The Diversity & Inclusion Confident Manager Training Solution

This immersive ‘Diversity Training for Managers’ workshop has been designed to empower managers with everything they need to become confident champions of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). They’ll unpack stereotypes and assumptions, get to grips with unconscious bias, learn about relevant legal frameworks, and gain practical tools to challenge exclusive language and behaviours to promote inclusion within their teams and beyond.

The workshop emphasises the role of managers as key drivers of change, empowering them with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to lead by example and make a lasting impact.

If you’d like to talk options over, book a meeting with Kasmin.

Learning outcomes:

Uncover the true meaning of respect in the workplace and build awareness around it.
Have explored relevant equality law and how to go beyond mere legal compliance.
Understand the lines between discrimination, harassment, bullying, and banter, developing the awareness to separate intent and impact.

Be confident in applying inclusive language and universal principles to promote a respectful and welcoming work environment for all.
Develop the confidence to address what’s appropriate and what’s not, equipped with a powerful tool to kickstart courageous conversations.
Commit to taking concrete actions that encourage respect and inclusivity at work

Workshop Outline...

Championing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: Managers will embark on a journey of self-discovery to uncover their own motivation in advocating for equality and inclusion. They will reflect on why these principles are crucial for a productive and positive workplace. A short video exploring the assumptions we all make provides a foundation for continued discussion.

Manager’s Tour of Equality Law: We’ll give an overview of relevant equality law, focusing on its relevance to the workplace. Managers will examine the business case for diversity and inclusion, understanding how they contribute to organisational success and innovation.

Communication and Behaviours: We’ll explore the lines between discrimination, harassment, bullying, and banter, with a quiz to put that awareness into practice. We will examine how inclusive language and universal principles can help create an environment where all individuals feel welcome and respected. Participants will be introduced to examples of inclusive language, which address stereotypes, and universal principles such as fairness, respect, and empathy.

Unconscious Bias and the Assumption Trap: The impact of assumptions on our interactions with others shouldn’t be underestimated. With a hands-on activity exploring types of bias, participants will gain insights into how assumptions, stereotypes, and bias can affect decision-making processes, relationships, and inclusivity. We’ll emphasise the importance of managers challenging their own assumptions, as well as those observed in interactions with others.

How this looks with actors: Managers will witness a true-to-life scenario performed by actors, depicting a management situation where assumptions lead the conversation astray, resulting in tension and misunderstanding. This immersive experience offers a powerful learning opportunity, as participants observe first-hand the consequences of unchecked assumptions in the workplace. They’ll be invited to dig deeper into the motivations and feelings of the characters, provoking thoughtful discussion and perspective-taking that we’ll build on as the session continues.

Intersectional Influences in the Workplace: The “Circle of Trust” activity is designed to enhance development of managers by prompting introspection about trust dynamics in their professional relationships. As managers become more aware of their biases, particularly affinity bias, and how they affect trust, they can build stronger, more authentic connections with their team members. Participants will gain an awareness of the nuanced and often overlooked aspects of workplace dynamics, understanding how intersecting identities influence individual experiences. They’ll make a start on their action plan – a roadmap of practical steps they can take beyond the session.

Tools for an Inclusive and Anti-Discriminatory Culture: We share a practical framework, “Wait a SEC”, to approach courageous conversations in a constructive and non-confrontational way. Participants will explore assertive communication techniques, emotional intelligence, boundary setting, and perspective taking approaches. We’ll also share inquiry strategies to promote open dialogue, and these insights will be used to further develop personalised action plans.

How this looks with actors: It’s sometimes difficult to act in the moment, and this scenario unpacks some common barriers to allyship. It’s not just about speaking up though; Allyship takes many forms. Participants explore, through questioning the characters, how they could act as allies in the context of the scenario. The discussion paves the way for an introspection on behavioural preferences and how we can leverage these in new ways to become active allies.

Commitment to Inclusion: The workshop concludes with participants creating a plan to integrate inclusive practices into their team’s goals and strategies. They will make a tangible commitment to applying what they’ve learned, ensuring that the principles of EDI are woven into the fabric of their management approach. Action plans can be shared with project sponsors to be progressed internally.

Let's Talk!

We’re advocates of crafting tailormade solutions that ensure you meet objectives and maximise budgets. Contact us to book a meeting to scope the right solution for your organisation, together.

What About Actors?

Through clever script writing, goosebump-inducing delivery and professional facilitation, we love to bring learning to life with actors…

We can select scripts from our library or write them specially for you, based on typical scenarios you see within in your organisation. For larger projects where budgets don’t allow for live acting, we can professionally film bespoke scenarios to create video content which can be used in the training as well as induction, toolkits, and beyond.

Using actors in workshop give delegates the opportunity to:

Test out alternative ways of approaching what can sometimes be difficult situations, without the pressure of role playing themselves!
Explore what is acceptable and what isn’t; intent versus impact; and both the subtle, and not so subtle, behaviours we see play out in the workplace
Be immersed in an interactive learning experience that engages hearts and minds, and sticks in the long-term memory

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Don't Just Take Our Word For It

Nina Darling

UoP SHCP Teaching Fellow, University of Portsmouth

“The course which Paula provided was really engaging and nicely presented. The use of the actors was particularly good and actually bought the whole thing to life and made it really valuable learning. Thank you very much – it was fantastic!”

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The Diversity & Inclusion Confident Manager

In-House Training, Available As: