The Rules of Diversity

I went to a diversity training course today, a requirement for all new hires at the company. Needless to say I was disappointed. They talked a bit about discrimination from a legal standpoint and about how different backgrounds and personalities bring differences, good and bad, to the table. But what they didn't talk about is how to actually understand different backgrounds. They didn't tell us some unique needs of different backgrounds, or how to sense those needs. While they told us how to react to the illegal issues, they didn't guide us in what is appropriate about including others. We didn't cover whether private lives are best unexplored by coworkers, or discuss how to make people feel more included.

An example from the course that I feel sums it up: After the training was completed, they served lunch to the group. Nobody asked me if I needed a special meal. If you're diversity training isn't going to go out of its way to include everybody, then how do you expect every employee to reach out?