Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Fundamentals in a Changing World

Unlocking Commercial Teams with EDI

Commercial Teams form a critical hub of any business.  The further along a team is on its Equity, Diversity & Inclusion journey the better that business hub can perform and flourish.  This starts with awareness & understanding.  Firstly, unlocking EDI for ourselves as individuals and how it has relevance and personal meaning to us and those around us.  Then building a common language and understanding as teams in order to support each other and build a stronger, more diverse, more inclusive, more equitable team together.  Once these fundamentals are established, teams can build partnerships with other Departments, Suppliers & Customers in order to build a better shopper experience for all consumers.  The business case, as well as the moral case, is compelling on so many levels.

Attendees

Individuals within Commercial Teams who have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of their function & role and are ready and eager to learn more about the role they can play in building a more equitable, diverse & inclusive team.  Suitable for National Account Execs & Managers with more than 3 years commercial experience, plus Heads of Channel, Sectors & Accounts.

Our Approach

We work through the 7 EDI lenses of the Commercial World – 2 at a Micro (Individual) level & 5 at a Macro (Organisation) level.

  1. Privilege:  We start by looking inwards.  We build our own personal definitions of EDI to enable relevance and confidence.  We dig into identity characteristics, understanding what we can see above the waterline and what sits below.  We get into our psyche to better understand unconscious bias and social schemas or stereotypes.  Where do they come from and why do we have them?
  2. Under-Representation: We start constructing a toolkit for EDI action.  We look at what it really means to be an Ally and how to create Active Bystander Interventions.
  3. Corporate: We unpick the business case for EDI and look at how EDI is brought to life in your company from strategy to goals, data collection & Employee Resource Groups.  What is the good stuff already in action & how can you get more involved?
  4. Line Managers & Employees: We explore the 7 phases of the Employee Lifecycle to unlock EDI levers at multiple levels from recruitment to retention.
  5. Suppliers: We look at your opportunities to influence the EDI agenda through your suppliers, by understanding supplier representation and looking at opportunities for partnership & collaboration.
  6. Customers:  We explore leading edge retailer EDI strategies & initiatives and what it takes to build more inclusive & adaptive retail environments.
  7. Consumers: We ask ourselves how we can be more inclusive and adaptive to better meet a diverse and representative consumer audience, from insights to communication, from digital accessibility to inclusive innovation.

Outputs

  1. EDI SELF-AWARENESS – This is where we see and feel the real aha moments for individuals.  We ask participants to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.  This really is a case of the more you put in the more you get out.  Even for individuals further along their EDI journey, this never fails to deliver on building greater self-awareness.
  2. SHARED UNDERSTANDING – By attending this course with colleagues and peers, teams build a shared EDI language, knowledge & toolkit.  They gain confidence to engage more proactively in EDI discussions and initiatives and to support each other on the journey.
  3. RELATIONSHIP BUILDING – A significant amount of time on the course is spent working through topics in pairs or teams.  An enormous amount of trust is built as individuals share openly about their own lived experiences and privileges.
  4. EDI CHAMPIONS – This course is just the beginning.  Its long-lasting potential lies in its ability to kick-start on-going EDI conversations around the team and organisation and confident EDI champions inside and outside of the business.
  5. EDI ACTION TOOLKIT – Participants leave with some key EDI tools up their sleeves ready to deploy and play their part in building a more EDI world and workplace.
  6. INCLUSIVE COMMUNICATORS – Looking at EDI through the lens of the Shopper / Consumer enables teams to start challenging the inclusivity of their own communications, from use of their pronouns to image descriptions in social media and alt text on web images.
  7. EDI AWARE MANAGERS – This course puts tips and tools at the fingertips of line managers to make their whole approach to employee engagement, recruitment & retention more diverse, equitable and inclusive.
  8. CO-INVENTION – This course fuels new ideas for collaborations across departments & businesses to establish a more EDI environment for all.

Day 1: Understanding our world & workplace

On Day 1, we focus on building our individual and shared understanding of what it takes to build a more EDI world and workplace.  

  • Explore what EDI is for each of us
  • Reflect on our own privileges 
  • Understand the complexity & intersectionality of identity characteristics
  • Unpick unconscious bias
  • Study stereotypes
  • Understand the company-wide approach to EDI from goals to ERGs
  • Accelerate allyship
  • Equip ourselves for Active Bystander Interventions

Day 2: Action for a more EDI world & workplace

On Day 2, we look at how we can put our EDI learning into action

  • Becoming better EDI Managers through the 7 phases of the Employee Lifecycle
  • Building a more EDI supplier base
  • Establishing more EDI in the retail environment, with more adaptive & inclusive shopping spaces
  • Creating more inclusive communications & adaptive platforms

Please contact us Ali@PlansWithPurpose.co.uk if you would like to discuss running a bespoke training course for your team or organisation.