Member Article

Sheffield ecommerce boss talks equality and diversity

Following the launch of Training Post, an ecommerce site from Sheffield-based elearning agency Can Studios, we asked director Ian Stanyer about the importance of decent Equality and Diversity training in the workplace and the advantages of taking courses online.

What made you choose to sell Equality and Diversity Courses?

We are representing a number of elearning suppliers and we wanted to launch training post with an offer that represented as many as possible. We also noticed that unesco have an annual event “Do One Thing” to promote cultural diversity in May. It seemed we could help diversity awareness and our content providers.

Why is training in Equality and Diversity important, what would you say to someone to convince them it was worth it?

Very few people go to work to make their colleagues feel uncomfortable - the difficulty is in avoiding or dealing with situations where people are being inadvertently offensive. What some workers class as office banter, particularly in high-pressure working environments, can be viewed by the recipient as directly prejudicial.

Taking the time to learn about other faiths and religions, consider unconscious bias or inclusivity or to investigate an area that perhaps might affect you. An online diversity course can take as little as 45 minutes and gives great insight into practices and safeguards you’d probably never thought of.

What are the key issues surrounding Equality and Diversity in the workplace in the UK?

Government changes to pensions and tuition fees mean that there are more people entering the workforce at a younger age and retiring much later. Following a recession which strongly affected these ends of the spectrum, a byproduct is age discrimination in the interview process.

Gender representation remains unequal in certain trades and professions. Government statistics show that, in the UK, 93.2% of secretaries, typists and receptionists are women and 82.9% of construction workers, chefs, gardeners, mechanical fitters and printers are men. It is true that, in traditionally professional roles such as management, there is greater parity (50.3% men and 49.7% women), but gender discrimination largely remains a problem.

The list is not exhaustive, though the remedy is generally similar across all forms of equality issues: diversity-aware staff supported and led by strong and informed management.

Have you come across any challenges when attempting to talk to people about the topic?

There’s an assumption that, in a modern working environment, people already know as much as they need to. Workers think that they only need to take a course in Equality and Diversity if you have strong prejudices. Asking someone to take a course on a topic like Racial Discrimination can feel like their are hidden implications.

But a good online course can help you to identify equality and diversity issues in the workplace that you were unaware of. A course on understanding unconscious bias which explores prejudices you didn’t realise you held can be a humbling experience and often essential for a harmonious workplace.

What makes these courses different from others?

Elearning is less time-consuming than traditional classroom learning and a cost-effective method of training your staff. However, it tends to be sold in large licenses to larger companies. We wanted to make elearning immediately available to SMEs and, by putting these courses into Training Post, we are trying to make them accessible to smaller organisations by hosting the courses and removing technological barriers.

The variety on offer is outstanding and available to meet learners’ needs. Whether you’re looking for an essentials course for a general outline of areas you should be aware of, or if you want to dig deep into a subject like Gender Equality or Age Discrimination,

Removed from the text-heavy click-through elearning that people may dread, the courses we selected for our store are highly engaging, featuring experts in video interviews, acted case studies and assessments.

Could the government be doing more to promote courses like this and awareness of them?

A lack of awareness of both the moral and legal responsibilities can have a catastrophic affect on a business and a detrimental affect on the economy. In recent years legislation has evolved to bring equality laws into one place in the Equality Act 2010. This merge has made the law surrounding these issues more comprehensive and, as the UK’s workforce continues to become more diverse, remedial action for discrimination is becoming more accessible.

The promotion of training would reduce reduce the number of cases of discrimination and the requirement of legal action. Everybody deserves to feel comfortable working in a harmonious environment, and the key is an informed workforce.

Training Post (https://trainingpost.com/) offer courses for businesses which include Health and Safety, Equality and Diversity, Accountancy CPD, leadership and management.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .