>> Client Engagements: IP Australia Equity and Diversity Officer Training

Following the introduction of a new policy and guideline on Equity and Diversity, O2C developed and delivered separate courses/induction sessions for Managers, Equity and Diversity Officers, and Staff.

IP Australia Equity and Diversity Officer Training
Client
Disciplines	Training - Organisation
Situation	IP Australia developed and released a new Equity and Diversity policy and guidelines. The organisation also created a layered management structure to deal with identified Equity and Diversity issues and to escalate them if required.
Challenge	Develop an internal pool of expert knowledge to provide appropriate escalation points for Equity and Diversity reporting and issue resolution. Also provide initial staff briefing sessions to understand the new policy and guidelines.
Response	O2C prepared and delivered courses which updated the knowledge and skills of Equity and Diversity Contact Officers, managers/supervisors and staff within IP Australia to reflect changes and updates to policies and practices regarding harassment, discrimination and bullying in the workplace. We trained 362 employees from IP Australia (excluding those who attended a pilot course). This included 10 EDCO's, 181 managers/supervisors and 171 staff. Participants who completed the manager/supervisor training course were required to fill in a survey prior to starting the course (pre course survey), which assessed their level of knowledge about harassment, discrimination and bullying issues. Participants were required to fill in the same survey at the completion of the course (post course survey). This allowed O2C to develop a comprehensive report that identified a variety of factors including: The satisfaction of the participants with the course outline and presenters; The increase in knowledge of the subject matter being taught; and The likelihood of using the new knowledge in their workplace.
Outcome	IP Australia build an integrated solution that provided staff with initial grounding in the new policy as well as a detailed, resourced process for managing issues which may be identified in the workplace.