The Case for Positive Working Environments

January 27th, 2010

Soaring staff absence levels in health services across the country pose the question – just how sick is the NHS?

The prognosis is rather bleak. With demanding workplaces, an increasingly intensive pace of work, tough targets and significant budget cuts, healthcare workers are feeling exposed and obliged to demonstrate their competence, flexibility and resilience at all times.
 
But NHS organisations are under a clear obligation to change, with the recently published Boorman review setting out new parameters for addressing staff health and well being.

Boorman makes clear that it is incumbent on all NHS bodies to put health and wellbeing at the centre of their businesses, by removing any barriers to effective HR and management practices.

This new half day event will explore the prescription for change and how to go about it. Including:
• The need to embed employee well being into your systems and infrastructure
•  How to spot stress triggers and assess susceptibility
• Building resilience to pressure and managing anxiety
• The kind of pressures that cause stress and contribute towards staff absence
• Managing that absence (including making the best use of any referrals to Occupational Health) and getting people back to work
• Tools and techniques that can change perspectives on work and assist problem solving
• Best practice in responding to allegations of stress: investigating; supporting parties; managing the aftermath
• How to best engage with your staff in promoting a pro active approach to well being

To secure your complementary place, please email susannjerry@bdpmedia.com or call 020 7492 6925 for further information. The workshop takes place in London at Aldwych House.

Carol Pennington has more than 15 years experience advising on the impact and causation of organisational stress.  She was formerly a researcher with the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and has undertaken national research on behalf of the HSE, government departments and was a member of the HM Investigative Review into the impact of stress on the health and well being within the public sector.

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Delivering culturally responsive care to diverse communities

January 22nd, 2010

  

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To help our NHS clients deliver culturally responsive services to diverse communities, we have developed a series of new interventions and blended learning tools to help create a fair and inclusive NHS that also deliver on the issues raised by the recent Boorman report.

They include

Equality Essentials - making sense of equality in practice

This interactive and engaging learning tool is designed to demystify and simplify equality issues. It provides staff and managers with a practical introduction to the key principles to help promote equality in your workplace. 

Our complementary series of diversity learning modules include Age, Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Religion & Belief, Challenging Behaviour and Disability Confident

Equality Impact Assessment
Our e-learning and face to face interventions demonstrate the clear business benefits of effective and compliant EIAs. By the end of the training, participants understand what an EIA is and how to do it; the key policy and legal drivers; the importance of stakeholder engagement and how to achieve this; and the benefits of the EIA process.

Unconscious Bias
Getting to grips with the concept of unconscious bias is an important and critical step in creating fair and inclusive workplaces. But to do this, we need to create a climate in which issues of bias can be discussed openly, calmly and rationally.

Showing a willingness to examine our own personal biases is integral to understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudice in the workplace.

Our new programme, developed in association with Professor Binna Kandola, examines how and why people are biased and the impact this has on relationships, decisions and organisations in general. It’s designed to 

­ Raise awareness of bias in people and organisations
­ Examine the impact of bias in decision making
­ Demonstrate ways in which we can reduce, if not eliminate, bias in our decision making.

Our complementary workshop dates - Quarter One 2010

Equality and diversity workshops – these take place on January 27, February 10, February 24, March 10 and March 24. To secure your complementary place email skillboosters@bdpmedia.com

Models of staff engagement that deliver organisational change– a leadership roundtable symposium chaired by Neil Cassie of The Cassie Partnership on February 3 To secure your complementary place, please email susannjerry@bdpmedia.com

Unconscious bias: ways to eliminate workplace discrimination – a roundtable symposium chaired by Professor Binna Kandola on February 18 To secure your complementary place, please email susannjerry@bdpmedia.com

How to Create a Positive Working Environment – a half day workshop with Carol Pennington on March 3 To secure your complementary place, please email susannjerry@bdpmedia.com

Join our new Equality & Diversity Forum on LinkedIn.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2554006&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
Follow us on Twitter. www.twitter.com/skillboosters

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Unconscious Bias: ways to eliminate workplace discrimination

December 23rd, 2009

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An invitation to a roundtable symposium, hosted by BDP Media Group and chaired by Professor Binna Kandola OBE on Thursday, February 18.

Getting to grips with the concept of unconscious bias is an important and critical step in creating a fair and inclusive workplace.  But to do this, we need to create a climate in which issues of bias can be openly discussed.

Showing a willingness to examine our own personal biases is integral to understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudice in the workplace.

