplace Answers covers this efficiently and very well.
There is only one area I would like to see enhanced. After the participants read thru the scenario and answer the questions, they choose the check answer button and the correct answers are shown with a brief explanation.
I feel the explanations at times could be more detailed and direct, especially taking into account the seriousness of the topic. Some of the explanations I feel are a little vague and open to interpretation.
Click for Linda Pacheco's review of the Workplace Answers sexual harassment course
Recommendation
With that said, all in all, I definitely recommend Diversity Benefits. It is very easy to use and easy to understand. The content is clear and concise.
"Diversity? Affirmative Action? Are they the same? This doesn’t apply to me. What a waste of my time!" Everyone who completes the course will definitely understand that Diversity Benefits does applies to her or him. Respect and understanding are universally relevant.
Overall rating: 3.5
Note: ratings use a four-point scale, with 4.0 the highest rating and 1.0 the lowest.
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