Ministry of Justice - Diversity: working together to get results

In September 2007 MOJ approached Faraday for consultancy and support in designing and running the first national conference on diversity in the newly formed Ministry.

The ministry employs 85,000 people and comprises what was The Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Department for Constitutional Affairs and National Offender Management Service. The aim was to bring people from across the business together to discuss the future of diversity in the MOJ and share their thinking for a strategic plan.

The event attracted 250 participants from across the country. There were representatives from the numerous diversity networks and staff associations as well as leaders and managers who were drawn to helping shape the future.

Key note speakers included, Anita Bharucha, the Director of Judicial Services MOJ, Grace Ononiwu, Chief Crown Prosecutor, Northampton CPS and Michael Wills MP.
Our Story
We were approached by MOJ to help design and lead the one day event. After listening carefully to their aims, we proposed a different approach to the usual conference forum. Instead, we suggested an approach drawing on Open Space Technology (OST) and ‘Think Tanks’.
As one of the aims was to generate creative thinking about the future, a forum for truly open discussion, free and frank talking, listening, creative thinking and challenge, was critical. So, we designed 5 key questions which formed the focus for the OST. Participants were free to move around the space and join facilitated discussions as they chose.
The afternoon, by contrast needed to be focused and action orientated. To enable this, we proposed facilitated ‘Think Tanks’ to come up with specific proposals for the future.
In preparation, we worked with a team of 17 in-house facilitators for whom we ran a skills development workshop. They needed to be able to host the OST and then adopt a very different facilitation style and lead the ‘Think Tanks’. Their skill was critical to the success of the event.

Mary Shaw’s Story

It was very important to us – in the first months of forming the new Ministry to have a conversation with our staff about what structures they needed to support them on equality and diversity. Both former Departments had a strong reputation for staff networks and associations but had taken different approaches and the issues we were inheriting were very different. We also knew there were well-informed people with passionately held views – so we knew it would not be easy.

The Faraday Partnership was known to the Department from previous involvement in coaching and leadership and they were one of the firms we contacted. From the outset we were impressed by their grasp of the issues, their imaginative suggestions and their professionalism.

Their idea for the day was novel and radical – just what we wanted- but they presented to us with well thought out plans so we were always confident that it could and would work. They were also able comfortably and confidently to communicate with and gain the co-operation of staff in the team from Director General to AO - who all felt included and valued.

On the day itself the facilitation was outstanding – calm and professional and dealing with consummate skill with some thorny issues. The 17 staff who acted as facilitators had a very hard task but the feedback I had from each of them was that they enjoyed it, had learnt an enormous amount and would happily do it again

So a challenging day - but a success – and we got the result we wanted.

Mary Shaw, Head of Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Division, MOJ