We have had the support of more than 30 people we work alongside for the People Shaping P3 (PSP3) Customer Service training. They have shared their personal stories and experiences, positive and negative, and enabled us to design and build a training course that went on to be nominated for the Customer Service Satisfaction Awards. The information they have shared with us has been used to train over 300 colleagues and improve the experience of all people who access P3’s services.
We’re always looking at how we as a charity can be more inclusive, through methods such as having open conversations about language, pronouns, harmful trigger words and so on. The world is always changing, so it is up to colleagues to keep talking to the people we work alongside and never be afraid to learn.
There is a section of our Customer Service training called Mind Your Language. People we work alongside shared with us the words that are triggering, blur professional boundaries or are otherwise harmful. We should not use these words and we should always be open to changes in what constitutes acceptable language.
We also have a training course in which people we work alongside sit on interview panels to participate in recruiting P3 staff, both in asking questions and in the final deliberation.
We always work towards broadening our knowledge and sharing it across P3. We have a training course that allows people we work alongside to sit on interview panels and help us recruit P3 staff, by asking their own questions and helping us in the final deliberation. This is allowing us to fill gaps that hiring managers might miss, by having experts on our panels help us ask the right questions, such as “Does this person hold P3’s values?” “Are they kind?” “Would you be comfortable to come to them for support?”
Promoting the inclusion of people we work alongside on our recruitment panels can help us make the right decision in our employment choices.
Interview with John, a person we work alongside who is involved in PSP3’s training for customer service and recruitment and selection
How did you get involved in P3 involvement opportunities?
I first got involved when Rosie came over to Arbury Lodge to talk to us about Peer Reviewing and Recruitment and Selection training. She thoroughly explained what the involvement process included, such as training, where we’d go, what we’d do and what it’s about. After hearing about it, I was a bit nervous because it was something so different, travelling to different services and meeting new people. But then when I did my first peer review, the staff and people there were so lovely, and I really enjoyed it.
What does it mean to you to be involved in these activities? How do you feel when you sit on a recruitment panel and help us employ new staff? Do you feel that your voice is heard?
Being involved makes you understand that staff do want our input with who is hired in their services. I have a better understanding of what kind of skills P3 looks for when hiring staff. We get to choose the future for P3 people and employ people who actually want to help improve people’s lives. When I sat on my first panel, I was a bit nervous when it came to deliberating and deciding who to hire but I really felt like my voice was heard by the other staff members. We had a really in-depth discussion about what we all thought, and I felt very included.
Why is it important that people P3 works alongside are included in helping to shape the future of P3?
It’s important because in a way, we know more than the staff do because we are living in the services. We know what different tools to use in different situations. We’ve been through it and have lived it, so we understand more about the young people in service as their peers.
I think it’s important that we do peer reviews because people P3 works alongside will be more comfortable talking about how they feel to someone who also lives in a service and they won’t sugar coat anything. It’s also important that we help sit on panels because we get valuable first-hand experience in interviews, so we feel more comfortable doing our own interviews in the future and we have a choice with what staff come into our service. Peer reviewing has been amazing as I’ve been able to hear first-hand how P3 have changed people’s lives for the better, and it’s given me a whole different perspective of P3.
Can you describe your experiences of your involvement so far, in three words?
I’ve loved it.
How can P3 improve their inclusion of people we work alongside? Is there anything more we could be doing?
I think you should do more tasks and events in services to get people more involved and comfortable with socialising with others and get people feeling included.
Click here for today’s Inclusion Week activity resources.
