Training and Consultancy Services

Simon Minty

Below are the training and consultancy services we offer. Click on a link to scroll to information about that service.

Fact finding workshop

Duration of Course

3 hours

Number of Participants

12 per session

Overview

With a new client, we find it beneficial to all if we facilitate a workshop with key stakeholders. The aim of this would be to:

  • Introduce us as a company supporting you
  • To find out key and pertinent issues around the current set up, policy and delivery
  • To help inform and develop the subsequent training and consultancy work
  • To prevent re-inventing wheels that work very well already!
  • To develop delegates specialised knowledge of disability issues in the workplace

Key stakeholders within the organisation we would suggest attend include individuals from:

  • Recruitment Team
  • Line Managers
  • HR Team
  • IT (re assistive technology)
  • Procurement
  • Facilities Managers
  • Health and Safety Team
  • Occupational Health provider

This would take the format of a two hour session. It would be led by a director of Sminty.

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Disability Training

Duration of Course

Full or half day

Number of Participants

Typically 12 per session

Audience:

Staff with an interest in disability issues and how they affect the organisation

Objectives

  • Explore delegates personal experiences of disability
  • The business, legal and moral case for disability
  • Explain language and etiquette issues – improve confidence
  • The models of disability and applying them at work
  • Equality Act 2010 (and Disability Discrimination Act 1995) legislation
    • Definition
    • Duties
    • Reasonable adjustments
  • Case studies
  • Workshop session – what else do you specifically want to learn?

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Managing Disability at Work

Duration of Course

Typically a full day but can be reduced to a half day with edited content.

Number of Participants

Typically 12 per session

Audience

For Managers and Human Resources staff responsible for management and development of staff.

Sample objectives

  • Current management issues – workshop part to find out what the delegates wish to cover
  • Equality Act 2010 (and Disability Discrimination Act 1995) legislation
  • Implementing reasonable adjustments
  • Key cases
  • Disclosure and monitoring – how do you know?
  • Distinction between disability related absence and non-disability related absence
  • When performance drops, how do you manage it if it relates to a disability?
  • Examples of best practice
  • How does understanding the social model of disability help in management, recruitment and selection?

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Managing Mental Health Issues at Work

Duration of Course

Ideally a full day but can be a half day.

Number of Participants

Typically 12 per session

Course Objectives

  • Explore the management culture in relation to this increasingly complex issue
  • Demonstrate the benefits of promoting mental well being
  • Establish clear definitions of mental and physical health and stress and mental distress
  • Clarify the law with respect to health and safety and disability with reference to rights and reasonable adjustment 
  • Examine the sources and implications of stress and mental distress and how to recognise them
  • Examine how to promote well being through good management, including looking at some existing procedures and policies as well as individual manager’s styles
  • Present a practical guide to the management of people who are experiencing mental and physical distress.

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"Acting on Disability"

Duration of Course

One or two hours followed by lunch / evening drinks which allows delegates an opportunity to talk informally with the host and actors.

Number of Participants

12 – 200 people per session

Outline

Sminty Ltd will develop disability management scenarios that are acted out in front of the group. At various pre-determined points, the action will be paused and the group asked what they think should happen next. The Sminty facilitator will highlight issues of law, other possible solutions and ideas but the audience will decide on the action as a result.

The scenarios content is determined by you and your learning requirements. The scenes will be developed to be realistic and incorporate real and current issues for you as well as using job titles and functions that the audience will identify with. All cases must be anonymous and ficticious so people identify but don’t recognise individual instances. All actors playing a disabled person will have personal experience of that condition. 

Previous scenes we have used include

  • Interviewing a disabled candidate and discussing reasonable adjustment requirements;
  • Disclosing a disability when part of a performance review;
  • Return from absence interview;
  • Request for reasonable adjustments which conflicts with the job role.

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Hot Topics - How to… Briefings

Duration of Course

1 hour, typically over lunch

Number of Participants

12 – 40

Outline

For a number of clients we deliver very specific short sessions targeted at particular roles. They are designed for different areas of your organisation to give people a practical working knowledge of the topic.  We suggest they are delivered over the lunch time period or as a breakfast briefing as requested, or a combination of times to suit attendees’ requirements. They work best after delegates have attended a core disability equality training course although this is not essential.

Topics might include

  • Legal updates: Equality Act 2010 (Disability Discrimination Act 1995)
  • Procurement and disability
  • Human Resources – attraction and recruitment of diverse candidates
  • Human Resources - retention of staff who become disabled
  • Facilities Management: disability access
  • Front line and reception: welcoming visitors with a disability 
  • Sign language: understanding the basics
  • Understanding mental heath and stress
  • Preventing RSI
  • Information Technology, Assistive Technology and disability
  • Making your events accessible
  • Disabled Staff Network (creation and running)
  • Media and communications
  • What is reasonable when it comes to reasonable adjustments?

