Arrow Electronics is a company that specialises in the distribution of electronic components and computer products. Arrow has over 22,000 employees and over 210,000 customers worldwide. In 2020, Arrow commissioned Global Diversity Practice to redevelop its Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) online learning curriculum.
Key Deliverables
Our work started with a period of consultation with the business to determine relevant design principles and content requirements. This consultation involved focus groups conducted across each of Arrow’s global regions, inviting participation from both individual contributors as well as people managers. This approach was intentionally taken to ensure that the training was relevant to operational realities, aligned to Arrow brand values, and inclusive in its design.
The training was designed with a cross-functional working group of Arrow stakeholders. This collaboration ensured the training contained relevant insight, a variety of global perspectives, and there was shared ownership of the outputs.
This began with defining what inclusion means at Arrow, which led to the development of Arrow’s Inclusion Principles of Accountable, Respectful, Responsible, Open-Minded, and Welcoming.
These Inclusion Principles underpin all of Arrow’s inclusion and diversity (I&D) curriculum, and have become integral to Arrow’s approach to I&D.
We designed an introductory, foundational I&D eLearning module titled ‘Everyday Inclusion’ in 2021. This training, lasting around 30 minutes, introduces Arrow employees to practical techniques for fostering a positive climate of inclusion and diversity at Arrow. It includes a short video highlighting Arrow’s I&D approach, followed by interactive activities, self-reflections, workplace scenarios and accountability checklists.
This training, and all subsequent Arrow online training modules, are split into a three-module framework – Awareness, Application, and Accountability. Awareness seeks to raise awareness of key concepts; Application makes the learning practical with real-world scenarios; and Accountability concludes with practical actions and suggestions for how to adapt your approach going forwards.
Following the positive reception and evaluation of Everyday Inclusion, we collaboratively developed a series of micromodules for each Inclusion Principle, as well as further online training modules on the topics of Multicultural Advantage, Disability Inclusion, and Women in Technology.
Impact
As of the end of 2022, there were over 35,000 registered completions of Arrow I&D training on the Learn@Arrow LMS. 22,485 employees have taken the Everyday Inclusion course. Arrow’s online I&D trainings have an average rating of 4.73 out of 5 stars. A selection of positive feedback commentary is included further below.
In 2023, Arrow Electronics was awarded the Diversity & Inclusion Champion Award as well as the International Inclusion Award, recognising its positive efforts towards creating a more inclusive workplace for employees around the world.
I can truthfully say I’ve never before experienced an HR training lesson that makes me feel the lesson so realistically. If everyone made lessons like this, our world would be a better place entirely!
I found this course to be very well thought out and offering plenty of practical suggestions – easy to understand and straight-forward to apply. In my opinion, it’s the best training Arrow has offered to date. Great messaging and excellent delivery. Thank you!
The best diversity and inclusion training I have ever seen, and I have had a lot over many years from different companies.
- Category Technology