The respondents suggested that anti-discrimination training should be voluntary, and the training approach should be cautious and carefully thought out, in order to avoid counterproductive effects. Support and commitment from top management was perceived to be crucial, if sustainable organizational and behavioural changes were to be reached by training activities. Some respondents raised the question of how to attract participants in a voluntary anti-discrimination training and gave examples of training activities related to gender equality, which were unsuccessful due to the lack of interest among target groups. In relation to counterproductive reactions and the effectiveness of training activities, Luthra and Oakley note that evaluative studies strongly emphasize the need for practical relevance of the training. Negative responses are most likely to arise where training activities are a non-recurring event to which there is no sequel and with no apparent relation to the wider training curriculum or workplace concerns.
Organizational commitment is also crucial for the effectiveness of training.
Without organizational commitment, training is likely to be ineffective and the possible impacts remain short-lived. The importance of the strong support by upper management is also emphasized in the Dutch research report. Few respondents stressed the necessity of evaluating the impacts of anti-discrimination training. This aspect has also risen in countries with a longer tradition in anti-discrimination training. As regards the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the researchers saw evaluation of anti-discrimination training activities as necessary in order to provide a clearer picture about the effectiveness of given training for both training providers and client organizations.