This course increases awareness of the negative impact of micro-aggressions on morale, wellbeing, job satisfaction and performance. Participants learn to identify and address micro-aggressions in order to encourage inclusion and respect at work.
Why is Training in the Impact of Micro-aggressions so important?
Micro-aggressions are subtle behaviours, actions and comments which convey negative or derogatory messages to individuals, often based on their perceived differences. They can be covert, often unintentional and hard to prove, but have harmful repercussions on the lives of the recipients.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines micro-aggressions as follows:
“A small act or remark that makes someone feel insulted or treated badly because of their race, sex, etc., even though the insult, etc. may not have been intended, and that can combine with other similar acts or remarks over time to cause emotional harm.”
Micro-aggressions may not feel significant at the time. They are commonplace interactions that can’t always be readily identified as prejudice. This ambiguity puts the person who is on the receiving end of micro-aggressions in a tricky position as speaking out may be perceived as 'overreacting.' Feelings of powerlessness can result which can be compounded in the workplace where speaking out may hurt one's reputation.
This training course increases awareness of the negative impact of micro-aggressions on individuals, teams and the organisation. Participants learn strategies to identify, tackle and prevent micro-aggressions in order to foster a diverse culture where everyone feels valued.
Key benefits of attending this course
- Improves understanding of what constitutes micro-aggressions
- Examines root causes, complexity and potential impacts
- Explores how it feels to be on the receiving end of discriminatory behaviour and the negative, cumulate effect over time
- Increases confidence to speak up about unacceptable behaviour and challenge micro-aggressions ‘in the moment’
- Develops strategies to manage and reduce the risk of micro-aggressions
- Mitigates discrimination, grievances and potential litigation
- Reinforces expectations of acceptable interactions at work
- Increases job satisfaction, morale, engagement and retention
- Promotes organisational values of diversity, respect and inclusion
Who would benefit from attending this course?
This course is suitable for anyone who wants to ensure that interactions in the workplace are respectful and inclusive. It is particularly useful for anyone working in a diverse workplace as it explores discrimination, bias, and the cumulative, negative impact of micro-aggressions on the work environment.
The course content and capacity can be customised for individuality and to ensure organisations’ specific learning criteria are met.
Course Overview
The course will be interactive with group exercises, video clips and opportunities for discussion. The training is delivered by an experienced facilitator who will create a safe, inclusive learning environment to enable open and honest discussions.
The course content includes:
What are Micro-aggressions?
- What is meant by micro-aggressions, and why do they happen?
- Research that demonstrates we are all affected by different levels of micro-aggressions.
Types of Micro-aggression
- The complexity of different forms of micro-aggressions.
- How they affect our interactions with others.
- Examples of different types of micro-aggressions.
- Understand how they reinforce inequality across a range of areas (gender, race, physical abilities, social class etc.).
The Impact of Micro-aggressions
- Explore how Micro-aggressions affect the way we interact with others.
- Awareness of the impact of split-second reactions/behaviours.
- Consider the message we send to others in respect of what we think of them and feel about them.
- Identify how micro-aggressions can lead to differential treatment of others.
- Explore ways of countering some of our micro-aggressions/micro-behaviours.
When Micro-aggressions are most likely to occur
- Examples of situations that may have caused micro-aggressions.
- Shared experiences of micro-aggressions in the workplace.
Ways to mitigate the Impact of Micro-aggressions
- Strategies to mitigate micro-aggressions on an individual and organisational level.
- Methods for reducing micro-aggressions as individuals and how this relates to the organisation’s current practices.
Final discussion
- Sharing and reinforcing the key learning points of the workshop.
- Action planning
Delegate Comments for the Exploring the Impact of Micro-Aggressions course:
“It was really interesting, and I initially thought it would be a tough session given the topic, however the trainer made it relatable which really helped me understand the concept and get a lot out of the session.”
"The course was a great way to connect with my colleagues in a group setting and speak open and honestly about microaggressions. This included our individual tolerances and how we would approach certain situations. It was a good balance of education and conversation."
"I have certainly re-evaluated my role as a bystander. The course prompted me to think more about checking in with people that are affected by microaggressions and offered some simple ways to directly address the behaviour in the moment (i.e. asking questions like "Can you repeat that?" or "What did you mean by that?")"
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We are always happy to talk about our courses and help you to work out the best match for your requirements.
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