Your Comprehensive Guide to Sensitivity Training for Employees (in 2025)
Does your organization think employee sensitivity training is a waste of time and resources? Consider that complaints about a hostile work environment can cost a company anywhere from $150,000 to $1,000,000.
Conducting training programs in the workplace are essential for employee and company growth and building a cohesive, collaborative organization, which is where sensitivity training for employees plays an important role. According to McKinsey, culturally sensitive and diverse companies are 35% more likely to see higher financial returns and 70% more likely to capture markets than their less diverse counterparts.
Sensitivity training is crucial to creating an inclusive environment where employees of all backgrounds feel accepted and valued. Let’s dive in to the different types, topics to cover and how HR can conduct sensitivity training in the workplace.
Contents
What is sensitivity training for employees?
Types of sensitivity training for employees
How do you conduct sensitivity training?
Sensitivity training examples
What is sensitivity training for employees?
The key objective of sensitivity training (also called workplace sensitivity training or corporate sensitivity training) is to help employees develop greater awareness of their own prejudices, address them promptly, and be more sensitive to others. Its purpose is not to make employees feel they must walk on eggshells around one another. Instead, it’s to help them become more respectful of their peers, especially those from different backgrounds.
The facilitator strives to maintain an open, objective, and safe environment. Participants should feel comfortable discussing challenging issues to help them understand and appreciate one another more.
Sensitivity training is not just for employees who have exhibited behavioral problems at work — it’s a continuous process for the entire workforce. It aims to get employees to engage in discussions that cultivate mutual understanding and empathy, allowing them to bring new perspectives to post-training conversations with their coworkers. It also allows them to understand their company’s stance on different types of discrimination.
Additionally, compliance considerations are an important factor in workplace sensitivity training. For example, state or municipal laws may require employers to conduct sexual harassment or anti-harassment training. In states that don’t legally require such corporate sensitivity training, many employers still provide it to prevent harassment and create a safe, welcoming workplace for all employees.
Why is sensitivity training for employees important?
Sensitivity training is important for many reasons, such as:
- Company commitment and expectations: Sets expectations for appropriate workplace conduct and underscores a company’s commitment to a discrimination-free workplace.
- Greater awareness and positive change: Discrimination and bullying create a hostile work environment, damaging employee morale and putting an organization at greater legal risk. Sensitivity training can help prevent and mitigate these negative outcomes.
- Myth-busting: Helps dispel cultural myths by facilitating employee interactions to promote open-mindedness and new perspectives.
- Pattern identification: Sensitivity training data can help HR identify patterns and employees contributing to a hostile work environment, making it easier to promptly address issues. It can also help identify areas in which employees are doing well and build on them.
- Improved productivity: A safe, accepting work environment allows employees to focus better on their jobs, resulting in improved employee morale and productivity that benefit not just themselves but the organization as a whole.
- Better employee-manager communication: Sensitivity training is also important for managers. It provides an open, safe space for manager-employee interaction without fear of judgment or retaliation, making it easier for employees to discuss with their managers any challenges they face.
Types of sensitivity training for employees
Based on your company’s specific needs, you could implement various types of workplace sensitivity training. Here is an overview of some of the more common topics your sensitivity training can cover.
1. Cultural sensitivity training
Acknowledging and celebrating cultural differences can create a more inclusive and safe work environment where colleagues trust and respect one another. It can also foster a deeper understanding of how each team member’s unique background and experiences benefit the department, resulting in increased employee morale and productivity.
2. Emotional intelligence training
A higher level of emotional intelligence enhances a work environment by fostering better communication and interpersonal relationships. Employees with a significant degree of emotional intelligence can more easily recognize and manage their own emotions and understand the emotions of others. This helps minimize conflicts, leads to effective problem-solving, and promotes empathy and respect.
3. Bullying and anti-harassment training
Employees must understand what bullying and harassment entail and that their workplace does not tolerate any form of either action. A common example of such behavior is repeatedly and purposely making insensitive remarks about a colleague’s race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or physical appearance despite prior warnings to stop.
Failure to maintain a work environment free of bullying and harassment (or where such behavior goes unpunished) can lead to increased employee turnover and legal risks for the company.
4. Consciousness of stereotypes
People often don’t realize how problematic or hurtful their language and behavior can be, even when unintentional. Awareness of racism, stereotypes, and unconscious bias can help employees be more mindful of their words and actions.
5. Sexism and gender equality training
It’s unfortunately common to hear of incidents in the workplace that involve sexist or sexually suggestive comments or actions directed from one employee to another. This is where gender sensitivity training is essential.
This type of training seeks to foster a more inclusive, respectful work environment by educating employees about recognizing and addressing unconscious biases, discriminatory behaviors, and systemic inequalities. Awareness helps reduce gender-based harassment and discrimination, creating a safer workplace for all genders.
HR tip
Before developing a sensitivity training program, get feedback to help identify potential areas for improvement. This may involve:
- Gathering employee feedback through surveys, focus groups, and anonymous suggestion boxes
- A review of current policies and employee complaints
- Consultation with key stakeholders, including employees, management, and DEIB specialists.
