Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, the world’s fourth largest bank, has provided equal opportunities and diversity training for all 600 UK staff through drama-based training.
The programme, delivered by training provider Steps Drama, highlights the behavioural aspects of diversity and the implications of diversity legislation.
The three-hour training session has been delivered 16 times at the bank’s Broadgate office in London, with an average of 35 staff attending each session. It will continue to run every six months for new recruits and new expatriate managers who come over from Japan.
Dale Gunstone, the bank’s learning and development manager, said: “Diversity is about understanding, respecting, embracing and celebrating our differences. We wanted to explain this to our staff so they see diversity as an opportunity, not a threat.”
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The programme features four scenarios, in which actors role play characters in business-related situations. They highlight a range of issues, including discrimination against race, ethnic heritage, religious values, educational background, disability, gender and sexual orientation.
The bank is supplementing the drama-based training with an online tutorial resource. Users are presented with information and they receive feedback based on their answers to set questions.