This symposium, which is chaired by Professor Binna Kandola OBE, Senior Partner at Pearn Kandola, examines how and why people are biased and the impact this has on organisations. The event will set out to:

Challenge existing thinking on our approach to diversity
­ Explore the existence of bias in people and organisations
­ Examine the impact of bias in decision making
­ Discuss ways of reducing, if not eliminating, bias in our decision making

Acknowledgement of bias is key to tackling workplace discrimination. Because recognising that the problem of hidden bias is in others, as well as in ourselves, motivates us all to try both to understand and to act.

Unconscious Bias: ways to eliminate prejudice in your organisation, takes place on Thursday, February 18 from 9am to 11am at BDP Media Group, Aldwych House, 81 Aldwych, London WC2B 4HN.

To secure your complementary place, email susannjerry@bdpmedia.com or call 020 7492 6925 for further information.

Professor Kandola is the author of The Value of Difference: Eliminating Bias in Organisations (Pearn Kandola Publishing 2009).

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www.pearnkandola.com

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Models of Staff Engagement That Deliver Organisational Change

December 22nd, 2009

2010 will be a year of unprecedented change across the public sector. Government departments and agencies are facing significant budget cuts, together with the prospect of working under a new administration.

Which means departments will need to find new ways of working which allow them to deliver on the change agenda they all face.

The behaviour of people within the transformational agenda is key. The question is how do leaders and senior managers overcome previously insurmountable barriers that typically paralyse progress towards change on this level and scale?

Our symposium will consider proven and effective approaches to staff engagement interventions that:

• overcome employee initiative fatigue
• align their behaviour with your vision and values
• promote accountability, collaboration and productivity
• turn managers into authentic leaders and communicators
• accelerate delivery of critical programmes and promises

Led by Neil Cassie of The Cassie Partnership (tcp), our roundtable symposium will consider the steps organisations need to take to effectively engage their staff in the change process, whilst delivering higher and perceived benefits to both customers and the business.

Models of Staff Engagement takes place on Wednesday, February 3 from 9am to 11am at BDP Media Group, Aldwych House, 81 Aldwych, London WC2B 4HN.

To book your complementary place, email susannjerry@bdpmedia today with your details or call 020 7492 6925 for further information.

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tcp delivers proven and measured methodologies and products that deliver sustainable transformation at critical levels throughout an organisation.

visit www.thecassiepartnership.com

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We link up with MediaCorp Online

December 15th, 2009

We’ve just expanded our business portfolio by taking a 25 per cent stake in the learning technology company, MediaCorp Online.

Under the deal, we become worldwide exclusive distributor of Media Corp Online’s Learning Management System, Studyit Online, and its e-portfolio system, ProofPositive, which delivers and manages competence based qualifications via the internet. 

This investment is a perfect fit. MediaCorp Online is not only a long standing supplier, but our companies actively collaborate on developing flexible learning technologies.

The agreement also gives us a Scottish base from where we can service clients that are based in both Scotland and the North of England (MediaCorp Online is based in Hamilton, just outside of Glasgow).

Learn more about MediaCorp does here:

www.mediacorp.co.uk

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December 14th, 2009

 

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The BBC World Service Trust has launched a major new initiative that’s changing the way people learn English in Bangladesh, and in other communities of Bangladeshi origin living worldwide.

The multi-platform media project provides high quality English learning tools across mobile, television and the internet to millions of people, many of whom live on less than £2 a day.

Atticmedia was appointed to design the online BBC Janala brand, create the website designs (each page of the website is only 45k to download so the content is accessible to people using slow internet connections. more than 50% of internet users are struggling with speeds of 14k or less) and the brand guidelines.

Atticmedia worked closely with the BBC World Service Trust in Bangladesh, conducting user testing on learning and design approaches in both the capital Dhaka and rural villages. 

Outputs for the brand include advertising, social media, mobile phone apps, TV idents, display stands, van livery and signage.

The project builds upon Atticmedia’s growing portfolio of creative design led e-learning approaches for developing world countries.

visit www.bbcjanala.com

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Driving employee well being, engagement and resilience

December 11th, 2009

In a new series of six exclusive interviews, Professor Ivan Robertson from one of our delivery partners, Robertson Cooper, outlines some practical and effective approaches to driving workplace well being and employee engagement.

Film 1 – Employee Engagement
People who are truly engaged with their organization have a strong sense of purpose. Ivan explains that a disconnect will happen when people are badly managed and their workplace experience contaminated. This in turn has an adverse affect on how your people will behave.