6. Avoiding ageism
Ageism at work is often expressed in one of two ways: patronizing older employees (e.g., assuming they’ll be slow to learn new tech) or underestimating younger coworkers and their abilities. Sensitivity training must address age-related biases and educate employees on the benefits of working in a multigenerational organization.
7. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) training
A diverse workforce isn’t just about having employees of different ethnicities, nationalities, cultures, religions, genders, sexual orientations, or socio-economic backgrounds. It also requires diverse thinking and consideration of diverse perspectives to thrive and obtain equity.
At the same time, employees must learn the difference between equity and equality to understand why the former is just as important as the latter. Employees who know their employer values their voices and respects their contributions regardless of the above diverse characteristics are more likely to be happy and remain at the company.
8. Allyship with disabled, LGBTQ, and ethnic minority employees
Allyship with disabled, LGBTQ, and ethnic minority colleagues fosters a more inclusive and equitable work environment, enhancing employee morale and productivity. By actively supporting and advocating for historically marginalized groups, allies help create a culture of mutual respect and acceptance, minimizing discrimination and harassment.
This empowers and motivates all employees to contribute their best work, leading to increased innovation and collaboration. It also strengthens the company’s reputation as one that prioritizes DEIB, allowing it to attract a wider talent pool and improve employee retention.
9. Religion, spirituality, and other personal beliefs
Respecting colleagues who have religious or spiritual beliefs and those who are agnostic or atheist is crucial for a healthy work environment. This promotes inclusivity and mutual respect.
Employees who are assured of respect regardless of their personal beliefs or lack thereof are more likely to feel valued and comfortable at work. Respecting those with diverse beliefs also helps improve the organization’s reputation and, subsequently, its ability to attract and retain a diverse workforce.
Online HR sensitivity training
Before HR can help employees improve their workplace sensitivity, they need to upskill themselves on the DEIB topic. Below are three online HR courses you can consider to learn more about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
- AIHR’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Certificate Program: HR professionals can earn a DEI certificate after obtaining the knowledge and developing the skills necessary to help lead culture change through effective and powerful DEIB initiatives.
- Human Capital Institute’s Strategic Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Certification Program: HR personnel can learn how to create a customized DEIB solution to meet their organization’s needs.
- LinkedIn’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging for HR Professionals and Leaders learning path: This learning path teaches HR professionals how to recruit and hire with diversity and bias pitfalls in mind and make the employee experience inclusive.
How do you conduct sensitivity training?
Now that you’re all set to implement sensitivity training in your organization, what are the next steps? Here are some suggested actions you can follow:
- Establish clear expectations: Communicate training objectives, expectations, and deliverables, as well as what behaviors will and will not be tolerated. Hold all employees accountable, regardless of their title/position at the company.
- Encourage and facilitate open, honest communication: This is necessary to achieve greater understanding and progress. Acknowledge from the beginning that some topics may be difficult and uncomfortable but are necessary for effective dialogue.
- Emphasize the importance of self-awareness: Sensitivity training sessions should include discussions on how each participant would feel or react in certain common situations people face at work. This encourages self-reflection, self-awareness, and empathy.
- Engage management and ensure they lead by example: No one should be exempt from sensitivity training. Management can lead by example by participating in this training alongside employees.
- Be flexible on the training schedule: Offer different time slots/dates to ensure all employees can attend the training, then follow up after each session to gather feedback.
- Ensure online optimization: While in-person training can help employees better connect, providing online sensitivity training allows remote employees to access the same resources. Features such as breakout rooms and interactive videos can keep employees engaged and help them retain knowledge. Some online video hosting platform options include Echo360, AbsorbLMS, and Kinescope.
HR tip
Have a member of management introduce each sensitivity training session. They should articulate their genuine commitment to this initiative and highlight why its principles are important. This can help set a positive tone for the training from the very start.
Sensitivity training examples
Sensitivity training must be delivered effectively to make a positive impact. A few companies with stellar examples of strong DEIB-related initiatives include:
Ernst & Young
The company assigns full-time partner-level leadership to diversity recruiting. As a result, the number of women in its top executive management positions has increased by more than 20%.
Ernst & Young has also launched a program for ethnically diverse college freshmen, sophomores, and transfer students. In 2021, it launched inclusive leadership training and published its first DEI transparency report.
Johnson & Johnson
The company devotes many resources to ensuring all employees can help create an inclusive environment. They have 12 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that connect and engage with employees across the company to develop their potential, build relationships, and drive an inclusive culture and environment.
Final thoughts
Workplace sensitivity training ultimately helps create and maintain a safe, professional environment, boosting overall employee performance, productivity, and morale. It educates employees at all levels about how to behave constructively toward one another.
Sensitivity training for employees shouldn’t be conducted reactively or retrospectively. Instead, HR and the organizations they work for should view and use it as a valuable tool they deliver proactively and make an integral part of the company’s employee training resources.
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