Diversity and inclusion - knowing what to say!
Tuesday 10th of August 2021
Have you ever been in a meeting when someone has said something you felt uncomfortable about? Have you struggled to know how to rectify the situation? To challenge in an appropriate way?
A colleague once told me about her experience of feeling exactly like this, when a comment was made in a meeting about someone ‘not looking gay’. The colleague said that she didn't challenge this because she felt that the comment had not been meant to be offensive, although she realised that it was, and equally she felt she wasn’t an expert on the subject so instead chose to say nothing. The person to whom the comment was directed was, quite rightly, offended and the meeting went from bad to worse. The colleague regrets her decision not to challenge to this day.
Challenging something we feel isn't quite right doesn't have to be done in an aggressive way, there are simple techniques we can all use to effectively challenge inappropriate remarks and equally to ensure the language and behaviours we adopt are inclusive of everyone. And whilst we don't need to be experts, having an understanding of the power of our language, the bias we have and how this can influence our actions is really important.
If this story resonates with you, if you feel you need more fluency and understanding yourself about equality, diversity and inclusion issues or you feel that some of the groups with whom you work would benefit from an increased awareness then you may want to check out our ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion- The Essential Plus’ course.
Covering every element of equality, diversity and inclusion from the basics about what it means and why it all matters to the power of the language we use and how to be inclusive in our language and behaviours, this course has the answers!
Delivered by experts in equality, diversity and inclusion with years of operational housing experience, the course can also be delivered in house and tailored to your organisation’s specific requirements.
The next course is Tue 14th Sep 2021, 10:00am - 1:00pm