Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research,

Gassam, J. Z., & Salter, N. P. (2020). 72(4), 275–287

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-98094-004

Training in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is an important way for organizations to create cultures that are welcoming and comfortable for all employees. However, it is important to ensure that they are as effective as possible, and we argue that hiring an external consultant to conduct them can help with this. In this article, we highlight three reasons why external consultants can be a better choice for delivering DEI workshops (compared to internal consultants): specifically, greater objectivity, greater number of experiences to draw from, and greater time commitment and focus. Additionally, we discuss three ways that external consultants can increase audience receptivity for what they do: conducting a needs assessment, understanding the role that demographics play, and providing actionable takeaways for implementation. We use the experience of both authors in working with organizations on DEI issues as well as previous research in this area as sources of insight on this topic.