Embarking on an organisation wide equality and diversity programme aimed at increasing awareness and decreasing discrimination
Clients say
"This is the only diversity training I've been on where I didn't feel discriminated against"
“The diversity questions were really useful – I learnt a little bit more about different customs. It made me realise that I hardly take time to enquire anymore”.
We work with teams and organisations to foster working cultures that:
acknowledge prejudice
ask questions
challenge discrimination
to ensure that more people can work more effectively with diverse colleagues
and customers.
- Our Process and Practice Section 1
- Understanding the causes and consequences of discrimination Section 2
- Attendance & Preparation Section 3
- Training Delivery Section 4
- Business Benefits Section 5
- Booking a Training Section 6
Section 1
Our Process and Practice
'Motivation to learn' is a critical factor in changing attitudes and behaviour. We have been concerned that lots of people are forced to do Diversity Training without believing that the issues are relevant with them, therefore having no real motivation to learn about them.
After 5 years researching a variety of Diversity Programmes, we have developed a training which we believe makes diversity relevant and interesting to the vast majority of participants, thereby motivating them to learn. This gives an organisation a real chance to change its behaviour and to become a place where Diversity is appreciated and people feel safe to ask questions when they are ignorant, be open when they notice they have a prejudice and to challenge themselves, each other and their customers when they notice discrimination.
We aim to spend 50% of training-time paying attention to the diversity of every individual in the organisation. Diversity of; thinking, working, beliefs, language, experience or behaviour and what it's like being around people who are and do things very differently from you. We aim to ensure that everybody has first hand experience of their own and others' diversity, being misunderstood and categorised, as well as misunderstanding and categorising and how this leads to discrimination.
Training Attention developed the 5 senses exercise (now used in the Open University Course "Practical Thinking") to allow people to pay attention to themselves and to one another in a safe, non-judgemental forum. It encourages people to notice how they make sense of things when there is limited information available. While not dealing directly with prejudice or discrimination in the first session, we are working at a higher level of learning by exploring the processes that allow stereotyping and prejudice to take place. We give people an opportunity to be interested in their own patterns and the costs and benefits of them and then give them instructions to take their learning and apply it to their teams - allowing them to come to conclusions without being told or told-off.
Our initial exercises use whatever is presented during the training and misunderstandings or insights in-the-moment as the examples of diversity at work and it is this that we hang the information on. The aim is to make the introduction enjoyable, fun, challenging and relevant and something people can talk easily about when returning to the office.
By engaging all individuals within the organisation in their own personal attitudes and needs we aim to inspire an acceptance that issues of diversity affect everyone at work. We will highlight how; when our norms conflict with someone else's we can stereotype, have prejudice about and discriminate against those people, without even noticing that we're doing it.
Our criteria for success from this initial session is that people are interested in the process, happy to attend a second session, thinking about their own patterns, those of the people they work with and what they could do to work more effectively together.
Only after this stage do we bring in how stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination take place at group and organisational levels - leading to individuals and groups becoming marginalised. The legislative information, what people 'have' to do by law - is more relevant at this stage and it becomes clear that external guidelines help an organisation to track its patterns of service provision, employment and retention of diverse staff and customers.
Section 2
Understanding the causes and consequences of discrimination
Diversity is such a huge topic and so many groups are being and have been discriminated against in a variety of ways, we couldn't possibly raise them all. We're more interested in engaging people personally and letting them go out and find out more about an aspect of history or legislation they are interested in rather than bombarding them with information.
It is useful for human resources within the organisation to develop a clear understanding of the core diversity-related legislation, history of discrimination, diversity in its numerous definitions, discrimination in the workplace with the following relationships taken into consideration
- Employer-employee relations
- Institutionalisation of discrimination
- Discrimination through service provision
- Benefits of a diverse workforce/workplace
What we know… from years of scientific research, is that adult learning is best achieved through multiple methods: allowing participants to engage, act, reflect, theorise and plan for each learning outcome ensures a more effective transfer of knowledge from training to behaviour. For any topic to be raised, discussed and debriefed takes at least an hour and it is essential to the success of the program that anything raised is given the space it needs to be debriefed, to be made relevant to the people in the room, that the programme is flexible enough to alter given the particular needs and or concerns of each group. For this reason we plan to cover one or two topics around organisational diversity in depth.
Section 3
Attendance and Preparation
When an organisation commits to changing attitudes in a palpable way, it is vital that all members of the organisation attend, including board directors and part-time staff, preferably in mixed groups. The value of different sections of the system undergoing the process together is that it reduces "us and them" sentiments and fosters a sense of being able to apply the learnings at all levels and across departments as well as locally.
Research has shown that for learning to take place it is important that people are engaged in the process prior to the training session. Preparation forms are sent out a week prior to the training. This begins the learning process, prepares participants for the kinds of questions they are likely to be asked on the day and lets people know a bit about what will take place. This is important as it means the trainers spend less of the limited time available introducing the questions and engaging the group and can concentrate on eliciting the patterns of thinking that are current in the group.
Section 4
Training Delivery
It is essential to our way of working that all Diversity Trainers are aware of our own patterns of prejudice, discrimination and training styles and that we train from a position of being a part of the system in the room, not above the training. We do not come from a position of scapegoating particular groups for what has been happening but rather of looking at the larger system in a straightforward way that understands discrimination without condoning it and allows groups to think constructively about the future and their part in it.
Some equalities training didn't pay attention to the larger system of discrimination, nor to acknowledge that it happens from all sides at all levels and the training often alienated participants who quietly became more entrenched in their views. The trainers, at times, foisted their prejudices on groups of participants, replicating the very structures they were challenging. Our process acknowledges that the traits that lead to inequalities on a social scale are human traits shared by all, including the trainers and that only when that is accepted can we begin to challenge ourselves and our colleagues to reduce levels of prejudice and provide a welcoming workplace for diverse staff and community.
We believe that each individual is the best person to update their beliefs and where necessary adopt new behaviours, guided by the legislation, organisational policies and practices. We provide the opportunity for people to notice what's happening for them and for others, the organisation provides the legislative information and supportive policies and practices.
Section 5
Business Benefits to organisations who undergo the training
Able to access a diverse workforce either from the local community or internationally
More able to retain a diverse workforce
The chance to develop a workforce who understand their own diversity and use their teams as a training ground enabling them to be more informed, confident and flexible with customers
Conflicts can be more easily understood and resolved between staff or with customers rather than escalating into disciplinary procedures
Staff, at all levels, take more of a personal responsibility to keep themselves updated with cultural, legislative and historical aspects of Diversity
Section 6
Booking a Training Programme
We've applied this process in the following areas: Police Service, Schools, Educating 'at-risk' pupils, Employment Industry, NHS Care Trust, Lawyers, International Project Managers, Pharmaceutical Industry, Charity Sectors, Software Development Company etc.
If you know that your organisation could benefit from our attention, please contact us.
Caitlin Walker on 07946376948
2 of our consultants work with groups of between 6 and 24 participants, we charge between £500 - £2000 per consultant day depending on the industry.
A whole industry process normally consists of two one day sessions for all participants and will be accompanied by a thorough evaluation process carried out by a Chatered Occupational Psychologist.