Sensitivity training is a learning and development program designed to increase awareness and understanding of diversity, equality, and inclusion initiatives in the workplace. It helps individuals understand and recognize their colleagues’ and clients’ different experiences, perspectives, and needs. It also fosters teamwork and promotes a culture of respect.
Through sensitivity training, employees become more aware of their unconscious biases, microaggressions, unspoken privileges, and the impact of intersectionality. Sensitivity training also includes active learning exercises for practicing communication and problem-solving skills that help create a more inclusive environment in the workplace.
Sensitivity Training Methods
There are multiple forms of sensitivity training that can be utilized based on where participants fit into the business. Let’s review three of them:
- Stranger Lab Sensitivity Training
Participants in this type of training session are from various organizations and are thus unfamiliar with one another. This training aims to increase active listening skills with an emphasis on building empathy and understanding of others’ interests and concerns. After this training, participants will be able to work better together and create a more inclusive environment in the workplace.
- Cousin Lab Sensitivity Training
Cousin lab sensitivity training program participants come from various departments within the same organizations. This type of training helps individuals from different organizational levels familiarize themselves with one another’s tasks and concerns. Thus, the training promotes collective teamwork and motivation toward organizational goals and achievements while promoting listening, empathy, and critical thinking skills.
- Family Lab Sensitivity Training
Participants in family lab sensitivity training sessions are all from the same organizational unit. Therefore, they are well acquainted with each other. Their prior acquaintances enable participants to share empathy and enable the team to strengthen their teamwork.
Primary Goal of Sensitivity Training
The primary goal of sensitivity training in any workplace is to develop listening, empathy, and critical thinking skills to help employees identify missteps and accept responsibility, enabling them to practice correct behavioral and emotional actions. Sensitivity training helps:
- Develop consciousness toward teammates’ emotions and actions
- Increase interpersonal conversations
- Raise awareness toward individual’s priorities and basic values
- Foster a more empathetic attitude toward others
- Shift focus from our intent to our impact on others
What Are the Positive Impacts of Sensitivity Training?
Sensitivity training helps employees learn the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which evoke self-awareness about personal character and teach sensitivity toward others. Training impacts participants in the following ways:
- Employees gain a better understanding of one another, becoming more sensitive to differences and learning to accept and respect them. Understanding each other makes the work environment more interactive and establishes a welcoming atmosphere where everyone feels like they belong.
- Exercises in sensitivity help create an open and comfortable environment in which organizational leaders reinforce the organizational goals of inclusion and belonging with their staff effectively and respectfully. Furthermore, it allows leaders to become acquainted with their employees’ actions and gain a deeper connection to their teams.
- As employees become more accepting of differences, harassment, intimidation, and other types of discrimination decrease.
Why Your Workplace Needs to Implement a Sensitivity Training Program
Conducting sensitivity training is crucial for developing critical skills that enable employees to work cohesively together, skills needed to enhance communication and understand cultural differences. Thus, it boosts employees’ performance, leads to higher company productivity, and increases the employees’ confidence in organizational values. Additionally, it aids team members’ problem-solving abilities by developing mutual trust and creating authentic connections.
