Services & Strategic Expertise

We’ve all heard the words Diversity & Inclusion, and many continue to think that the terms are interchangeable. Most D&I professionals will tell you that they are definitely distinct terms and complement each other. Diversity is about having the right mix of people and Inclusion is about empowering your people to contribute effectively to the success of the organisation.
This programme will cover:

• Unpacking what it means to have a diverse workforce and consumer base
• Explore how inclusion can be a lever for everyone to reach their full potential
• Identifying practical actions that you can take, regardless of your role, to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace

We have all heard of how destructive unconscious bias can be in excluding ‘the right talent’ from our organisations. Imagine how much innovation and creativity will be inspired by teams who look like each other, talk like each other and behave in the same way as each other. When individual team members behave differently to the invisible norms established by the majority team culture they are often branded as not being team players, and often ostracised for being different. What is it that causes disparity of treatment of people? What can you do to recognise and more effectively manage both yours and others’ unconscious biases?
This programme will cover:

• Explore the basis for unconscious bias (the what, the why, and the how)
• Identify some of the more common bias that play out in the workplace everyday
• Understand how to mitigate the impact of common types of bias
• Build an action plan to reduce the impact of bias on your actions and decisions

Reverse mentoring is an effective way to build genuine awareness of the barriers and bias faced by underrepresented groups or junior staff members. Organisations and leaders can demonstrate their commitment to increasing representation and retentions by taking time to get to know employees they may otherwise have no interactions with. By building an understanding of their mentee’s point of view, reverse mentoring can challenge established hierarchies and foster a culture where all experiences, skills and ideas are leveraged. Successful implementation of reverse mentoring improves engagement, experience and retention for any diversity strand it is applied to.
The programme will cover:

• The principles of reverse mentoring – how to get the best from it
• The role of a mentor
• The role of a mentee
• Conducting your sessions – the why, the what and the how
• Building an action plan as a result of your mentoring sessions

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are highly valued and respected networks that when used effectively can make seismic contributions to the recruitment and retention of those groups that they represent, to your existing customer base and opening new markets for you. However, they can also become stale and loss emphasis when the right support and insights are not available. This programme has been created to support you and your organisation refresh, revitalise and re-invigorate existing Employee Resource Groups or introduce new ERG’s into your organisation.
This programme will cover:

• The purpose of the ERG
• The structural requirements for an effective ERG
• Adding value to the organisation – the why, the what and the how
• Collaborating with others – understanding and delivering an intersectional approach
• Build an action plan to successfully deliver the ERG’s

Disability can be one of the most intersectional of diversities and also one that can be temporary or change. It is likely to affect each and everyone one of us in our lifetimes. Building an inclusive culture for disability builds inclusive cultures for everyone. Difference is a value worth celebrating and harnessing, that allows us to achieve the remarkable. We’ll show you how to make the shifts that really matter through consultation and training for all areas of your organisation. The programme can offer:

• Disability Inclusion Training with Kitemark & Elearning Resource – available for leadership, line managers, departmentally and the wider workforce
• Inclusion reviews and accessibility audits to embed a welcoming and anticipatory approach to inclusion – e.g. recruitment, reasonable adjustments, policy and strategies, IT, website and communications
• DWP Disability Confident Scheme – strategic and practical support in achieving the 3 status levels – Disability Confident, Employer and Leader
• Support leadership with strategic development on disability inclusion that can include developing a business case

Everyone learns and works differently, and it’s this richness in diversity that brings value to your organisation and our society. We can anticipate that a huge percentage of workforces will have learning differences and removing barriers to accessing support will take leaps and bounds towards an authentically inclusive and safe working space. When talking about (assistive) technology, we can move away from the notion that it only benefits ‘disabled’ individuals – technology is ubiquitous and we all use it in our day to day lives. We can ‘normalise difference’ and in doing so welcome diversity form the
outset. An Inclusive Technology review programme involves:

• Audit of current IT systems
• An investigation into more specific work areas and goals of staff the range of barriers being faced
• Recommendations report summarising recommendations for software to network organisation-wide
• Recommendations disseminated through bespoke and interactive Inclusive Technology workshops
• A programme of practical training on the various Inclusive Technologies