Workplace communication skills training for better conversations at work
Support your people to have better conversations at work; conversations that build a strong, connected culture.
Human conversations are essential to manage risk and foster wellbeing, inclusion and engagement.
Conversations build culture. Whether it is a conversation about performance, development, wellbeing, leave, or a potential team conflict, it’s vital that your people and, in particular, your managers and leaders, have the skills and confidence to communicate well, to have effective human conversations.
Great conversations help manage risk. Most people can recall a poor conversation with a boss or colleague (or perhaps no conversation at all) which left them feeling unseen, unheard, disconnected or, at worst, discriminated against.
On the other hand, if you’ve had a truly empathic conversation at work, you’ve almost certainly felt the immediate benefit in terms of connection, wellbeing, and engagement. You feel seen and valued. These conversations create inclusion, belonging and contribute to productivity.
Research has shown that...
The most effective organisations are the ones that have quality conversations
Company culture has a much bigger influence on employee wellbeing than salary and benefits
Successful business transformation is rooted in human emotions, with empathy at its core
Motivation at work is largely impacted by our feelings of connection to others
Building a core competency for leaders and people managers.
While it’s important that everyone communicates well at work, it’s even more vital for people managers to have high quality human conversations: it’s a core leadership competency.
In our training sessions, people managers often tell us that they see communication as the most important leadership skill. But it’s not a skill that every manager has naturally and, even for those that do, it’s something that can still be developed. Communication, and in particular, listening, is fundamental to trust, engagement and development. It often feels easier to communicate well with people ‘like us’ and leaders need to have better human conversations to build inclusive workplaces for people whose world view and lived experience may be different to their own.
How the human conversations programme works
An initial foundation session provides participants with greater awareness of how humans connect at work as well as providing them with the practical tools they need to communicate and listen well.
You can build on that core learning with a series of shorter, more focused workshops (right) that look at human conversations in different contexts where lack of knowledge, sensitivity around the topic, or even fear of getting it wrong, can get in the way of connection.
We support managers and colleagues to have better conversations around race at work, to become more inclusive, to better understand the impact of racism, to create anti-racist workplaces, and to listen well and address concerns.
Menopause affects many people in the fastest growing workforce demographic but often people are still reluctant to talk about it at work. We look at what the menopause is, how it impacts people at work, how to talk about it, and how to support colleagues so that you retain their know-how, experience, and talent.
Workplaces need people who think differently, have different approaches and styles. This workshop helps leaders and colleagues have human conversations in order to be truly inclusive of neurodivergent colleagues, to listen to understand what each person experiences or needs in their workplace, and to create environments where everyone can fulfil their potential.
Employees in our twenty first century workplaces face constant change. Whether it is global crises, the rise of AI, organisational restructure, a simple office move, or change in someone’s personal life, it is vital that managers and teams understand how change impacts the human brain, how we can connect better through uncertainty, and have conversations that help people connect to the change, transition through it well, and thrive on the other side.
The latest thinking from our team
Sexual harassment at work: tick-box training is not enough.
Guest Q&A – Hasting Direct’s Wellbeing Manager
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Training
World class sessions in mental health & wellbeing, equity, diversity & inclusion, workplace behaviour, legal & risk, leadership and skills - delivered in person, virtually or via digital learning modules, to individuals and groups of any size.
Resolution
Helping to resolve workplace behaviour concerns with investigations, mediations and independent partnering.
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Recommending the best HR and people strategies – from inclusion and wellbeing to instilling cultural change – expertly and with objectivity.