# Diversity training **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847 "2019-10-16T15:38:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/61 "2019-10-19T01:12:13Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I think we all know that diversity training is more of a CYA thing for the employer than anything else. Broadly speaking there were three main areas associated with HR: Compliance, Recruitment, and Benefits. When companies started diversity and harassment training decades ago it was largely to cover their own asses and while that’s still something of importance, diversity programs also exists for recruitment & retention of talent as well as improving the opinion clients and customers have of the company. A lack of diversity can discourage good candidates from applying and it can drive talented employees away and most companies want to avoid that even without the threat of lawsuits. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/62 "2019-10-19T01:19:22Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I’m convinced the real purpose with these kinds of training done by corporations is just to protect themselves in case of a lawsuit. If they are accused of not being diverse, they can point to this training they gave all employees. If they have a security leak of customer data, they can point to the security training they gave all employees. If they are accused of unfair business practices, they can point at the ethics training. So save yourself a lot of grief and just do whatever training they want you to do without worrying about the effectiveness of it. Likely the company doesn’t really care either. That was largely why Personnel became known as Human Resources a few decades ago. And it worked for a few years until courts caught up. Having policies against discrimination, harassment, retaliation, etc., etc. does not shield a company from lawsuits these days. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/63 "2019-10-19T01:22:44Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Does the corporation care if the lady in Accounts Payable has a problem with her misogynistic manager? Of course not, but they care if she lodges a complaint. So, their choice is to either deal with her complaint after it happens (annoying, expensive), or teach the manager how to not be a misogynistic ass. (simple, cheap) I can promise you that the corporation cares about turnover. Turnover is expensive. And if that lady in accounting decides to go to another company because her boss is a misogynistic jerk she’s taking some institutional knowledge with her and it’ll cost the company money. How many other talented employees has this misogynistic manager cost the company? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/64 "2019-10-19T02:01:45Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > So when you are on vacation or take a day off, do you notify the the fire warden? Presumably my boss and at least a couple of coworkers would know that I’m out of the office and would be able to tell the warden that when he or she calls my name. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/65 "2019-10-19T02:11:29Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Presumably my boss and at least a couple of coworkers would know that I’m out of the office and would be able to tell the warden that when he or she calls my name. Right. And my boss and a couple of coworkers can tell them that I went home. There is no need for me to stick around there. That’s my point. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/66 "2019-10-19T02:33:52Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Right. And my boss and a couple of coworkers can tell them that I went home. There is no need for me to stick around there. That’s my point. If your two coworkers and boss decide to go home too and don’t carry your little message to the warden and all four of you get sacked for not following the protocol, how will that make you feel? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/67 "2019-10-19T02:41:34Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Right. And my boss and a couple of coworkers can tell them that I went home. There is no need for me to stick around there. That’s my point. > [@monstro](#): > > If your two coworkers and boss decide to go home too and don’t carry your little message to the warden and all four of you get sacked for not following the protocol, how will that make you feel? Or for that matter, how would they know you went home? Just because you told them it’s what you’d do in a real fire, how would they know you actually succeeded in getting out and going home? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/68 "2019-10-19T10:25:48Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Right. And my boss and a couple of coworkers can tell them that I went home. There is no need for me to stick around there. That’s my point. You’re going to have to find your boss or coworkers to tell them that you’re not dying in the building, but are home instead. Thankfully, there’s a conveniently located spot outside the building where you can expect them to be after an evacuation. . The point is not about you individually, it’s about you collectively. The fire department needs to have some clue who is and isn’t left in the building, and the only way to reliably do that is to have everyone in the building at the time of the evacuation meet somewhere outside the building. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/69 "2019-10-19T10:59:56Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > No, the point is, I’m an adult, so I don’t need training on how to leave a building if the fire alarm goes off. Congratulations. Many people are a lot more capable of responding correctly in an emergency situation once they’ve received minimal training; often, untrained people panic and make the situation worse. I’ve been in the receiving end of an imbecile who couldn’t keep his cool in what was in fact a pocket emergency despite having received training (what should have been a few seconds to solve and a few minutes of paperwork turned into more than ten minutes to solve, then half an hour to calm his lordship down, and several pieces of equipment destroyed); after that circus it was clear to me why nobody in the factory respected him. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/70 "2019-10-20T20:32:14Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > I’m a white male, and I know their intentions are good, but I can’t help but think I continually have to answer for 400 years of original sin. > [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > What I find funny is that a white woman is going to tell Asians how to be diverse. Yeah, I can’t imagine why your company is holding diversity training.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/71 "2019-10-20T21:20:12Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Nowadays I do have to rethink before I say anything that might be construed wrongly, and it gets exhausting. Another one of those “sounds like you need the training” sentences. I can’t think of a time in my life when I’ve become exhausted by my efforts not to suddenly blurt out something offensive. If your normal speech is such that it requires constant policing, that’s a good sign that either you’ve got a bizarre workplace (how often do you even need to refer to someone’s race, gender, religion, disability, sexual preferences, or whatever at work?) or your normal speech needs some self examination. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/72 "2019-10-20T23:49:16Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > :eek::eek::eek: > > Do you find that people spend more time trying to NOT do something, then it would take to just do it? Yes. Don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/73 "2019-10-21T01:50:44Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Yes. Don’t you? Yes, all the time. Just wondered if he worked at my place and I didn’t know it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/74 "2019-10-21T01:57:52Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > If your two coworkers and boss decide to go home too and don’t carry your little message to the warden and all four of you get sacked for not following the protocol, how will that make you feel? Sorry, I’m a contractor. I don’t have to follow half the regulations they have at my work since they wrote them to only apply to “Government employees” I can go home any time I want, I just have to charge my time card to PTO if I’m not at work. If I left 5 minutes before a fire drill or an actual fire, I don’t have to notify anybody. That’s the beauty of being a contractor! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/75 "2019-10-25T01:38:11Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > That’s the beauty of being a contractor! I think I want to be your kind of contractor instead of my kind then. Because none of that is true for me. I am usually held to the employer rules for employees too. And I take the training as required. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847/76 "2019-10-25T13:26:24Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I think I want to be your kind of contractor instead of my kind then. Because none of that is true for me. I am usually held to the employer rules for employees too. And I take the training as required. I am usually, but some are written explicitly to be “employees only”, which they don’t consider me. That’s why I have to go through a metal detector every day and have my coat and wallet scanned with an x-ray machine, and the “employees” don’t. Until they fix that, I make it a point to see what applies only to “employees” and what applies to everybody and simply refuse to do anything that only applies to “employees”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-training/841847.md?page=3)