Key stakeholder engagement

Effective inclusion programmes are championed by engaged leaders with a shared vision for equity, diversity and inclusion, and a personal commitment to driving change. By engaging leadership teams, we set organisations up for success in the Enabling the Change phase. We conduct a series of facilitated discussions with key stakeholders to define the strategic programme priorities and ensure alignment with the business strategy. This can include workshops, individual sessions, and coaching with key individuals.

Landscape review: Competitor, customer and supply chain

We look at an organisation in the context of its ecosystem to understand the practices and expectations of customers, peers and other stakeholders. This is often an important input to the equity, diversity and inclusion strategy that ensures full acknowledgement of the various pressures on the business, and how these impact delivery of the business strategy.

Shape Talent always propose a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis to give you the most rounded insights into not only what the barriers are within your business, but also how these challenges are arising.

Quantitative diagnostics

Our proprietary Three Barriers Diagnostic helps you to pinpoint with precision the true underlying blockages within your organisation to greater gender balance. This provides real clarity on the areas which will make the biggest difference. In addition, we give you a clear picture of how intersectionality impacts different groups in different ways.

Qualitative diagnostics

We conduct targeted focus groups and interviews, also designed around our Three Barriers Model to help bring to life the lived experience of individuals within your organisation. These findings can be invaluable in enabling the storytelling that helps promote effective change.

Plan

With insights from data and feedback from across the organisation, we work with you to develop clear, measurable and actionable plans.

Awareness raising programmes

We help all employees – regardless of gender – to understand the challenges and benefits around gender equity, enabling them to become active allies. Awareness raising can be achieved through a range of programme options including our Three Barriers sessions and listening circles which create safe spaces for employees to share their experiences and needs, helping to build strong, inclusive teams.

Inclusive leader workshops

With the introduction of an organisation-wide change programme, it’s imperative to ensure that leaders are equipped with the skills and resources to actively practice equity, diversity and inclusion in their day-to-day activities. Our Inclusive Leadership programme, comprising workshops and coaching, helps individuals and leaders build the skills required to create inclusive cultures.

Allies programme

Our Allies programme equips individuals at all levels and of all genders to become powerful and authentic allies to women. This helps participants consider opportunities for being a responsible bystander and develop the self-awareness, courage and curiosity to enable active allyship.

Create inclusive talent management processes

Despite best intentions, recruitment, career development, appraisal and reward practices often contain biases. We review your talent management lifecycle and work with you to dismantle these biases and ensure your practices support your EDI goals.

Optimising employee resource groups

We ensure employee resource groups (ERGs) or employee networks are aligned with the equity, diversity and inclusion strategy and are optimised for effectiveness. We help define the ERG charter and objectives and ensure a clear line of sight to the organisation’s overarching EDI goals. Our team can also provide mentoring and support to women’s network Chairs.

Women’s development and acceleration programmes

Developing women is a core strength of ours and at the heart of the transformation we can facilitate. Our high-touch, high-impact programmes bring together talented women and equip them with the skills, tools and confidence to drive their careers forward. For more detail, see Breaking Barriers Women's Programmes .

Sponsorship programmes

Distinct from mentorship, sponsorship programmes provide participants with a senior executive sponsor who helps to raise their visibility and profile. We help our clients to create, implement and embed powerful sponsorship programmes which complement our Breaking Barriers Women’s Programmes.

Coaching

Coaching, both our Breaking Barriers Coaching Circles and our individual offering, is a powerful way of helping women navigate career challenges and maximise their potential. Coachees can bring a variety of topics to their coach, and every session is designed to meet the needs of the participants. To read more about our extensive suite of highly effective coaching solutions, see Coaching.