Here’s a flavour of how we’ve helped public sector and commercial organisations.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:

Finding the leader within

This specialist government agency has almost 12,000 employees and contractors in the UK. Its goal was to support individuals from under-represented groups, who had been identified as high potential, to develop their careers within the agency. The organisation recognised women faced internal and external challenges to this progress.

Working with the learning and development team, we co-created a bespoke programme to give individuals the tools they need to face these challenges. The programme aimed to support them in several ways including: to develop their identity as a leader, to navigate their career journey with authenticity, and to find support from within.

“This course has by far been the best personal development opportunity I have ever received; it has given me the tools to recognise my authentic self and be comfortable with who I am.”
Participant

We blended face-to-face and virtual learning for the programme. Sessions were varied and included keynote speeches, focused skill sessions, coaching circles and modules about personal development. Participants also had access to an interactive platform, full of content they could explore further if they wished.

The impact of the programme was profound. The women were given not just professional development tools, but personal ones, too. They felt equipped to put themselves forward for promotion, and be their authentic selves. 96% of participants felt their confidence increased and they were prepared to ask for promotion.

CONSULTANCY:

Improving workplace behaviour in the public sector

As experts in the field, the Half the Sky team was commissioned to understand and tackle exclusionary behaviour within a government department with over 23,000 members across the UK.

For this project, we invited voluntary participation in wide-reaching qualitative research focused on our spectrum model of workplace behaviour, using one-to-one interviews and group discussions. This enabled individuals to discuss their experiences of exclusionary and discriminatory behaviours in a safe and trustful environment, and revealed highly personal stories that had, until now, never been shared.

“This is the most impactful and insightful report this group has ever received.”
Chair of Executive Board

Information was collected from 20 focus groups and 31 interviews, segmented by role and responsibility. We gathered 1500 data points and thematic analysis exposed patterns and insights relating to culture, behaviour, hierarchy, policies, processes. For the first time, the organisation was able to understand the real human impact of exclusionary workplace behaviour.

The project uncovered why these poor practices were taking place and our findings enabled us to create a plan of actionable changes – covering everything from policy changes, to leadership training, and response systems and processes – which are now being implemented by the relevant functions.

The depth of the insight and the practical nature of our proposals give this piece of work the potential to transform the culture of this significant public institution.

CONSULTANCY:

Supporting work-life balance at a major law firm

This much-respected law firm has 6,000 employees globally. The problem was, they were losing talented lawyers due to excessive working hours, and finding it difficult to recruit for junior positions.

To retain and recruit the best people, the firm knew they needed to change; to promote a healthier work-life balance in line with people’s personal aspirations. They were looking to disrupt the presenteeism that had become ingrained and ensure that staff with care responsibilities would enjoy the same career prospects as those without. This was a process that had started internally but needed developing and cementing to make it work.

“Half the Sky are my go-to people when I need innovation. I turn to them when I know that the old ways of doing things need to change.”
Client, international law firm

Using our 5DFlex framework, the process involved using insights from a colleague survey, plus in-depth interviews, to build employee personas. We then worked with a wide group of stakeholders to uncover ideas and develop a range of firm-wide actions and programmes. We needed to think big and small – and be open to innovative approaches.

The resulting 150 ideas covered process, policy, culture, technology and place. Some were implemented straight away while others were developed into pilot programmes. The result was that part-time workers could no longer be overlooked for promotions. And it was a step towards better engagement and motivation of staff across the firm.

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT:

Starting the conversation about bias

This government department has 15,000 officials across the UK. We were brought in as experts in our field to deliver a day of bespoke diversity and inclusion training for 150 senior officials, with a focus on unconscious bias.

The training supported a new strategy championing inclusion. This meant these were new ideas for many of the participants. Our challenge in training a group of such senior leaders was to quickly establish rapport and trust. We needed to fully understand their jobs and culture in order to have meaningful conversations on sensitive topics. Our content was informed by interviews with a sample of participants in advance and we used evidence to validate the effectiveness of our proposed approaches.

“This was a very important event for us and essential it went wonderfully well. The effort you went to shone through, you really understood us.”
Client, government department

Scheduled during lockdown, the training was delivered online – an extra challenge. We structured the day to include a mix of formats, from keynotes to breakout workshops, and ensured our team of four facilitators were fully trained and rehearsed in advance of the event.

This important event served to fill a gap in awareness and provoke changes in perspectives. It gave an influential leadership group the knowledge and confidence to champion diversity and inclusion within a public organisation.

CONSULTANCY:

Boosting women’s representation in a frontline service

In this project, we worked with a major frontline public service. It needed to recruit more diverse workers, particularly women, in order to be more representative of the community. The organisation also needed to reduce staff turnover and increase the progression of a wider mix of people to senior positions.

This vision could only be achieved by adjusting the whole model of employment. Flexibility needed to be incorporated in ways that would make a real difference for employees. Drawing on our specialist expertise in gender equality, we partnered with a large consultancy to design and deliver a process that would bring about change at scale.

“They are subject matter experts who combine ‘big four’ consultancy experience with the latest academic insight. It makes for compelling thinking”
Consultancy partner

We worked with the client team to examine things like hours, schedules and locations of work. Guided by our 5DFlex framework, we used workshops to develop new ideas and options which were turned into pilot programmes. These tested what kinds of flexibility in jobs and working practices would bring greatest benefits for both staff and operational performance.

The result was a radical shift in the people management process that began to open up opportunities for under-represented people.

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT:

Spearheading flexibility in hospitality

This client is a global hospitality brand with 8,000 employees in the UK. With serious goals around diversity and inclusion, it needed specialist support in a number of different areas of the business to make a measurable difference.

The issue was low representation of women and minority groups in leadership roles. Initially, we ran a 2 day workshops with the global leadership team to define the vision and make a plan for change. This involved asking senior managers to reflect on the challenges and opportunities and consider how to integrate best practices. The workshop set in motion a process of goal-setting which would lead to a framework of action.

“As well as their knowledge, we value the different lenses they look through to understand our business and what will work best for us. The solutions are personal to us.”
Client, global hospitality chain

Critical for success was the redesign of jobs. In particular, management positions needed to accommodate more flexibility. We worked with the UK team to test alternative job designs. Using a collaborative design process, we considered options like compressed hours and job-splits. Then, we over-saw a pilot, ensuring learnings were made.

In an ongoing engagement with the business, we looked at the processes of hiring and promotion. We needed to identify the organisational and cultural barriers that were hindering progress. This involved working closely with HR and working through scenarios and personas to arrive at recruitment actions plans.

Working with this client has been a great partnership that saw us involved in different areas and levels to support vision and action.