Embedding Inclusive Practices into your Business: A Workshop Series

Research shows that productivity and innovation levels surge when your staff are feeling valued and can be their authentic selves, and all wider aspects of the business grow and thrive as a result. “Diversity yields superior outcomes over homogeneity because progress and innovation depends less on lone thinkers with high intelligence than on diverse groups working together and capitalizing on their individuality” (click here for link to research).

In other words, diversity and inclusion really matters. But we all have biases and blindspots – are these inadvertently limiting your ability to recruit and retain talent, and ultimately your productivity and innovation?

ChristchurchNZ and Canterbury Tech are pleased to offer a workshop series to help and support Tech leaders and managers to expand and explore a more diverse & inclusive workforce. This series will help you understand the benefits and opportunities of increasing the diversity of your workforce, along with the enablers to creating an inclusive environment for staff, such that your workplace can truly reflect the population diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Content:

Largely discussion based and tailored to the tech sector, the workshops will cover the following subjects:

• Participants will have a thorough understanding as to the value and importance of inclusion and diversity to achieving commercial benefits and market leadership, along with the opportunity businesses have to improve equality in our wider society
• Participants will learn about the major tenets of diversity and inclusion, such as the relationships between exclusion and performance, inclusion and innovation as well as the ongoing challenges of tribalism and innate bias (and skills needed to overcome)
• Participants will be cognisant of the potential challenges faced by various diversity strands and any historic cultural norms which may negatively impact on recruitment, retention or promotion
• Participants will have a new lens through which to diversity ; the societal limitations and opportunities experienced by people of different backgrounds and persuasions, the impacts of these on wellbeing, and how the tech sector can pitch itself as a workplace with equity as a cornerstone of its culture
• Crucial conversations models and scenarios – giving people the skills to achieve a workplace culture of allyship

Who should attend?

Leaders within small to medium-sized tech businesses who are looking to grow their diversity and inclusion capability.

Dates:

Session 1: Tuesday 23rd August, 3.00 – 4.30pm

Session 2: Tuesday 27th September, 3.00-4.30pm

Session 3: Tuesday 25th October, 3.00 – 4.30pm

Venue: ChristchurchNZ, Level 3, 101 Cashel St, Five Lanes BNZ Centre.

Developed and delivered by Suran Dickson. Suran is based in Christchurch and has vast experience of working with corporate organisations to engineer innovative solutions to their people challenges. Passionate about inclusive leadership with a strategic focus on fostering authentic, happy and productive staff teams, she has conducted culture reviews and leadership workshops for Enable, Orion, Connetics, Christchurch International Airport and Christ’s College. Suran has also facilitated panels and delivered keynotes, workshops or strategic advice for Radio New Zealand, Google, MI6, the Police, Farmlands, AgResearch, Ryman Healthcare, Canterbury Cricket and CCHL amongst many others.

Cost: $59.00 for all 3 sessions (Supported by ChristchurchNZ)