You are here: Home » Training » Case Study One: PCH

Training : Case Study One: PCH

Plymouth Community Homes: “Embracing Difference”, Equality and Diversity awareness

As one of the newest and most progressive organisations in the social housing sector, Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) was keen was examine its approach to equality and diversity, build upon existing policies and procedures and create a culture where diversity is valued. At the very start of the project It was made clear that a standard E&D approach was not what PCH would be looking for on this occasion and it was agreed that a drama based proposal that would utilise the considerable information and knowledge of PCH acquired by us over recent months would represent an appropriate approach.

The Challenge

To identify the meaning of ‘Equality, Diversity and Fairness’ and highlight how we promote equality, diversity and fairness at PCH
To outline your responsibilities as an employee of PCH
To learn about the impact of discrimination; harassment; victimisation and prejudice both in the workplace and in delivering services
To explore how these issues impact upon both the customer experience and internal staff relationships through attitudes and behaviours of employees
To examine how ‘respect’ for others feeds into the better services and what this actually means in practice
To encourage participants to explore their own prejudices and the ways in which they may stereotype others
To outline how we work together to promote better and fairer services in Plymouth

The Solution

After a period of in-depth consultation at PCH, Matt Cleve (Juice) and Mushtaq Khan (HDN) designed and delivered a series of 20 half-day sessions to all of PCH’s 600 staff. The workshop included elements of drama based training, interactive group exercises and presentations.

The Results

During a thorough evaluation process we asked our delegates a number of questions to assess the effectiveness of the training, here’s a sample of the results:

Did the event help you better understand the basic Equality Legislation ?
540 total answers: 221 people totally (41%), 264 people mostly (49%), and 55 people to some extent (10%) and 0 people not at all

Did the event clarify your responsibilities as an employee of PCH?
542 total answers: 318 people totally (59%), 193 people mostly (35%), and 31 person to some extent (6%), 0 people not at all

Did the event illustrate how “respect” for others impacts upon the service we provide?
540 total answers: 336 people totally (62%), 185 people mostly (34%), and 18 people to some extent (4%) and 1 person not at all (0%)

Will you change anything about how you work as a result of the event?
507 total answers: 66 people totally (13%), 134 people mostly (26%), and 266 people to some extent (53%) and 41 people not at all (8%)

“The training Plymouth Community Homes commissioned with Juice and the Housing Diversity Network was extremely well received .The attendees came from a wide variety of roles within the organisation but the training engaged everyone very effectively and challenged people's preconceptions about the diversity of the customers they deal with. The theatre based approach was very well conceived and performed and a lot of fun. Without doubt the best equality and diversity training anyone had received by a long way.”

Clive Turner, CEO, Plymouth Community Homes