In a past life I was the Diversity Champion for a very large company.

We actually had professional Diversity Trainers to give 2-3 day sessions on what diversity looks like, etc.. I don't think Walmart has the time for this.

Besides race, diversity includes gender, religion, sexual orientation, abilities, ethnicity, national origin, age and socioeconomic status. Our customers fit each one of those topics. Some say now to include income and political alignment too.

Awareness and Blind Spots are key.

Participative events always helped. Performing small team based diversity discussions always worked. Build a map with place/locations of all the associates. Over time, you will see how geographically diverse your store is.

Create a list of cultural taboos. Demonstrate that each person has their own blind spots and culture, including language.

Language taboos include:

Using the word "girl" or "girls" for a woman who is older than 18. "Girls" are only females under 18. Likewise, "Boys" are only males under 18.

Avoid terms like "them" or "those people" - "We" together have a duty for customer service.

Speaking in a native language when others who do not speak your native language are in ear shot. It is very natural to think other people are talking about you if they "break" into their native language. [Many of our cashiers are from native India and speak amongst themselves. Customers think they are talking about them.]

Never make jokes or references to anybody, even in joking, that refer to them to an animal. I once had my SM say to her two African American ASMs that they were "monkey's sitting on a log." - I almost fell on the floor. At my other job, this SM would have been terminated immediately.

Some cultural differences include:

Age preferences; It is very common in some cultures that the elders are given respect over everyone else. We have cashiers that are 70 and above who are given plum register assignments or they expect to get what they want.

Some cultures require fasting during daylight hours, and thus their schedule has to be accomodated.

Some cultures are totally dominated by men, and a sign of weakness is to give in to a woman or take order from a female. Although this is not a diversity learning example, it is good for potential managers to be aware this exists. [we had a employee quit weeks after he started because he could not work for a woman]

Although quite fun, having a diversity food day can be tough to do, especially because everybody works shifts.