St Mungo’s: Harassment and Bullying

St Mungo’s are a national charity providing housing and support for homeless people. As part of a pilot project, we designed and delivered a series of two-day training courses for managers and staff, based on the following themes:

• Understanding the causes and impact of harassment;
• St Mungo’s policy and procedures on harassment and bullying;
• Challenging harassers and supporting victims; and
• Creating a culture of respect.

The four two-day pilot training programmes for managers and staff fed back valuable information on the formation of a new racial harassment policy. The course titled “Responding to Racial Harassment” also provided staff working within the pilot sites with the opportunity to develop existing skills and knowledge to assist them in implementing the new procedure.

The two days provided participants with the opportunity to:

• Analyse examples of good practice in equalities, and identify the underlying principles
• Develop an understanding on the meaning and impact of institutionalised discrimination
• Develop an understanding of the legal framework supporting equalities
• Identify how service delivery can be improved for residents and new staff
• Understand the causes and impact of harassment – and how organisations can address these causes
• Gain knowledge of St Mungo’s policy and procedures
• Develop the ability to challenge harassers effectively, support those on the receiving end of the harassment and manage the aftermath of an incident of harassment.

As part of six month review Equality Works also undertook a two month critical friend role working alongside those responsible for the development of the policy and the overseeing of the pilot. As result of this work the procedure and accompanying forms were adapted to incorporate feedback from the pilot sites. One of the major changes was making the paperwork more concise and including other forms of harassment. As part of this work Equality Works facilitated a meeting with all the pilot sites to discuss the changes and to agree an action plan for the Association for the remaining 6 months of the pilot.

Equality Works was also commissioned again to review the whole pilot and report back findings and make recommendations which could be presented to the Committee of Management and before the scheme went organisational wide.