Certificate Program: Diversity & Inclusion for HR

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: Cornell Certificate Program

An organization is only as good as its culture—and building that culture is not only a role for HR, it’s every manager’s and employee’s responsibility. As today’s headlines prove, an inclusive work environment is not just a nice-to-have, it can make or break a company. You can help make your organization a more supportive and engaging place to work by understanding the perceptual, institutional, and psychological processes that impact the ways people interact with each other. Starting with a look at employee engagement, then identifying interventions surrounding unconscious bias and specific diversity and inclusion strategies, this program is appropriate for anyone committed to going beyond mere compliance to build a truly aware and inclusive work culture. 

This certificate program consists of four (4) courses that can also be taken individually (see "Register for this course" link at the end of each course description):

Improving Engagement  

Research shows that engagement is the key factor that promotes higher performance and effort, greater returns, and lower turnover. Yet across companies, industries, and countries, studies show that only 11-19% of employees are highly engaged. In this course, you will examine the foundational drivers of engagement, explore the components of successful engagement initiatives, and identify strategies for creating stronger engagement in teams.

Counteracting Unconscious Bias

There is no such thing as a workplace that lacks diversity. Despite decades of legal and social reform aimed at reducing discrimination in the workplace, inequality continues to be a significant problem in all societies and most workplaces.

In this course, you will identify the perceptual and psychological processes that impact the way that individuals interact with people who are demographically dissimilar from them. You will examine the psychological processes that impact decision making within organizations and identify how professionals can design better work practices and help to more effectively leverage the potential among employees.

As a trained psychologist with research and consulting expertise related to diversity and inclusion, Cornell University Professor Lisa Nishii is uniquely positioned to help course participants understand the complex dynamics underlying diversity challenges and opportunities within organizations.

Diversity and Inclusion at Work

The management of diversity and inclusion has evolved from a focus on compliance to a strategic-level effort with a demonstrated positive impact on an organization's performance. In the current business climate, companies that strive for both diversity and inclusion are achieving intended business results. They provide the proof that diversity and inclusion are much more than a legal or moral requirement; they're also a competitive advantage.

This course provides an overview of the evolution of the management of diversity and inclusion and presents targeted and high-involvement diversity practices. It examines diversity in the contexts of teams and leaders, and it frames diversity in terms of current business and cultural challenges.

During this course, you will complete a project in which you identify sources of inclusion, align inclusion to improve employee engagement and business results, and determine methods to assess the effectiveness of inclusion initiatives. At the end of the course, you will use the results from the project to prepare a final presentation describing how to apply your work to your organization.

Fostering an Inclusive Climate

Inclusion is a relational construct. It’s ultimately about how your team functions and performs based on the quality of social connections, openness to learning, agility, and depth of decision making. How can you foster greater inclusion within your workgroup? Throughout these modules, you will be asked to reflect upon your own experiences and apply the lessons in the modules in your own role.

You will examine the concept of climate, specifically inclusive climates, as well as learn about the specific behaviors and skills you need to demonstrate in order to be successful in shaping an inclusive climate.