Both private and public workspaces have been moving away from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) directives in hiring. For some, this is seen as a cost cutting measure, and for others, a response to perceived public demand. Regardless of the reason, this creates an opportunity for organizations to set themselves apart and reap demonstrable rewards by promoting an inclusive culture through the onboarding experience. Inclusion is important as well as the return on investment (ROI) it represents for businesses in a variety of industries. This article empowers onboarding staff to leverage this opportunity through three distinct pathways. These methods can create a foundation for an inclusive culture through onboarding. Let’s review practical examples to both designing inclusive programs and facilitating the introductory experience.
Pathway No.1: Elevate All Contributions
The first pathway is to enable and encourage all new employees to contribute their voice to the onboarding experience. Design your onboarding with inclusive language throughout so that your new hires can contribute to the discussion. Inclusive, gender-neutral and unbiased language in learning materials and programming can increase the likelihood that all learners will engage in the process — an important metric when determining learning outcomes. Designers also should promote diverse voices when building activities. For example, enable participants to contribute to a word cloud anonymously using sticky notes displayed on a board, or dedicated word cloud programs in virtual classrooms. This activity can invite and celebrate all voices, without singling anyone out in potentially stressful or tokenizing conversations.
Facilitators can promote diverse perspectives by drawing people in and inviting learners to share their experiences. Set the expectation early regarding when and how learners will contribute and guide them through the process. For example, promote collective participation through activities that require universal participation. And rather than asking some participants to share a positive experience with customer service, call on all learners to share a customer service experience whether good, bad or in between. This can draw participants into the learning experience by inviting them to contribute to their own learning or reflect on how past experiences relate to the training at hand.
Pathway No. 2: Focus on Learning, Not Stress
The second pathway to promote an inclusive culture is by maintaining a focus on learning, limiting sources of anxiety or stress wherever possible. Self-reflection is a core component of modeling and promoting compassion in the classroom, and any instructional design project should include time for this critical activity. Instructional design can also limit stress by including low stakes evaluations. Low-pressure check-ins can prepare learners to identify learning gaps and familiarize themselves with the high-stake evaluation. One example is a knowledge check, which can be designed as a quiz and provide instant feedback to the learner. Another example is peer evaluation, which can be helpful to both learners as one peer performs the evaluation using a checklist and the other peer completes tasks before the roles are flipped. Each peer can learn from the other, limiting stress and preparing each learner for a larger evaluation of capabilities.
When facilitating, keep the focus on the content of participants’ contributions rather than on the format. Allow learners to engage in learning in a variety of ways and empower them to contribute how they feel most comfortable — whether neurodivergent or neurotypical. It is also important to demonstrate how each option is used, particularly in a virtual environment where some tools will be unfamiliar to learners. Some examples to consider aside from voice or chat are anonymous whiteboard responses using text or drawing. Participants can also mark and add to documents virtually or in-person using both small group and whole group conversations. Another helpful tool for classes of a manageable size is learning agreements, developed by participants at the start of class to identify ground rules for comfortable and productive conversation throughout the session. By providing a variety of ways to contribute —anonymously, publicly and in a format identified by the class beforehand — participants are given the opportunity to fully contribute in the learning process.
Pathway No. 3: Empower Learners to Choose
Providing options to learners is a third pathway onboarding programs can use to build and foster the rewards of an inclusive culture. One example of creating choices in learning is to assign specific materials as a requirement for the position or for regulatory compliance. Then, additional playlists of optional learning can be offered to further develop the learner for their role. This can allow employees to choose material to complete, creating additional learning opportunities to further support their current role and empower them in obtaining new roles within the organization. Other examples include branching learning paths or the use of equivalency across multiple delivery types.
Furthermore, facilitators can give learners options regardless of the materials provided. For example, present a topic using multiple perspectives and descriptions or even invite participants to describe topics in their own words, allowing other learners to receive and interpret material effectively. Additionally, facilitators can allow participants to self-select small groups when appropriate and even choose icebreaker activities on their own. While inviting participants to introduce themselves can help engage learners and invite them to share some of their unique experiences, the examples here go a step further and encourage engagement by providing meaningful choice in the flow of learning.
Conclusion
You can leverage each of these pathways to enhance both the learning outcomes and the ROI associated with training new staff. Reflecting diverse perspectives throughout the onboarding process naturally feeds into an inclusive culture throughout the organization where employees are heard and feel valued enough to put forth their best effort. Use these pathways for inclusive onboarding in your programs to establish meaningful and productive connection with and between your staff, and to take your organization another step toward success.
