What makes diversity programs work?

According to a survey of members of the Society for Human Resource Management, diversity training typically has a markedly positive short-term impact on the attitude of attendees. However, long-term assessments were decidely less positive. One of the major ways in which top management indicated strong support for diversity was by linking it with other key strategic priorities. In contrast to recent anecedotal accounts that have stressed the potential negatives of diversity training, present results suggest that reactions to diversity training per se are overwhelmingly positive, at least as seen through the eyes of human resource professionals who have experienced it. In the entire sample, fewer than 10 respondents suggested that diversity training had had a negative impact on attendees.