Not a One-Off: Why Training Needs a Culture Framework, Not a Calendar Slot

A Venekai Perspective on Embedding Sustainable Equity and Anti-Racism Work

Written by Lisa Shoko

EDI and anti-racism training is often dismissed as ineffective. But the truth is more complicated.

We’ve all heard the critiques: “It’s just a tick-box exercise.” “No one remembers it.” “It doesn’t change anything.”

And in many cases, those criticisms are valid. But the issue isn’t that training is inherently ineffective. The issue is that it’s too often treated as a standalone activity—an isolated moment of reflection, rather than part of a long-term cultural shift.

At Venekai, we believe EDI and anti-racism training can be powerful and transformational. But only when it’s done with intentionality, backed by leadership, embedded into systems, and measured for impact. It’s not activity work. It’s culture work. And it needs to be treated as such.

The Real Problem: Training Is Often Asked to Do Too Much—and Set Up to Fail

In many organisations, a single EDIA session is treated as both the start and end of the conversation. It’s expected to educate, shift attitudes, fix behaviours, and signal commitment—all at once. But training alone can’t change culture. And it shouldn’t be expected to.

When training is delivered in isolation—disconnected from wider goals, with no follow-up, no framework, and no accountability—it becomes hollow. It can leave people either performatively nodding along or quietly resisting. Worse, it can create the illusion of progress, while underlying systems remain untouched.

That’s not a reflection of bad facilitation. It’s a reflection of poor integration. Even the most well-designed training cannot stick if the culture around it remains unchanged.

Training Should Be a Lever, Not a Box-Tick

If we treat EDIA work as a cultural intervention rather than a compliance measure, we open up different possibilities.

Culture work gives permission for:

• Reflection without defensiveness

• Accountability without shame

• Consistency over time, not just moments of urgency

• Learning that is connected to strategy—not adjacent to it

When EDI and anti-racism training is situated within a cultural framework, it stops being a one-off. It becomes part of how people lead, how teams function, and how decisions are made.

So What Does Sustainable EDIA Work Look Like?

Here’s what we believe makes the difference:

1. Leadership Framing and Sponsorship

Training should never be left to float without endorsement. It needs to be clearly framed by senior leaders, linked to values and strategy, and supported by visible Executive Sponsors who actively participate and model accountability.

💬 If your leadership team isn’t part of the room—or worse, sees itself as separate from the work—you’ve already undermined the message.

2. Clear Competencies and Expectations

EDIA isn’t just a moral imperative—it’s a professional one. It should be underpinned by clear behavioural competencies that are reflected in role descriptions, appraisals, and promotion criteria. People should know:

• What good practice looks like in their role

• How they’re expected to show up

• What development support is available to them

• What happens when equity and inclusion are undermined

💬 If you can be rewarded in a system while perpetuating exclusion in your team, the system needs to change.

3. Training as a Process, Not an Event

Effective training doesn’t begin and end with a single session. It includes:

• Pre-engagement: Framing the work, setting expectations

• Skilled facilitation: Grounded in context and evidence

• Follow-up tools: Reflection prompts, action planning, coaching

• Opportunities to embed: Spaces for application, feedback and iteration

💬 This work isn’t about being right—it’s about doing differently. That takes time, practice, and support.

4. Systems of Accountability

Embedding EDIA into organisational systems means measuring progress and impact, not just participation.

Ask:

• Who’s attending training—and who isn’t?

• What changes after the session, in practice?

• Are behaviours, feedback, and leadership decisions improving over time?

• How is this work reflected in performance conversations, objective-setting, and leadership behaviours?

Training should feed into wider culture diagnostics, inclusion metrics, and employee experience data—not sit alongside them.

💬 What gets measured gets resourced. And what gets rewarded, gets repeated.

5. Culture, Not Comfort

Finally, we need to stop confusing comfort with effectiveness. The goal of this work is not to avoid discomfort—it’s to build the capacity to sit with it, work through it, and transform the systems that sustain harm.

Training can and should challenge assumptions, invite vulnerability, and deepen reflection. But it should do so in a context of care, clarity, and accountability.

Conclusion: Equity Work Can’t Be Tacked On—It Has to Be Built In

The criticism of EDI and anti-racism training is valid—when it’s shallow, rushed, or performative. But when it’s intentional, well-scoped, and embedded into the culture and systems of an organisation, it becomes a powerful lever for change.

At Venekai, we don’t offer standalone “sessions.” We support organisations to build culture infrastructure—the kind that makes equity and anti-racism everyone’s responsibility, not just the remit of a few.

This work is not about being seen to do something. It’s about doing the work well, for the long haul.

So the question isn’t whether EDIA training works.
It’s whether the organisation is ready to support it meaningfully.
Because when it is—this work doesn’t just inform. It transforms.

Contact us to discuss how we can support your organisation to implement meaningful change.

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