The incidence of bullying and harassment is a significant factor in the efficiency of any organisation. Many organisations have policies on this topic as a way of addressing the problem but these are only half the solution. The crucial factor in determining the outcome of any incident of bullying and harassment is the appropriate reaction of those with responsibility. This course therefore aims to give managers and supervisors the confidence to deal with inappropriate behaviour and manage this type of conflict. 

Course includes:
• Defining bullying and harassment so they can be recognised at an early stage. 
• Distinguishing between a bully and a firm manager.
• Exploring the high costs of bullying and harassment to an organisation.
• Using the law to resolve bullying and harassment disputes.
• Conducting an investigation into allegations of bullying and /or harassment.
• Giving support to the person who has been bullied or harassed.
• Giving feedback to the perpetrator of inappropriate behaviour. 
• Developing best practice and, through this, changing workplace culture.

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Civil partnership has been given a bad press. Media coverage has ridiculed the notion of “gay marriage” as extravagant and unnecessary. This course gives the opposing view. The aim is to explain the practicalities of civil partnership. It shows how complex legal issues can be resolved when same-sex relationships have recognition. Participants will also be given the opportunity to reflect on how their own attitudes and values support the inclusion of civil partnerships into their work.

Course includes:
• Awareness raising exercises
• Putting discrimination against lesbians, gay men and bisexual people into a broad context.
• Challenging the stereotyping of lesbians, gay men and bisexual people.
• The correct use of language.
• Differences and similarities between civil partnership and marriage.
• Case studies showing how civil partnership can resolve practical problems. 

This course can be tailored to the needs of staff who need specialised information about how civil partnership will change their work such as benefits advisers and housing officers.

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This workshop has been developed for people who want to turn their dreams into reality. The workshop gives participants the tools to improve their self-esteem and confidence. This is a highly practical course which gives participants the confidence to achieve what they want. Everybody is encouraged to ask themselves, “What do I really want out of life?” and. “What is holding me back?”. This could mean the confidence to return to the job market or further education, or it could be something more personal such as the courage to widen your social circle or make important lifestyle changes. The course is facilitated in a warm, comfortable, learning environment where complete self-acceptance is possible. The course encourages looking at our own individual patterns of behaviour and belief systems especially when faced with challenges which may seem impossible. In this way participants can assess for themselves their own strengths and how they can maximise their potential. Failure is also examined in the context of our capacity for regeneration and survival.

Course includes:
• The truth about fear
• Turning doubt and indecision into action
• Turning ‘valley experiences’ into opportunities for growth
• Building self-esteem
• Setting achievable goals  
• Dealing with success and failure
• Examining our current patterns of behaviour and belief systems.
• Building a support network.

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Excellent customer care can enhance the profitability of any business and the effectiveness of any service. The aim of this course is to improve the confidence of staff who may be dealing face-to-face with members of the public.

Course includes: 
• Understanding the importance of customer care in a sales environment
• Doing business in a multi-cultural environment.
• Improving communication skills of staff
• Ensuring services are inclusive  
• Using customer feedback to enhance your business or your service.

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Many people today live, work alongside or provide services to people who are from a different culture than their own.
Our customers and colleagues are part of communities which are rich in cultural diversity and our localities contain communities which are constantly changing.

Culture itself is an incredibly complicated concept to define. What is clear, however, is that cultural difference can cause an unpleasant amount of friction, tension and misunderstanding. Without resorting to crude stereotypes,
this course provides an informative way to examine cultural difference. We begin by gaining a better understanding of how our cultural identity shapes our individual behaviour and beliefs. Only from this point can we begin to understand how others may perceive our own culture, our organisation and our work practices.

Course includes:
• A working definition of culture.
• An understanding of your own cultural background.
• The role of religion in shaping cultural identity.
• Looking at body language, dress, food and customs as a celebration of cultural difference.
• Avoiding services which show cultural dominance.
• Guidance on dealing with cultural conflict.
• Practical methods of ensuring services stay receptive to people from different cultural backgrounds

Who should attend?
This course is vital for those who work with a culturally diverse group, especially those who deliver frontline services.