Film 1

Film 2 – Relating Well Being to Engagement
Ivan explains why it is important to bring the functions of HR led staff engagement policies and health and safety led welfare programmes together. Only by taking a more strategic view will businesses achieve real results.

Film 2

Film 3 -  The Business Case
National level reports clearly support the idea that engagement and well being interventions deliver business benefits. The second step is translating that to your business and that means measuring issues such as sickness, absence and performance levels.

Film 3

Film 4 – The Impact
Ivan argues the case for a well being audit which will reveal how people across your business feel about issues around well being and engagement. This will identify what is getting in the way of people doing their jobs and establish the key drivers going forward.

Film 4

 

Film 5 – The Leadership Role
Anyone in a management or supervisory role needs to understand the key drivers to employee well being and engagement. Examining their natural style can transform the way some managers deal with their work group.

Film 5

Film 6 – Employee Resilience
Professor Ivan Robertson explains the concept of employee resilience in the workplace, how interventions can help people improve their capacity to cope with adversity and why it is possible to recruit a resilient workforce.

Film 6

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December 10th, 2009

In a series of exclusive interviews, Professor Cary Cooper CBE, from Robertson Cooper, gives us a compelling update on latest developments around employee engagement and workplace well being.

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Film 1 – Mental Capital & Well Being
Cary discusses the Foresight Mental Capital & Well Being project on which he was a Lead Scientist. He explains the concept of mental capital, the importance of well being audits and how improving health and well being  is clearly linked with greater productivity

 

Film 1

Film 2 – Presenteeism
Cary discusses the shocking cost of presenteeism which is costing UK businesses around £15 billion a year. Here he argues that a service based economy allows us to work smarter as opposed to longer.

Film 2 Cary

 

Film 3 – The Effects of the Recession
As the recession bites people are working longer hours and indulging in all manner of self protecting behaviours that will damage your business performance. Cary calls for a new style of leadership which manages people not by fear, but by praise and reward.

Film 3 Cary

Film 4 – Public Sector Job Cuts
Cary considers ways that public service organisations can accommodate major job cuts and says that better trained managers will be able to find new ways to deliver good public services, but differently to what has gone before.

Film 4 Cary

 

Film 5 – Best Practice
Cary considers some beacons of good employee engagement and calls for those organisations that operate a command and control culture to adopt new ways of working to help improve workplace wellbeing.

Film 5 Cary

Coming soon: Professor Ivan Robertson outlines practical and effective approaches to driving workplace well being and engagement.

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Join our LinkedIn equality and diversity forum

December 7th, 2009

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Eliminating Bias in Organisations

You may not know this, but we are the UK’s leaders in the provision of Equality and Diversity training for the workplace.

To date, we have worked with leading UK experts such as Pearn Kandola, Stonewall and the Employer’s Forum on Disability to help organisations create a truly inclusive workplace for both men and women.

And with a new single equality act apparently looming, we are working to ensure that all our programmes are bang up to date in terms of helping businesses broaden their knowledge and skills.

Having partnered with Pearn Kandola in the area of how to maximise the potential of a diverse workforce, we are now taking a look at the issue of Unconscious Bias.

Professor Binna Kandola addresses this question in his new book The Value of Difference: Eliminating Bias in Organisations.  It’s a timely and well received work which injects new life into the question of diversity.

Which is what we have also set out to do by creating a brand new Equality and Diveristy Forum on LinkedIn. This group is for anyone who is working in the areas of HR, training and development and organisational change who are interested in joining together to help drive the change agenda around diversity and equal opportunities for all.

So please sign and join in the conversation. We’d love to hear from you.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2554006&trk=anet_ug_hm

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Legula Adventure Scoops Award

December 2nd, 2009

Two showcase projects, BBC Upfront Online produced by the BBC Academy in association with Atticmedia and The Legula Adventure for learndirect have been recognised with prestigious E-Learning Age Awards.

BBC Upfront Online and The Legula Adventure took Gold and Silver respectively in the Excellence in the Production of Learning Content - Public Sector at the annual awards which celebrate the breadth and quality of the UK’s e-learning industry.

The BBC has introduced a dynamic new online element to its staff induction programme as part of its investment in the BBC Upfront blended learning programme. Produced by the BBC Academy and developed by Atticmedia, the online course creates a unique immersive, rich 3D space which allows the user to travel along a pre-determined path between 10 different modules. 

The Legula Adventure, a free interactive educational game, was also nominated for a prestigious Children’s BAFTA in the interactive category.

 

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