MORE THAN 14,000 EMPLOYEES AT SUNDERLAND CITY COUNCIL ARE UNDERTAKING EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY TRAINING THROUGH BALANCE LEARNING'S E-LEARNING PROGRAMME
Sunderland City Council is raising awareness of equality and diversity issues for its 14,500 staff, and fulfilling its obligations under the Equality Standard for Local Government, with an online training course.
Called Equality and Diversity, the online course, from interactive learning company Balance Learning, highlights the laws and essential concepts of diversity and equality, the standards of conduct and behaviour expected and the implications of equality and diversity on customer service and communication.
Sunderland City Council has achieved level 3 of the Equality Standard for Local Government, a five-level framework for combating discrimination and treating people equally regardless of their age, disability, gender, race, religion/belief or sexual orientation.
“We wanted to find an engaging way of providing training on equality and diversity, across the organisation, in order to reach the higher levels of the Equality Standard,” said Mike Frankland, Training Manager at Sunderland City Council. “Balance Learning had already worked with us to create an online induction resource and we decided that their Equality and Diversity course would be an ideal solution. The beauty of Balance’s courses is that they come complete with a very effective learning management system which tracks and monitors each user’s progress. This enables us to keep a record - and provide proof - that the mandatory training has been undertaken and understood. We can also identify any extra support that employees may need to improve their understanding of the issues.”
Sunderland City Council formed a steering group which worked with Balance Learning to tailor the course to the council’s needs.
“The course already had engaging and memorable messages but we added a greater emphasis on implementing equality processes and behaviours and more on how to meet the needs of our diverse community and ensure greater access to our services,” said Mike Frankland. “Balance Learning incorporated everything we wanted and gave it a ‘wow’ factor.”
All 14,500 staff, including the Chief Executive, will go through the course over the next 18 months. Those who do not have access to a computer will come into council offices to undertake the training.
“Although the course runs for 90 minutes, people can dip in and out of it at their own convenience, as it remembers the sections they have already visited,” said Mike Frankland. “This means that people can undertake the learning at their own speed, wherever and whenever it is most convenient for them.”
All users take a built-in interactive test when they complete the course.
“So far, the average post-test score is around 80%, which shows that the course is successfully promoting a high level of understanding of the key issues,” said Mike Frankland. “Another advantage of the course is that it encourages staff to further engage with IT. When they achieve a high test score, it really boosts their confidence.”
Balance Learning ‘hosts’ the course which means there is no impact on the council’s IT server.
“The e-learning course has proved to be a very efficient and cost effective way of reaching everyone and getting consistent messages out across the entire organisation,” said Mike Frankland. “The greater awareness of diversity, which the course provides, will enable our staff to better respond to the needs of our local community.”Background notes: Sunderland City Council serves around 300,000 people in north east England. www.sunderland.gov.uk
Launched in 2001, and adopted by 90 per cent of local authorities, the Equality Standard for Local Government is a performance measure for applying fair principles in policy-making, service delivery and employment.Journalists who would like more information should call Amanda Dawson (PR contact) on 020-8953 8863 or email her at amanda@daws.com.