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All organisations function with a workforce, customers and clients whose members differ from one another. Differences manifest themselves in many ways; by gender, age, race, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, background, class personality and education.  Diversity is quite simply about harnessing these differences to help the organisation achieve its goals or to optimise business performance.
This course helps participants to feel part of the solution, not the problem. It explores diversity issues without guilt or blame. Participants are then given tools to examine how their own behaviour and attitudes contribute to creating a culture where diversity is valued.

The course includes:
• The difference between equal opportunities and diversity
• The business case for diversity including demographics and market segmentation
• The moral and ethical case for embracing diversity,
• The high cost of discrimination
• Linking diversity to organisations’ values
• An overview of the equality laws
• Creating a culture that values diversity
• Diversity and customer service.

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Ethnic monitoring is a vital part of effective equalities management. Collecting relevant data can sometimes present challenges. The aim of this course therefore is to help staff to collect accurate data from service users on ethnicity.

Course includes:
• Developing a working definition of race, culture, nationality and ethnicity.
• Diversity and service provision  
• An opportunity to share your experience of collecting data.
• Practice on dealing with service users’ concerns.
• The importance of collecting accurate information on ethnicity to plan future services.

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Employment law has become one of the most complicated areas of UK law. It is important for all employers regardless of size to be able to understand this topic and practically apply it.

Course includes:
• Employment law – what it is and how and why it changes. 
• The start of the employment relationship: advertising, dos & don’ts of recruitment
• The contract of employment – written statements and what they should include
• Employees, workers & temporary workers
• Holidays & working-time regulations
• Health & Safety
• Family-friendly provisions 
• Discrimination & the law
• Dealing with disciplinary proceedings and grievances
• Performance management issues
• References
• Signposting & resources – the suitability of sources of advice 

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Equal opportunities mean an environment in which everybody has a fair chance to succeed. This is an important guiding principle for any modern organisation whether in the public or private sector. However, the concept of equal opportunities is much maligned and often misunderstood. This course examines equal opportunities practices and how their application can affect staff on a day-to-day basis. Without stirring feelings of guilt , participants are encouraged to re-assess their own working practices so that differences can be accepted rather than feared.   

Course includes:
• Understanding the personal impact of discrimination
• Guidance and discussion on the appropriate use of language
• The legislation covering equality of opportunity
•  Confidence building in challenging prejudice on a personal level
• Practical case studies to show how equal opportunities work in practice.
• The importance of organisational procedures for eliminating discrimination.

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This course is for people who are or are likely to become first line managers. The course focuses on practical skills. It is of particular value to those who have had little or no formal training for their role. The course is suitable for people who work in many different settings such as hospitals , call centres and on building sites and leisure centres, as well as in the voluntary sector.  These highly practical programmes will provide a more productive workplace.

This course is administered within a regulatory framework that could lead to the participants being awarded an accreditation by the Institute of Leadership and Management.

Course Includes:
• Problem Solving Skills
• Planning Change
• Using Information for Decisions
• Building the team
• Managing Diversity
• Performance Indicators
• Self Development 
• Managing performance
• One-to-One Communication
• Delivering Quality

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To improve the confidence of managers who have responsibilities relating to LGBT issues in both employment and service delivery.
To provide an overview of the recent changes in the law and how these have affected LGBT people
To show how these changes in the law will have an impact on the service delivery for LB Merton.

Course includes:
• An overview of terminology and definitions
• An overview of recent legislative changes and their impact on policies and procedures
• Ensuring services are inclusive
• Resource pack including useful statistics and contact details of relevant organisations

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Meditation will enrich your life.  I am 100% convinced that everyone can benefit from meditation. It is very much more than a stress management or relaxation technique. 

The effects that meditation has had on me :
• It helps to manage my stress .
• I have found I need less sleep.
• I have a more positive outlook on life.
• It has improved my creativity and is especially good for creative problem solving.
• It has helped with habits that are linked to neurosis and anxiety such as comfort eating, insomnia, smoking etc.
• I have a calmer and more relaxed attitude to life.
• I have found that I have a greater appreciation of beauty especially in nature.
• It has given me a resource of contentment.
• It has helped me to sort out what is really important in my life.
• It has given me a creative way of dealing with conflict.
• It helps me to relate to people by resonating with their basic humanity. 
• It has helped me to enjoy the present rather than worrying about the future or holding on to pain from the past.
• Meditation has developed an inner resource of self-esteem and confidence within me that is not linked to external circumstances or abilities.
• Meditation is extremely valuable and can be used anywhere from the blandest of hotel rooms  to a prison cell, a hospice or a beautiful beach.

