Apprenticeship Case Study on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion by Apprentice Emma Mackey
Meet Emma
Currently, I am engaged in the Level 3 Learning & Development Apprenticeship with Umbrella Training.
I started my role as Learning & Development Coordinator at Red Carnation Hotels early in 2020, right before the pandemic and lockdown hit the UK. Needless to say, my new career in L&D did not have the strong start I was hoping for!
Being afforded the opportunity to take on the apprenticeship with Umbrella was the perfect antidote; it helped build my confidence in my new role and equipped me with the skills I needed to develop further.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion is something that I have always deemed integral in life because of my upbringing and the respect I have for the people around me.
Being a mixed-race child growing up in a predominantly white neighbourhood, I realised pretty quickly that I was a bit different from everybody else around me, and oddly enough people would bring it up any chance they got. So I have always found it useful, and I guess necessary, to be informed, open and honest about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) in every aspect of life.
The last year gave me the opportunity to integrate this important topic into my working life in so many more ways, which I am eternally grateful for.
Events like the Black Lives Matter movement and the pandemic have pushed inequality into the limelight and forced people to be active in change and have difficult conversations.
Throughout the apprenticeship, we have had open conversations about equality, diversity and inclusion; and its importance inside and outside the training room. When you think of diversity, often race and gender come to the forefront of your mind, because they can be visible traits.
Our conversations really emphasised the breadth of the subject. We discussed different learning styles, adapting coaching techniques to cater to people’s needs and personalities. What the apprenticeship has done is to encourage a personalised approach to learning and development that encourages inclusivity at every step.
I was tasked with creating Diversity & Inclusion training for Red Carnation Hotels whilst undergoing my apprenticeship.
The apprenticeship has provided me with an extra boost of confidence to have conversations that I would have usually shied away from.
Usually, I would have thought myself not to be fully equipped for such a project, but after approaching EDI in the apprenticeship my confidence grew. The approach to the subject was something that I implemented into the training session as well.
Openness and discussion are key with these subjects. This training has been carried out globally across all the hotels in the collection so hopefully there are lots of conversations about EDI going on all over the world.
Often, we see EDI being made out to be a taboo subject or something to discuss outside of work.
My hope is that the recent championing of EDI and change has allowed people to feel comfortable with having these conversations with their colleagues.
We can remain quiet around the subject because we don’t want to say the wrong thing, but we need to have these conversations about EDI in an environment of ‘uncomfortable confidence’, kindness and respect. Discussion allows for further awareness, understanding and hopefully the confidence to bring your whole self to work.
I think it is really easy to be on board with EDI and be passionate about it, but knowing what to do to learn more to actually be effective can be a difficult step.
To actively learn more, find the best way that you digest information and utilise that to your advantage. Be that listening to podcasts, reading books, attending webinars or just having conversations with people in a safe environment. None of us can be experts about every single way that we are all different, but we can certainly give it our best efforts to make a dent in the knowledge and understanding that we feel we lack on the topic.
Make EDI a conversation both inside and outside of work. Discuss the things you read, talk about how they made you feel and encourage safe spaces. And most importantly, be kind and compassionate.
