Voluntary diversity initiatives are inherently superior in terms of their effectiveness with participants and their retention of key elements of such initiatives.  However, in most organizations there is a place for both mandatory and voluntary initiatives.  The key issue for these to be successful is keeping them energized and dynamic. Mandatory diversity initiatives readily lead themselves to diversity fatigue. Any initiative developed should be subject to meaningful evaluation to gauge effectiveness and should be vetted with a continuous improvement mindset to avoid becoming stale, repetitious or redundant.  A key measurement in planning any diversity endeavor, whether mandatory or voluntary, always has to be, how does this benefit the organization?

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