At a Glance
Following the well received all colleague EDI session that Positive About Inclusion delivered for the Wrekin Housing Group, they further commissioned us to deliver work in relation to equality impact assessments (EIAs). Wrekin asked if we could review their current EIA framework, make any recommendations for improvements and subsequently deliver engaging and insightful training for colleagues to fully embed the use of EIAs across the business.
About the Client
The Wrekin Housing Group is one of the largest social housing providers in the West Midlands, it is a socially minded organisation that prides itself on making a difference to people’s lives by providing over 13,000 homes for affordable rent and low cost home ownership across Shropshire, Staffordshire, Telford & Wrekin. The Group also provide care solutions ranging from domiciliary care for the elderly to supported housing and care for adults with learning difficulties.
Challenges and Objectives
Wrekin had an EIA framework that aligned the completion of EIAs to their policies, they had a template with comprehensive guidance notes however colleagues had not received specific training on how to complete them. This meant that whilst some colleagues were proactively carrying them out others were less confident resulting in hesitation. Wrekin asked if we could review their existing template and guidance notes, making recommendations for improvements to aid understanding and then deliver three, virtual, training courses with managers and supervisors from across the business to increase their fluency and confidence, to proactively approach EIAs and understand the value they can bring. The training needed to relate to all parts of the business and to cover practical tips to support and embed learning.
Solution
Positive About Inclusion completed a review of Wrekin’s existing approach to EIAs, this resulted in some changes to their approach to screening and a revised template and guidance notes. We subsequently designed and delivered three two-hour bespoke EIA training sessions, aligned to Wrekin’s values, which covered the what, the why and the how:
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What EIAs are,
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Why they Matter (the value they can bring we)
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How to practically complete them
By creating a relaxed and safe space we ensured that everyone fully participated and through the use of two games during the sessions (Spin the Wheel and EIA Your Cards Right) we effectively and collaboratively worked through example EIAs for real-life housing scenarios.
Impact
We took a measurement of confidence levels at the start of each session and following completion we requested feedback from those who had participated. The resulting comments received demonstrate that not only did everyone who attended enjoy the sessions but that they also found them to be really useful and that confidence levels had risen significantly.
“The training was brilliant, pitched at a great level and I was really pleased with the interaction we had from those who joined us. Your training is the starting point in really embedding these across the group and it has shown the value in them and that they’re not scary to complete.”
Emma Wells, Risk & Policy Manager
