Challenge
As the healthcare industry transformed massively under the Affordable Care Act, the leadership of Kaiser Permanente’s central California region were committed to ensuring that the diversity of their professional, clinical and administrative teams closely reflected the diversity of the patient population they served. The challenge: keeping the business case for diversity and inclusion “front of mind” among all stakeholders, including leadership and patient-care clinical staff.

Solutions
Kaiser Permanente turned for the second time in ten years to the Gregg Ward Group to develop a day long, intensive, interactive learning event featuring a custom-developed script, performances by live, professional actors, Guided Interactive Facilitation, skills development and Experiential Learning sessions with the actors working “in character” one-on-one with participants.

Results
Program was rolled out to small groups over the course of three months. Leadership reported a significantly heightened awareness of the business case for diversity and inclusion, specifically focused on succession planning, personnel utilization and patient satisfaction scores.

Challenge
Responding to changing national priorities, the Western Region of the US Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division sought to upgrade collaboration, teamwork and respect, diversity awareness and skills among support staff, investigators and management in three large District Offices.

Solution
Develop a two-day learning event featuring pedagogical training, video, lectures and slideshows, performances by Gregg Ward Group’s team professional actors of custom-created scenarios followed by Guided Interactive Facilitation, Open Discussion and Experiential Learning sessions.

Results
The two-day programs rolled out over a 3-month period to groups of 35-40 throughout the Western Region. Participant evaluations consistently scored the program with the highest marks and participants consistently reported that the program was “very informational, engaging, powerful, practical and useful. As a result of new staff hiring, the Gregg Ward Group was invited back to deliver solo-impact programs (Program 6) during the second and third quarter of 2014 on Respect and Respectful Leadership at various District Offices in the Western Region.

Additional case studies can be found in our blog under Experiential Learning.

Challenge
The leadership of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation – the number one clearing and settlement service to the US financial markets – wanted to significantly “move the needle” on organizational diversity and inclusion awareness and skills for all employees and managers throughout the US and the UK.

Solution
The Gregg Ward Group developed a half-day learning event featuring a custom-created comedy/drama set in a fictional financial services firm and performed by professional actors. Program included Guided Interactive Facilitation by a diversity and inclusion expert, plus an interactive session with the actors “in character” responding to questions and comments from the audience. This learning event was followed two weeks later by a half-day program for managers only which included performances of custom-created scenarios by professional actors portraying fictional employees and managers in realistic situations, training on cutting edge D&I management tools and techniques, followed by Experiential Learning sessions in which individual trainers would interact 1-on-1 with the professional actors improvising “in character” in small breakout sessions allowing the trainees to practice their new skills in a realistic, yet safe and supportive environment.

Results
The program was rolled out to all managers of DTCC in mixed groups over 50 times in a two year period. DTCC participant evaluations consistently described the program as “moving,” “effective,” “practical,” and “memorable.” Leadership reported that the needle on D&I had moved significantly.