Let's Talk!
We’re advocates of crafting tailormade solutions that ensure you meet objectives and maximise budgets.
This comprehensive, experiential workshop explores the practical application of neuroscience, bias identification, legal frameworks, and great hiring practice. Participants will be engaged in real-world scenarios that explore writing job advertisements, shortlisting and interviewing, exploring the differences between positive action and discrimination, and the role of reasonable adjustments. By the end of the workshop, participants will be well-equipped to enhance their recruitment practices, encouraging more equitable and inclusive recruitment journeys.
(1) Introduction: An icebreaker, the “Reflections on Privilege” activity, creates space for open, authentic communication. We’ll explore privilege in a non-confrontational way, using this as a starting point to introspect on privilege in recruitment.
(2) The Science of Bias: Participants explore an overview of the neuroscience behind unconscious bias and how it affects recruitment. The “Candle and Matches” activity illustrates how our brains can trick us into making biased decisions, helping build awareness and understanding of the science behind unconscious bias. Participants will be invited to set a personal goal for inclusive recruitment as part of their progressive action plan.
How this looks with actors:
Watching as a ‘fly on the wall’, participants will witness a familiar recruitment shortlisting process where unconscious bias subtly influences the selection of candidates. They will be invited to critically examine the scenario, questioning the recruiters (our talented actors) to dissect their underlying assumptions and biases. Through this examination, participants will uncover the reasons behind these biased thought-processes, how to tackle this type of scenario, and the potential impact on the organisation when we miss opportunities to address biased decision-making.
(3) Legal Cornerstones of Inclusive Recruitment: A whistlestop tour of the relevant legal frameworks brings attention to protected characteristics and other factors influencing recruitment. The interactive “Positive Action or Discrimination” activity will challenge the group to distinguish between lawful and unlawful practices, enhancing their understanding of legal nuances in recruitment.
(4) Removing Barriers in Job Advertisements: We critically analyse key stages of the recruitment process, identifying barriers and discussing inclusive role design and job advertisement strategies. An activity reviewing mock job ads offers hands-on experience in spotting and amending exclusionary practices, encouraging a more thoughtful approach to role advertisement and design. They’ll continue to develop their actions plans, reflecting on practical steps they can take to dismantle recruitment barriers in the context of your organisation’s process.
(5) Great Practice in Shortlisting and Interviewing: Participants will explore biases affecting shortlisting and interviewing and examples of great practice. An “Inclusive Interviews” exercise challenges participants to reformulate interview questions, emphasising behaviour-oriented questioning techniques that level the playing field for diverse candidates.
How this looks with actors:
Participants will observe an interview where the interviewer’s approach creates palpable discomfort for the candidate. They’ll be invited to engage in reflective questioning with both the interviewer and interviewee, delving into the interviewer’s methods and the interviewee’s response, to understand the nuances and impacts of non-inclusive interviewing techniques.
(6) Reasonable Adjustments and Legal Compliance: Focusing on legal mandates for reasonable adjustments, particularly for candidates with disabilities, participants will discuss and engage in activities to explore various workplace adjustments. We’ll consider what adjustments could look like in practice and the benefits of taking an accessible-by-design approach.
(7) Supporting & Retaining New Hires: The conversation shifts to focus beyond recruitment and explore strategies for inclusively nurturing talent. We will explore how to create an inclusive onboarding experience, establish mentorship programs, encourage employee resource groups, and implement policies that promote inclusivity and retention.
(8) Action Planning for Inclusive Recruitment: As the course closes, participants will consolidate their learnings into SMART strategies for inclusive recruitment. They will share their objectives and commitment to enhancing recruitment inclusivity, with follow-up actions to track their progress.
We believe real progress in diversity, equity and inclusion doesn’t come from tick‑box training – it comes from courageous conversations, immersive experiences, and tools that support long‑term culture change.
Our award‑winning Equality, Diversity & a Culture of Inclusion programmes go beyond awareness to build practical skills and confidence, using bespoke workshops, actor‑led scenarios, interactive activities and reflective discussions that bring learning to life for your teams. From unconscious bias and micro‑behaviours to neurodiversity and allyship, our solutions are designed to help organisations cultivate inclusive environments where all people can thrive.
We offer a flexible range of learning elements to enhance and extend your diversity and inclusion strategy, including professionally produced bitesize learning videos, interactive toolkits, personalised journals, culture diagnostics, and blended learning journeys tailored to your organisational goals. Whether delivered virtually or in‑person, our creative, data‑informed approach ensures that every participant leaves equipped with actionable insights and meaningful takeaways.
“Having the actors there, re-enacting some of the issues that we have had at DFS has really bought the situations to life. The feedback has been really positive, with people saying it’s the best training course they have been on and how thought-provoking the sessions have been.”
WORKSHOPS WITH ACTORS