At a Glance
Positive About Inclusion was commissioned by settle to design and deliver several in person ‘tool box talk’ EDI training sessions for their Trades colleagues. The brief was to create training sessions to engage colleagues and to help them to understand their role in creating and sustaining an inclusive environment for the benefit of their fellow colleagues and customers.
About the Client
In 2003 the council homes in North Hertfordshire were transferred to a new housing association with the aim of improving tenants’ homes and creating the capability to build more affordable housing. In 2018 that housing association became settle. As the name suggests, settle want their customers to be able to settle – to find somewhere they can establish themselves, create a life, a community and prosper. Settle are committed to getting the basics right, creating a great customer experience and delivering new homes to meet local needs. They focus on neighbourhoods, helping with employment and support and by tackling loneliness.
Challenges and Objectives
Colleagues delivering the repairs service are those most visible to a housing association’s customers and as such it is critical that they understand what EDI is all about and the role they play in furthering an organisation’s commitment to inclusivity. Traditionally seen as hard to engage, our biggest challenge was to create a series of short, interactive and fun sessions in which Trades colleagues would be able to fully participate. Furthermore the training needed to be bespoke, to align with settle’s vision and values and their EDI progress made so far.
Solution
We chose to base the training around a game in which participants were divided into two groups to answer either factual or scenario-based EDI questions based on settle’s vision and values. The game was supplemented with some learning about the subject matter and real examples from our experiences working in social housing were shared.
Impact
The sessions certainly achieved the outcomes desired! Using a competitive game format ensured participants were engaged and they left the training feeling enthused with a greater understanding about EDI and the role they play in inclusivity. The senior leader at settle who had organised the training said that in conversation with the teams many had said how much they had enjoyed it and wished it could have lasted longer, as she said, “this is a massive compliment as often we hear from this group that training sessions drag on.”
“I enjoyed this training and it has made me think about some of the things I may have said to people in the past.”
Trade Colleague attendee, settle
