Dignity at Work Challenge - team exercise | Our Working Way Staff Hub

What is the Dignity at Work Challenge?

One story... three episodes, three characters, three perspectives – are you ready to stop a potential dignity at work incident from happening?

Upskill together to become a more inclusive and diverse team by taking part in our Dignity at Work Challenge.

You can run this exercise in your larger 'in person' team huddles to upskill together and raise awareness of what dignity at work means by taking a closer look at a real life scenario.

The exercise is in response to feedback from colleagues to help increase their confidence in GC's commitments to Dignity at Work, and to provide better understanding of what that means – with more 'bite size' communications and 'real life' examples.

How does it work

This is a perfect way to get your thinking caps on and put yourselves in the shoes of our three core characters in our scenario - which we've mapped out for you in a 'comic strip' format - which is really easy to walk through and discuss what you'd do next at the end of each episode.

It'll take around 45 minutes to an hour to run and colleagues from our 'Dignity at Work' working group and our wider HR team can help facilitate running the exercise with you.

We've continued to encourage colleagues to demonstrate the traits which will help GC become a more inclusive and diverse workplace, and this team exercise will put those skills into practice.

In fact, through our new Dignity at Work toolkits launched over the summer months of 2024, we've built a repository of tips and approaches for all colleagues to think about and put into practice.

Each kit focuses on a specific skill or trait which, when put into practice, can help embed and promote Dignity at Work in our workplace. Launched so far are toolkits on:

How to request the Dignity at Work Challenge

Email the EDI@growthco.uk mailbox with details of the name of your team, how many colleagues will be attending and the date/time when you'd like to run the exercise in your team session.

The 'Dignity at Work Challenge' in action

The Comms & Marketing team recently ran the exercise at their 'In person' team day in late August.

Delivery of the exercise was supported and facilitated by Virginie Fayolle – Organisational Development Lead, HR.

The team were introduced to the three characters in the scenario presented in comic strip format (Paul, Jackie and Ahmed), which involves a potential Dignity at Work incident happening at a team social event after a day in the office.

They were provided with the first episode of the story, and then asked to work in small groups to discuss what they'd seen and heard and decide what they'd do next as one of the characters involved – Ahmed. To help them, we shared copies of all our handy Dignity at Work Toolkits.

After 10 minutes, we asked the smaller groups to come back together as a full team and through a nominated spokesperson for their group – walk us through what you would do next in the story – and why.

There were some really different perspectives on the character's motivations. Whilst none of the teams' proposed next steps were wrong, Virginie helped facilitate the session to give the team some hints and tips on how we could position feedback to our characters in a more effective and meaningful way.

We then shared the second episode of the story as it unfolds, and then did the same again – asking the team to break into their groups again for 10 minutes to discuss what they'd seen and heard and decide what they'd do next as another one of the characters involved - Jackie.

Finally, all the teams came back and walked us through what they'd do next if they were in Jackie's shoes – and gave us their thoughts on why and how a potential Dignity at Work incident could be avoided.

To close the session, we shared our version of how the story might conclude…

Whilst the subject matter was serious, the team had a productive and enjoyable session, having the right types of conversations as they navigated the potential challenges around what is, and isn't appropriate in the workplace. Most importantly, they had some fun, and it's a session that they will remember.

Here's some feedback from the team after the session:

"Dignity at Work is central to our behaviours and values at GC and our new Dignity at Work challenge is a great way to bring that to life for colleagues in a really practical and engaging way. We took the opportunity to run the challenge on one of our recent team days and it made a really serious topic fun and thought-provoking. I think we all came away with a better understanding of the skills and traits we can put into practice to help us become an even more inclusive and diverse workplace. I'd encourage other teams to give it a go."
Carla Nuttall, Marketing & Communciations Director

"I found the Dignity at Work Challenge session very useful and highlighted the need for each of us to be more self aware and wary of preconceived perceptions that may be inaccurate. It is important we effectively listen, understand and ask open questions when dealing with difficult situations. I would definitely encourage other teams to run the exercise, to ensure that we are all treated with dignity in work and outside of it."
Suraj Shrestha, Head of Marketing - Business Finance

"I thought the Dignity at Work session was fantastic and very informative. I learnt that often a simple conversation can easily sort out a misunderstanding, rather than things escalating further. Lots of different scenarios came up in response to the situation, and I thought it was interesting to see how different people interpret things. I would definitely encourage other teams to take part in the exercise".
Hannah Morris, Marketing Executive Refugee - Employability Programme

"I found the exercise opened up some interesting conversations within my breakout group, and I enjoyed the healthy discussions that came from it. What surprised me was how nuanced the scenario given was - within other companies I've seen similar challenges, but the scenarios given were much more 'black and white' – this one had 'shades of grey' and felt more like a realistic scenario. I'd encourage other teams to run the exercise, for sure – we all found it to be a good icebreaker too!"
Joshua Hilton, Marketing Executive - People and Corporate

"The session was really engaging and a total eye opener, it made me think about how I approach situations in a sensitive manner."
Lynette Grindley, Marketing Manager - Education and Skills

"Thank you for organising the Dignity at Work challenge session. I found the exercise both engaging and thought-provoking. The interactive small-group discussions around the scenarios were particularly effective, as they made the topic practical and relatable to our day-to-day work.

"The session was highly valuable, as I could reflect on my own behaviours, as well as those of others in the workplace. This deepened my understanding of what dignity means to each individual. What surprised me most was realising how much even small behaviours can influence someone's sense of dignity at work. My key takeaway is to be more mindful of these everyday actions and their potential impact.

"If time allows, incorporating a 'share your own experience' section could add another layer of personal insight to the topic or serve as a follow-up"
Gaile Yeung, Marketing Manager - BGH