Case Studies
RAF - HQ Air Command
Challenge
The RAF knew that there were issues surrounding equality and diversity within the different Units of the force. However, ascertaining which Units had problems and isolating those issues was proving to be problematic. One of the main reasons for this was the fact that staff were reluctant to put their name to anything which could identify them, so questionnaires were unreliable. After seeing the electronic voting system in use, Warrant Officer Neil Bailey, who develops training packages on Equality and Diversity, knew that it would accomplish what the RAF was looking for.
Solution
The Personnel sector introduced the TurningPoint electronic voting systems initially to their Equality and Diversity training workshops. It was a way to raise awareness and gain knowledge on different Units’ perceptions on subjects such as Religion and Race. As the interactive keypads can be set to be anonymous, staff felt more able to answer questions honestly. The wireless voting system also increased employee engagement, which facilitated meaningful dialogue within the Unit. The reporting facility allows the user to capture the data effectively and store answers in whichever format they require, whether demographically, or by individual, if the system has been set up in this way, so that trends within Units are more transparent.
Conclusion
Utilising the audience response keypads, the RAF is now able to assess the climate within the Units, ascertain which issues are prevalent, drill down to the core problem and tailor training packages to address the situation.“Prejudices are not born, but learnt, and we want to help staff unlearn them through training. The TurningPoint system helps us to do that” says Neil. He continues “The system is dead easy to use and we have been able to create and develop questions quickly with other Station personnel in order to get a more qualified viewpoint.” “In fact”, Neil continues “the wireless keypads have gone down so well with staff, that we will be using them in a quiz at the Christmas team-building day. We are also looking at using the audience response system as a replacement for one of our questionnaires, as it saves on administration time and costs.”
Comment
“Fantastic – an extremely impressive interactive system”- Neil Bailey, Warrant Officer, Equality and Diversity Policy RAF
