Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) has launched its Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) training that challenges event suppliers to seek a resolution to the issues of diversity through consciously assessing the way they think.
As part of ESSA’s continued provision of market-leading services to members, the 11-part easy-to-digest training course aims to show how problems of difference are subjectively created and how they can be overcome. The approach of this training, underpinned by a focus on bite-sized sessions focused on why we think, intends to move away from the standard what we think approach – better helping to understand the problem and help people adapt their thinking accordingly.
In doing so, it demonstrates how a change in the way of thinking can provoke a positive response to the way we think about difference, which in turn will improve and promote equality and D&I in the workplace.
The benefits of approaching diversity and inclusion in this way include:
1. Empowering employees to better understand how their beliefs influence their thinking.
2. Providing a solution to the issue of unity.
3. Sharing knowledge relevant to collaboration, leadership and resilience which benefits productivity.
Aptly named ‘ONE’, the training programme has been produced in conjunction with ESSA member and founder of coaching service Mindsmith Thinking, Ian Washington-Smith. The collaboration ties in with the objective of D&I helping to create a work environment in which people of all backgrounds and cultures can feel comfortable and work together effectively to positively empower individuals and organisations.
FREE with unlimited access for full ESSA members, this introductory programme marks the first series of D&I training from ESSA, with plans for a follow-up programme aimed at leadership teams.
ESSA director, Andrew Harrison, said: “Through the provision of this training, we are committed to helping create a supplier sector that promotes a culture of inclusion and belonging so that individuals feel free to be their authentic selves, giving all employees the opportunity to thrive. Through challenging existing thinking, we can explore and consider alternatives to those that are inherently ingrained with the aim of understanding that difference is not what we see, but rather how we think about what we see. By doing so, we can learn to think of things differently.”
Author: Adam Parry
Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.
