Globalization is bringing diverse teams of employees together, making cultural intelligence training more important than ever.

According to Glassdoor, over 67% of job seekers consider diversity in the workplace an important factor when hunting for their ideal workplace. Employees want to feel safe in the workplace — and when they do, they’ll be far more content, engaged, and productive.

So, it makes sense to put the resources and means in place to make diversity a top priority for your company. One way to do this is through cultural intelligence and inclusion training (AKA, CQ training).

If you’re not sure what that entails, which best practices to follow, or the ideal way to deliver it to your team, then keep reading. We’ll cover what you need to know to create a more equitable workplace.

What is cultural intelligence training?

Cultural intelligence training rests on the concept of cultural intelligence, AKA each team member’s ability to relate to and interact with peers from any and every identity and culture.

Essentially, cultural intelligence training equips employees with the tools and techniques needed to engage with and work alongside a multicultural team. This training has the potential to create a deeper level of understanding and empathy among employees.

What does cultural intelligence training entail?

Whether or not your company operates on a global scale, cultural intelligence training is a relevant — and important — element of your training schedule.

Here, we’ll focus on the specific benefits your existing and future employees can glean from cultural intelligence training.

These are just a handful of the most prevalent topics typically included in a cultural intelligence training course:

• Understanding cultural beliefs and values.
• Identifying and dismantling cultural stereotypes.
• The benefits of culture change.
• Motivation and ability to work interculturally.
• Exploring the nuances and layers of many cultures.
• Identifying and empathizing with cultural values.
• Recognizing and embracing multicultural colleagues.
• Cross-cultural communication styles.
• Intercultural business strategies.

How will CQ training help create a safe and inclusive workplace?

Within the walls of your company, you want to build bridges. Cultural intelligence training provides the basis of these bridges, helping to foster understanding, promote better cooperation within teams, and maybe even form real connections.

Cultural intelligence training can give your employees the framework and capacity to build connections with their colleagues, current or future business partners, and stakeholders alike. It’s because of these connections that your employees can feel safe in the workplace.

Let’s pause for a moment to talk about what a “safe and inclusive” workplace looks like.

Simply implementing a boilerplate diversity, equity, and inclusion policy won’t cut it.

A safe and inclusive workplace means a work environment where your employees are comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work because they feel safe doing so. Providing your employees with cultural intelligence training is an excellent way of making this a reality. Are there any cultural intelligence training best practices?

As you plan and deliver your cultural intelligence training, here are some of the top best practices to keep in mind:

Tailor the training to fit your participants' needs.

How do your employees learn best? Have you surveyed them for feedback on this?

Adult learners need a variety of activities to engage them. Whether that means group work, video learning modules, or audio content, you’ll want to have a clear understanding of the different learning styles on your team.

Some employees might be visual/spatial or audio learners — or both! Others might prefer kinesthetic learning. Or, maybe they learn best linguistically.

Of course, our learning styles are unique to each of us. That means you’ll need to acknowledge, embrace, and accommodate those styles to make the training process effective for each learner.

You’ll also want to know how they prefer learning new material — synchronously or asynchronously? Perhaps a hybrid of both? The more you learn about their styles, the easier it will be for you to make accommodations that make their cultural intelligence training all the more impactful.

Use hands-on or practical learning opportunities.

This may be the first time some of your employees have ever experienced cultural intelligence training. The heart of cultural intelligence training involves exposing your employees to the tools they need to work effectively in an intercultural setting.

To do this, you’ll want to consider using hands-on (AKA, experiential learning) and practical learning opportunities during this process.

Essentially, this means giving your team simulations that allow them to practice the skills they’re learning. You could also pose real-world scenarios in a discussion forum and allow everyone to respond to the prompt and each other’s approaches/responses.

No matter how you decide to incorporate simulations in a way that fits the learning needs of your trainees, the benefits are worthwhile:

• Combines theory and practice.
• Makes the learning process realistic and relevant.
• Improves employee engagement.
• Promotes teamwork and continuing conversation.
• Allows trainees to tap into past and current experiences that enrich the learning process.
• Boosts retention.
• Sharpens problem-solving skills.
• Heightens the employee’s confidence because they can practice what they’re learning.

Lean into collaborative and interactive exercises.

While it’s inevitable that some (if not the majority) of your employees’ cultural intelligence training will likely happen on their own time (asynchronously), there are many ways you can make their experience more collaborative:

Getting started.

First, create small groups (or partnerships) and task them with solving a real-world scenario.

One of the many benefits of doing this is that it encourages collaborative brainstorming to solve an issue based on the theories and concepts they’re learning. It can also encourage otherwise laid-back employees to step up, voice their opinion, and even showcase their leadership skills.

Try some of these approaches in your cultural intelligence training modules:

• Create discussion forums and allow trainees to learn from and respond to one another.
• Assign groups of three to five trainees, and each week, have a different group lead the training.
• Incorporate quizzes, tests, and other assessments that include a variety of question types (multiple-choice, written response, etc.).
• Bring on an expert or two and host a live (and then later recorded) question and answer session.
• Require a group project and have them present their findings to all of the trainees.

No matter what type of collaborative learning opportunities you decide to customize your cultural intelligence training program with, be sure to make it user-friendly and accessible from anywhere.

Is there anything I should avoid during the training process?

Avoid a hands-off approach.

As the head of your business, it’s important to participate in the training as much as possible. Taking a hands-off approach might mean you miss out on valuable learning experiences and insights from your employees.

Also, your employees may have questions or require guidance along the way. Of course, if their training is remote and asynchronous, your capacity to remain hands-on, or otherwise available, can take many forms.

Keeping your “door” open to group or one-on-one meetings shows your commitment and investment in their training.

You can also offer frequent Q and A sessions throughout the process. Taking the initiative here (instead of waiting for the trainees to approach you) might help keep the conversation moving forward, instead of stagnant in the face of discomfort.

Don’t allow trainees to stop when things get uncomfortable.

Let’s say you have an employee who feels uncomfortable taking the reins and showing their leadership skills. Or another who might find it impossible to give honest (and necessarily blunt!) feedback. When faced with what makes us uncomfortable, it’s normal to want to step away from it or avoid it altogether.

But in the safety of an effective cultural intelligence training program, encouraging your team to face adversity and discomfort could lead to a learning breakthrough. And breakthroughs can often be the catalyst for driving real and necessary change.

Is there an ideal way to offer cultural intelligence training to my team?

The short answer is, yes! The more easily accessible your mode of delivery, the better. Your team should be able to access their training from anywhere and at any time.

Here are some features and capabilities you’ll want to look for when creating and distributing your cultural intelligence training:

• The level of technical knowledge you’ll need to operate the software.
• The complexity of the interface from the front end.
• The user-friendly nature on the back end.
• Audio and video capabilities that support diverse learning styles and engagement.
• The ability to test your employees’ understanding of the materials.
• The type of insights it gives you into your trainees’ performance metrics.

Ready to give your employees easy access to their cultural intelligence training?

Whether your team works face-to-face, remotely, or using a hybrid format, their cultural intelligence training process should be comprehensive and easily accessible from anywhere. You also need a way to monitor and track their process and then assess their understanding of the material.

A learning management system (LMS)-alternative, or distance learning system, that allows you to create customizable and personalized cultural intelligence training modules and assessments is the best way to deliver this training to your team.

With video, audio, and multi-modal capabilities to accommodate various learning styles, it’s essential to choose the training software that best meets those needs. That way, you’ll feel confident knowing their cultural intelligence training will be an efficient, streamlined, and invaluable experience.