| ASSESSMENT TASK 3: ROLE PLAY |
Task Summary:
You are required to demonstrate how you foster and role model best practice for diversity and how you support collaboration with diverse clients and colleagues.
Read the role play scenario provided below. You will have two other students in this role play who will play the role of your workplace colleagues.
The objective of this task is for you to address the issue appropriately as the team manager and develop better strategies to improve the prevention of workplace discrimination and harassment.
In your meeting, you will need to do the following:
- Discuss the issue and define workplace diversity objectives
- Develop a solution for mitigating this issue and the impact on others
- Be a role model to other staff in supporting workplace diversity
- Discuss the benefits of diversity in the workplace
- Coach the other colleagues in developing strategies
- Discuss ways you could improve cultural awareness within the team
- Discuss appropriate communication strategies for diverse needs
- Consider the types of professional opportunities available for staff to improve their culture awareness.
| Scenario |
| At the Christmas gathering, Callum, one of the guys who had been in the team the longest, was overheard by others making comments about Ahmed and his religious background. Callum asked Ahmed about his religion and some of his country’s practices in front of everyone else and Ahmed felt like he was being attacked due to his beliefs and customs. The conversation quickly heated up and turned into a discussion about war and politics. A lot of people sat back as they began to feel uncomfortable with some of Callum’s remarks. He made comments toward Ahmed such as, ‘Your people don’t belong here. If you can’t adjust to our values and way of life, you should go back to your own country’. The next day Callum sent informal emails to some of his colleagues that ridiculed the Muslim community, in hope that his colleagues would support his views. He spoke with his supervisor, saying that he no longer wanted to work near Ahmed. Callum threatened to quit if Ahmed was not removed from the team. |
A meeting (10-15 mins) is being held to try and sort out the situation.
The meeting consists of:
- the manager (yourself)
- a HR representative (played by another student)
- the team’s supervisor (played by another student).
The objective of the meeting is to discuss:
- suitable practices that you could put in place to protect individuals such as Ahmed
- initiatives to better educate the team
- ways in which you can all support diversity in general to ensure a similar situation does not occur in the future.
| Instructions for the person playing the role of the HR Representative You have been asked to participate in the meeting with the team manager and supervisor to address the issue of discrimination, harassment and bullying. You will need to help to develop or improve the workplace policies on discrimination as a result of this incident. You are willing to cooperate with developing new ideas to protect the rights of all employees. In discussion with the manager and team supervisor, you will need to consider and discuss the following: The impact on existing processes and procedures Potential complaints which might arise out of this situationHow complaints raised should be managed Additional training requirements for new policies or procedures Work health and safety impacts. |
| Instructions for the person playing the role of the team supervisor You are very concerned about the situation – the rest of your team have been quite affected by Callum’s remarks. Team morale is low and you are disappointed with the behaviour and attitude of some of the staff. You are very keen to ensure that a similar issue/incident does not occur again in the workplace. You will need to discuss with the HR representative and the manager your responsibility in implementing better policies and procedures to prevent workplace discrimination. During the meeting consider and discuss the following: The impact the issue has had on your staffHow you will manage this issue in the workplaceHow the new process and procedures might impact on the teamHow current workloads or schedules may be affectedHow your role can help support the implementation of these strategies or initiatives. |
Following this observation, you will debrief with the assessor.
| Your assessor will be looking to see that you: |
| Act as role model by providing ideas that support workplace diversity |
| Help your team members acknowledge issues relating to workplace diversity and coach them in their management |
| Identify diversity factors to define diversity objectives |
| Develop new practices to support diversity considering available resources that respect diversity |
| Discuss different communication strategies for different individuals |
| Discuss opportunities for professional development. |
| Encourage and promote diversity within the team. |