There are two practices I teach. These are:

Mindfulness of Breathing
In the Mindfulness of Breathing one simply pays attention to the breath and the subtle movements that it has on your body. By watching the breath we increase our awareness and change our perception of reality.

Metta Bhavana.
The Metta Bhavana consists of developing loving kindness or “positive vibes” first to oneself and then in turn to a good friend, a neutral person, an enemy and the rest of the universe. The Metta Bhavana can revolutionise the way you see yourself and the way you relate to others. 

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An intensive course which equips participants for designing, delivering, marketing and evaluating workshops and courses on specialist issues. Increasingly people are expected to work in a number of situations where they will be learning new skills. Training which enables participants to develop practical skills that they have learnt through experience, rather than text books and formal lectures, is a radical tool for changing behaviour.

Course includes:
• How adults learn 
• Devising exercises for workshops and longer courses
• Training techniques e.g. role-plays, case-studies, guided fantasy
• Use of equipment such as overhead projectors, flip-charts, videos
• Warm-up games and ice-breakers
• Working with groups 
• Improving confidence in presentation skills
• Dealing with difficult participants
• Managing hotspots
• Marketing your courses
• Pre-course preparation and post-course evaluation
• Managing your stress

Approaching equality and diversity issues with confidence is the purpose of this course. It recognises that much of the learning about good practice in equality and diversity issues takes place outside the training room. Many managers are called upon to coach and mentor individuals and facilitate groups in working through difficult issues that can have principles of equality at their core. This course enables participants to increase their knowledge and awareness of equality issues and requirements. It also gives them the opportunity to practice and reaffirm their skills in facilitating equalities learning, problem solving and conflict resolution.

The course is designed by means of a training needs analysis and can be customised to meet the needs of any individual . This course is co-tutored.

The course includes:
• An update on relevant legislations
• Dealing with dilemmas that have equality and diversity issues at the core.
• Integrating equality and diversity issues into performance management
• Designing learning events to improve awareness of equality and diversity issues
• Practical issues relating to equality and diversity issues and service delivery.
• Modelling best practice
• Sources of additional support and resources
• Promoting equality and diversity issues throughout an organisation

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This is an accredited course designed specifically for the needs of those new to management. It is especially good for people who are team leaders or prospective team leaders and who work in a manual or blue collar environment. This course has an emphasis on confidence building and is especially useful for people who have been out of the workplace for a while , perhaps because of health issues such as HIV or a career break due to childbirth - or even for people who are refugees/asylum seekers and are new to the UK workforce.

Course includes:
• The role of a team leader
• Developing yourself
• Organising the team and their work
• Dealing with problems
• Effective communication
• Using resources or making a presentation 

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Discrimination against lesbians, gay men and bisexual people on the grounds of sexual orientation in employment was finally outlawed in 2003. This course gives an update on the tribunal cases that have already been heard. It also highlights the differences and similarities that this form of discrimination has with other sexism and racism.

The course includes:
• The  problems that lesbians, gay men & bisexual people have in the workplace together with pointers on policy development.
• The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 i.e. what the law includes and excludes and the grey areas  
• Practical case studies
• The correct use of language
• Putting lesbian, gay and bisexual issues into context with other forms of discrimination such as racism and sexism.

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This course asks the question "Are we taking care of ourselves?" Participants are given the chance to evaluate the causes of stress in their lives and develop personal techniques for dealing with stress. Attention is paid to developing good routines for relaxation, diet and exercise while acknowledging the importance of good support networks and effective communication.

Course Includes:
• Identifying Stress - in yourselves and others
• The relationship between stress and excitement
• Relaxation exercises
• Time management 
• Improving communication skills
• Assertiveness  
• Diet and exercise
• Having a whole life 

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