A GE colleague designed her organization’s non-discrimination training this way: “We need the best talent we can find. Some workplace behaviors are illegal; we’ll show you what they are. Some other behaviors aren’t illegal but still hamper us from hiring and retaining the best talent we can. We’ll talk about what those are, We want you clear on what the company and your coworkers expect, and we’ll give you resources to turn to if you have questions.”

Yes, it was face-to-face, but nobody had to sit through yet another showing of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Elliott&quot;)Jane Elliott's experiment with third graders in 1968. In part it was face-to-face because at that time, that was how the company emphasized the importance of certain messages like quarterly results and mergers.

For the average corporate employee, it’s much more important to recognize that certain workplace conditions adversely affect someone’s ability to perform on the job, than to know the date of the Americans with Disabilities Act.