New Jigsaw@work Companion

The new Equality & Diversity companion to Jigsaw@work is going to be launched at HRD on the 15th - 17th April.

Myself and William our equality specialist have been working away on the finalising the content for the participants workbook and facilitators guide, both od which are now with our wonderful deign consultant Simon Mitchell at bespoke solutions, http://www.mybespoke.com/

The new diversity programme, has been trialled over the last six months by William, and we are delighted to say that we now have a one-day programme, which is delivered using live case studies, humour and like all Jigsaw programmes engage the learner from beginning to end.

Building on Jigsaw’s central tenet that people have the ability to be flexible in their approach by accessing different behavioural and thinking styles, the equality and diversity tool takes things a stage further with each individual.

The new tool:-

· Spotlights why we all have different assumptions about other people
· Helps anyone to feel safe in admitting their negative feelings about other people
· Presents a red/yellow/green and blue print. A realistic action plan- based on the famous jigsaw brain dominances- for managing assumptions and prejudice about other people

And like Jigsaw, the equality & diversity Companion is devoid of formal testing methods, lots of paperwork and unrealistic expectations. Building on this last point, the Equality & Diversity programme does not:-

· Present equality and diversity issues in stark black and white politically correct terms
· Offer a pot of gold for reaching the “promised land” – no preaching
· Soften what is a hard headed subject with pink and fluffy abstract terms

Instead, the tried and tested, universally acclaimed Jigsaw brain dominances thread together to make a powerful equality & diversity companion.

Participants are taken through a lively workshop with:-

· A series of quizzes on their own assumptions
· You the jury sessions-based on real discrimination cases
· A reminder about the business case for getting things right first time!
· Spotlights on how to find out more about the neighbours
· Everybody-including the trainer-admitting to their own prejudices
· Everyone leaving the session with some practical tools to work well with others

Suitable for both employment and service delivery situations, the Jigsaw companion, which is to be launched next month at EXCEL, London is sure to be in high demand from those:-

· Who have sat through numerous dry and dusty training seminars on the topic
· Need urgent help now in grappling with the growing number of new equality duties
impacting directly on the public sector and indirectly on the private world of business & commerce
· Simply want some reassurance that it is ok to be human!

Flexibility being the watchword of Jigsaw and the equality & diversity companion, both resources can be applied singly or together.

Talking about the new product, Keith Nicholson, Managing Partner of Jigsaw@work said:-

“ Jigsaw has proved a huge success in creating understanding and realistic harmony between different individuals. Jigsaw provides a practical framework for numerous employment situations such as performance assessment schemes or service delivery situations such as handling difficult customers.

The new companion tackles and acknowledges that even when handling these employment or customer care issues, we often retain our prejudices and assumptions. The new programme provides the framework for managing these issues in a safe way that does not infringe on freedom of thought or worse create a strait jacket of political correctness.

It provides a convivial way for people to develop more empathy and understanding, but against the education of their own experiences together, Jigsaw and the new companion present a wonderful resource for both the world of work and the market.

More importantly, they both share the same powerful focus on each and every individual”

A new Equality and Diversity Unit , headed up by William Chadwick is now working under the Jigsaw@work umbrella in our head office on the outskirts of Wakefield.

Visit our site http://www.jigsawatwork.com/ or email discovery@jigsawatwork.com