Course Description
Practicing EDI is about committing to a process of growing and evolving. While this course exposes you to the fundamentals of EDI in relation to collaboration and resilience building, it is important to acknowledge that even the term EDI itself is in a state of evolution with some proponents advocating for the use of a new acronym of IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Sustainability). No matter what you call it the principles of EDI have become an essential component of business best practices. You may already know that educating employees and yourself about the importance of being equitable, diverse, and inclusive is vital to the success of today’s workplace, but you might be wondering how you can implement steps to begin making a shift. We want to offer you a different way of thinking about EDI in this course, and provide you with some actionable steps you can take to be more accessible and make improving the EDI in your workplace easier.
EDI in the workplace cannot be ‘tackled’, It requires constant attention and a dedication to improvement that may seem overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are many opportunities for organizations to improve and implement EDI practices that lead to better, safer, and more productive workplaces. While you go through this course you will see how implementing EDI has numerous benefits such as building resilience, creating space for active collaboration, and allowing for innovation.
Audience
This program is designed for leaders, managers, and employers who want to commit to the fundamentals of EDI in order to reap the benefits of collaboration, innovation, and resilience.
Course Learning Outcomes
As you make your way through this course, you’ll learn about three key areas of focus to help improve EDI practices in your workplace: the impacts of diversity, the barriers and facilitators of inclusion, and implementation strategies for developing continuous-improvement-based inclusion practices. We’ve provided this information in incremental steps so you can see how to layer your own approach to bringing this information back to your workplace.
In module one, you’ll begin by understanding the importance of diversity, not just to satisfy legislation or requirement, but how diversity impacts you and your workplace for the better. You’ll be able to see how diversity not only is influenced by resilience but also how a diverse workforce contributes to a resilient workforce. You’ll have the opportunity to take stock of the EDI policies your organization currently has in place and throughout the course will have opportunities to fill out any gaps you might be missing.
In module two, you’ll be introduced to the ways in which diversity affects positive change in the workplace and you’ll identify some ways to remove the barriers that may be preventing you from making changes in the workplace right now. We want you to walk away from this course with the ability to think critically about what is stopping your organization from making headway with EDI and how you can help improve progress.
In module three, you’ll explore implementation strategies for improving EDI and consider several ways to navigate disruption in the workplace. Disruption, like the pandemic, has required businesses to rethink their approach to work, and adopting new ways of working can contribute to resilience and collaboration.
Module Learning Outcomes
Module 1
In this module, we’ll dive deeper into the benefits of EDI and some ways to recognize and utilize practices to create more diversity in your workplace You will have the opportunity to reflect and build upon your assessments of current EDI practices. You’ll come to understand how diversity plays a role in creating a resilient workplace and how communication and more collaborative approaches to work can foster diversity and play an essential role in the success of diverse and innovative workplaces.
Module 2
In this module, you’ll learn how to recognize barriers to implementing EDI efforts and begin to break them down through the use of collaboration and communication. We’ll address the different environments where barriers may exist and look to uncover biases in order to help move change forward.
Module 3
In this module, you’ll learn about 5 key factors to consider in EDI goal setting. As well as some subthemes of a flexible work environment that helps you be more inclusive and we’ll offer some ways for you to implement these strategies. You’ll also learn about the importance of first-voice perspectives and how you can hold space for a variety of perspectives in your organization. And finally, you’ll learn some of the best practices for navigating disruption in the workplace.
Course Structure (inclusive of time commitment)
Information in this course is presented through animated videos, text and a variety of activities. The videos will explain key concepts and the text and activities provide opportunities to reflect on your learning and encourage action steps to implement your learning in your organization.
This course is intended to take approximately 1.5 – 3 hours to complete. It is separated into modules and your progress is automatically saved, so feel free to complete at your own pace.
