Why you should be considering a CMI Level 5 Award in Inclusion for your managers this year

As a manager it is essential to understand the business case for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and your role in creating an inclusive workplace culture.

Florencia Santana, Learning & Development Manager (D&I Team) from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary shares their experience of the CMI Level 5 Award and the benefits this qualification course brings to the wider constabulary.

Why did you choose the CMI Level 5 Award in Managing Equality, Diversity & Inclusion with Inclusive employers?

It is very important that I and all other managers continue our professional development. As an organisation, we are already Inclusive Employers members and offer several Inclusion courses and webinars to our Officers and Staff.

In addition, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary work with Inclusive Employers to offer CMI qualifications in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) to all officers and staff. Managing inclusively, and role modelling inclusive behaviours is key for Officers leading teams who work with diverse communities. These qualifications support us becoming a more inclusive constabulary.

We have a trailblazing approach where newly promoted Sergeants are required to complete a CMI Level 5 qualification in Managing EDI to be better equipped to lead inclusively in their role.

Current Sergeants looking for future promotion are also strongly advised to obtain the Inclusion qualification, as we are considering applying a similar approach to the promotion process for Inspector.

Three police forces have recently contacted us to find out more about this approach.

To date more than 80 officers completed the Level 5 with great feedback:

“I will continue to educate myself and keep up to date with inclusion strategies and current thought processes.”

“It helped me better understand the E&I landscape and leave feeling confident I can properly protect the rights of those from different backgrounds to me.”

“[The course] highlighted and discussed, areas that I had not previously considered, especially in relation to [diversity] data collection and use.”

How did the course fit around your current role?

It was very easy to fit the 2-day facilitated course around my work as it is delivered virtually – so logistically it was very convenient.

The team at Inclusive Employers is very helpful, replying to requests for support quickly.  The constabulary provides some study time for employees to work on the qualification within the day job. My experience means that I also needed to do research outside of work hours.