BLM workshop feedback; further steps for the

Transcript:BLM workshop feedback; further steps for the:
BLM workshop feedback; further steps for the council and BEA July 2020 Key words of how attendees felt at the beginning of the workshop Poll Results 1. Do you feel comfortable raising issues relating to equality and diversity in the council? Poll Results Referring to BEA plans; Poll Results Poll Results Themes (1) Directors and organisational communications Recognition of BLM came from Directors and Chief Exec Felt positive and surprised at the strong statement from the Leader of council and Chief Exec, however this message got more muddled as it travelled down the organisation and less emphasis on actions that would be taken Managers communication Quite a lot of emphasis that it depends on your line manager/department. Some have been much more responsive than others However, a lot of feedback suggested that direct line managers had not really recognised BLM events No empathy shown or acknowledgment of trauma and anxiety presentations of staff Should be on the agenda of team meetings to discuss Regular audits of the middle management team, to ensure equality of opportunity for all- may be external agency to ensure monitoring & scrutiny Speaking out Some felt as though they had to raise BLM as an issue themselves, otherwise it would not have been raised Some felt that its not black peoples responsibility to bring up BLM. How are you feeling about your manager’s response to BLM events so far? Strengths The work of BEA recently has produced a lot of positive response, with the sense being that this needs to continue and not become tokenistic. Resource sharing on yammer has been useful Impressed by events that are going on e.g. Black History Month. Social work teams- strength based practise. Asking individual about backgrounds, what they would like to have, what services they can use Improvements - understanding, leaders training and diversity Can seem tokenistic if not backed up with systemic change and diversity being reflected in senior management UNITAS and youth pages are diverse, although this not reflected in adult corporate web pages No tangible change since the Managers session in 2018. Leaders and councillors need training. Do they understand the issues or are they just being PC Idea floated to have a cultural calendar – put diversity dates automatically onto outlook. Opportunities to get on Perception and stories being shared about recruitment and not getting equal opportunities at promotion. i.e. Interims who’s jobs have not