Forty minutes into a company-wide diversity and inclusion training session, Todd, 47, a senior account manager from the Naperville office, raised his hand and asked facilitator Dr. Kezia Osei what the company planned to do about “reverse diversity,” which he defined, when asked, as “when there’s too much of it.” Dr. Osei, who has a PhD in organizational psychology and has facilitated over 400 sessions, paused for three full seconds.
“That’s not a thing,” she said. Todd nodded slowly, the way people nod when they are not accepting what they have just been told but have decided to table it. He raised his hand twice more. His questions were about parking validation and whether the session would run long. The training ended on time. Todd sent a four-paragraph email to HR afterward. HR has read it. HR is thinking about what to do with it.