Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions in the Workplace
Overview
Problem
This training was designed for small to large corporations who are doing the work of creating a more inclusive work environment to reduce the incidents of microaggressions in the workplace. Microaggressions are a major source of stress and burnout at workplaces. Microaggressions can impact a person’s ability to do their job, sense of safety and overall job performance. One study found that 7 in 10 workers would be upset by a microaggression and half said the action would make them consider leaving their job (Harvard Business Review).
Solution
I developed an action map to identify the steps necessary to reduce microaggressions in the workplace so that key stakeholders would have a clear picture of how to support employees to do the work necessary to reduce microaggressions. After research and careful analysis, I utilized the Understanding By Design Framework to identify what the participants will learn and do to accomplish the performance goal and then developed an elearning training that addressed these learning objectives.
Performance Goal
The number of microaggressions in the workplace will be reduced by 50% by the end of the year as employees recognize and respond appropriately to microaggressions and utilize language and communication skills that are respectful and inclusive.
Employees will:
This training was designed for small to large corporations who are doing the work of creating a more inclusive work environment to reduce the incidents of microaggressions in the workplace. Microaggressions are a major source of stress and burnout at workplaces. Microaggressions can impact a person’s ability to do their job, sense of safety and overall job performance. One study found that 7 in 10 workers would be upset by a microaggression and half said the action would make them consider leaving their job (Harvard Business Review).
Solution
I developed an action map to identify the steps necessary to reduce microaggressions in the workplace so that key stakeholders would have a clear picture of how to support employees to do the work necessary to reduce microaggressions. After research and careful analysis, I utilized the Understanding By Design Framework to identify what the participants will learn and do to accomplish the performance goal and then developed an elearning training that addressed these learning objectives.
Performance Goal
The number of microaggressions in the workplace will be reduced by 50% by the end of the year as employees recognize and respond appropriately to microaggressions and utilize language and communication skills that are respectful and inclusive.
Employees will:
- Recognize their personal biases and those of others.
- Verbalize the impact and meaning of microaggressions and why it’s important to respond to themIdentify language and interactions that contribute to microaggressions and do intentional practice with inclusive language and ways of interacting.
- Implement a framework for addressing microaggressions directed at others.
- Practice how to appropriately respond when an employee has personally committed a microaggression.
- Practice being more inclusive by focusing on personalized areas for growth.
Analysis
I did extensive research on microaggressions and found that there were numerous DEI organizations to support this work and rich video content online to use in the project for scenarios and to provide expert speakers. From this I came up with key behaviors that employees need to perform to better understand how to identify and address microaggressions. I utilized Cathy Moore’s action mapping framework to focus my analysis and Mindmeister mapping software to create an action map.
Design
I felt strongly that I wanted this elearning training module to be flexible in design. Ideally, this training could be used as part of an instructor-led workshop so that employees at a specific workplace would discuss specific concerns and develop as a community around these inclusive practices. However, I also wanted to allow for the possibility for participants to be able to go through the training independently. I created a text based storyboard to come up with the initial design of the project. I created a Style Guide to determine color and font choices to be used in the training. I also completed a Course Guide for participants to complete as they went through the training. I felt that it was important for them to reflect on key concepts and have a space to do individual practice with responding to microaggressions.
Development
I utilized the SAM model to develop a quick prototype of the course in Adobe Captivate and then did an analysis of what needed to be added to the course to maximize engagement and practice of the skills. I also included a series of reflections. I then used Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia learning to chunk information and vary the types of activities in the training. There are approximately 12 minutes of curated video throughout the training and questions on the course guide as well as assessment questions in the elearning course related to the videos. There are 4 scenarios to help learners recognize different types of microaggressions and deal with them in a variety of contexts and prompts on their course guide to support the practice of using more inclusive language. The final activity is to get learners to identify specific ways they plan to work at reducing microaggressions at work and create a more inclusive workplace. I utilized an Adobe Captivate template and was able to preview how the elearning course would look across devices. This helped me refine the design of the elearning course to keep it simple and consistent while maximizing the intuitive nature of the course.
Implementation
As mentioned early, this course can be used as a stand alone course that can be completed virtually and independently. A certificate of completion is generated upon scoring at least 80% on the assessment questions in the elearning course. This course can also be uploaded into a LMS using SCORM to add to the LMS evaluation system. It could also be used in an instructor-led, virtual, in person or hybrid environment to enhance the discussion and community building that is possible with the course. I had several people test out the course on various devices. I was especially interested to see how the responsive design in the new Adobe Captivate would hold up. It did remarkably well on smartphones, tablets and different operating systems and browsers.
Evaluation
This was my first time using the new Adobe Captivate that was released in July of 2023. I was excited for the upgrade and it is definitely an improvement from the previous version. Additionally, the new Adobe Captivate lets you do a lot with accessibility which if I had to make one major improvement, it would be to dig deeper into making sure all components were as accessible as possible. I think the final product is a manageable and meaningful elearning course about an important workplace issue that can be utilized by large and small corporations alike.