In fact they can cover any subject relating to your work and disability!

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Personal / Career Development Course

Duration:

Three day course – ideally residential and a follow up day six months later 

There is some pre-course work and some homework for the first night.

Neither of the pieces of work should take more than an hour to complete.

Suitable for

All members of staff who have a disability

Number of participants

Typically 8 – 10 people

Aims and Objectives

  • For employees, who have disabilities, to identify their goals in respect of their own careers and personal development.
  • To identify methods to overcome the hurdles to achieving their goals and to equip staff to work more effectively towards achieving their goals.
  • To explore management of themselves in relation to their work, their impairment and the perceptions of others.
  • To explore managing of others in relation to working practices, managing others perception of them and of their impairment.
  • To identify ‘what is next’ – and to begin the process of developing their career.

N.B. Reasonable adjustments

This course follows best practice guidance so all necessary reasonable adjustments would need to be provided for trainers and delegates.

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Serving / Welcoming Disabled Visitors and Service Users

Duration

Two to three hours

Number of participants

Can be for 12 people or 300. If a large group, (more than 20) the time would be reduced to an hour.

Format

A simple format, the Sminty Ltd facilitator would hold a structured interview with two or three people with disabilities about their experiences visiting and using your services. This would cover people’s attitude, appropriate language and behaviours, equipment needs, best practice examples and ones that didn’t go well.

We would work with you to identify any impairment types that staff have had particular issues or difficulties, or seem not confident when dealing with people.

There would be an opportunity at the end for questions from the floor to the Sminty team.

A specific section enwraps the interviews covering key aspects of the law and recapping on learning points including etiquette and language.

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Mystery Shopping Event

Duration

Several days of consultancy prior to the event. Feedback event time: Two hours

Number of participants

Can be for 12 people or 200

Methodology

Firstly, you need to determine whether you wish to evaluate how effective you are in recruitment of talent with a disability or how effective you are in serving you customers and visitors with a disability. Or it might be both. Sminty Ltd would then arrange for a number of differently people with disabilities to visit your work place OR apply for a job with your organisation to assess if policy is the same as practice and procedure. As well as physical visits, we would 'mystery shop' your website, telephone, literature and other means of communication you use, for example, requesting an alternative format leaflet or application form.

Once the mystery shopping research has taken place, we would arrange an event with you for the individuals to report back "live" on their experiences including suggestions, recommendations and with a bit of luck, some praise.

Alternatively, Sminty would develop a training programme from the feedback of the mystery shoppers, including case studies, the Equality Act 2010 (and Disability Discrimination Act 1995) legislation and language and etiquette.

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Other Services We Offer

Disability Dialogues

An hour-long presentation provided by two professional disabled speakers designed to engage audiences in various aspects of disability that are relevant to the organisation. The dialogue can form a part of a bigger event or be a stand-alone event.

Graduate and Executive Recruitment Consultancy

Using our links, networks, experience and professional reputation we can assist you to locate, source and attract suitably qualified disabled graduates and executives in order to increase the number of disabled applicants.

Managing Absence Training

Training specifically developed and designed for Human Resources and Line Managers. We provide a focus for exploring the distinction between disability and illness and how you resource reasonable adjustments. This programme works best when delivered in conjunction with an HR or Occupational Health professional provided by your organisation.

Focus Groups

We have carried out a number of focus groups for our clients meeting with both managers and staff with a disability to find out how policy and proceedures are working within an organisation. We would supply a written report on completion which would provide an executive summary, key findings and a conclusion with recommendations.

Policy Analysis

This is designed to compliment the Mystery Shopping programme but can be used alone. It would identify “gaps” concerning compliance with the legislation, areas of best practice, strengths and weaknesses in employment and service delivery. The resulting report would include prioritised recommendations designed to minimise risk.

Dispute Resolution

Some times managing a disabled person escalates as no action is taken or behaviour is considered unacceptable and relationships break down.  Issues such as discrimination, grievances, unacceptable absences / performance or bullying and harassment become the main issue. Sminty team members are experts in dispute resolution and bring together key parties to try and agree a positive way forward, ensuring both parties are heard with the aim to avoid legal action or improve performance / attendance. 

Disabled Person’s Staff Network

We can provide consultancy support to help organise a Disabled Person’s Staff Network. These Networks can be used to provide support to disabled employees as well as offering the employer with opportunities for discussing improvements in service development and delivery to disabled customers.

Dining with a Difference

A choreographed dinner for 12 to 24 board and senior executives taking them through key strategic issues related to the business case for focusing on people with disabilities in a business environment including etiquette, law, opportunities and the removal of barriers.

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