Our programmes are normally designed in partnership with our clients after organisational research. However, a training session would typically draw upon individual employee experiences and introduce new ways of approaching diversity. As well as focusing on behaviour and attitudes, we explore practical ways of utilising differences in the work place.
Our aim will often be to further an organisation’s diversity strategy, helping it to become a service provider and employer of choice.
Our objectives, as you would expect, would be to help create a workplace free from discrimination; to promote inclusive working and ways of harnessing difference; to identify what is already working well in the organisation; to examine the barriers to diversity and explore ways to work through them; to draw up an action plan consisting of SMART objectives.
In the workshop, theatre scenarios (either live or on video) might introduce the separate strands of diversity in the workplace: race, gender, gender reasignment, age, sexual-orientation, disability, religion and belief, and flexible working). They pose specific challenges that need to be addressed. Each scenario is followed by a different exercise in which participants are able either to interact with the characters - or directly with the facilitator to consider feelings and motives; offer coaching and move towards a satisfactory outcome.
The participants may be broken into smaller groups or share their thoughts in plenary. Areas covered include bullying vs. robust management; perception vs. reality; challenging inappropriate behaviour; motivating factors and the significance of type indicators in team work. We look at the business case for diversity and the current legislation surrounding it.