Global D&I consultancy Pearn Kandola, a firm that has delivered D&I training to the leadership teams at HSBC and Microsoft, has partnered with London-based training start-up GoodCourse to bring diversity and inclusion training to frontline workers.
By extending its offerings across large, remote, and field-based workforces, the aim of the partnership is to drive D&I learning “faster and more effectively rather than relying on top-down culture change.”
Currently, remote and field-based employees, (those who complete their duties outside a company office), make up approximately 80% of the frontline workforce, yet they have historically been difficult to reach with digital training solutions, according to a shared statement on the news.
To combat this, GoodCourse will offer workers easy-to-digest learning and development content with explainer videos. The courses includes links to further information and multiple-choice and short-answer questions to ensure learner comprehension.
For employees that don’t have access to a laptop or a digital learning environment, GoodCourse provides a text-message learning platform to help them learn. Through the partnership, text-based D&I courses that will be offered include allyship, inclusion, and unconscious bias training.
Proponents of the partnership are hopeful that the “ubiquity and convenience of text” will be helpful in reaching and educating a large and remote workforce on D&I.
Pearn Kandola and GoodCourse will be offering tailor-made solutions to company-specific needs too, through the GoodCourse platform, users can run analytics to see completion, engagement, and response data, which can then be used to develop follow-up content.
Binna Kandola, Senior Partner and co-founder, Pearn Kandola said: “Meaningful change can’t happen across an organisation unless everyone is part of the journey. Remote workers have traditionally been harder to reach and oftentimes neglected when it comes to diversity and inclusion, but through this platform, we can tailor our content to touch a much wider audience and ensure they are part of the conversation.
“We’re at an important moment in time when many businesses are developing truly authentic and progressive D&I strategies. Our aim is to make sure these intentions are realised and the work achieves its full potential.”
Chris Mansfield, CEO, GoodCourse added: “The fact that D&I training is often the preserve of the knowledge worker is paradoxical, which is why I’m so proud that we can now help businesses reach those often left behind from learning about issues that matter.
“Pearn Kandola’s approach to D&I training is rooted in behavioural science and business psychology so this partnership is an ideal fit. Their course content is designed to challenge established ways of thinking, while the GoodCourse platform challenges the conventional approach to training delivery through a format designed to combat shrinking attention spans, improve knowledge retention and drive behavioural and attitudinal change.”
