The Culture Change programme: men and masculinity
We know that 1 in 8 men suffer from a common mental health disorder, 1 in 10 dads will suffer from some symptoms of Post Natal Depression and that suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 45. We know that fatherhood is changing; there are ten times as many stay-at-home dads than there were a decade ago and families are looking to change how they share caring responsibilities in the home. We know that some men feel disconnected with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and that these interventions aren’t speaking to their issues.
We also know that, due to strong ideas about what it means to be a man in society, men are less likely to seek professional help and support for their challenges, that they find it difficult to maintain friendships and feel pressure to be strong, stoic and the breadwinner in the house.
What does this mean for your business? If these issues are not addressed it can result in a lack of engagement as men feel alienated from the DEI conversations, poor mental health (and increased sickness absence) as staff are unable to be honest and use the support available at work, poor gender equality outcomes as fathers won’t work flexibly or take parental leave and poor retention outcomes as staff seek a workplace culture that is doing more to create an inclusive environment.
What is the Culture Change programme: men and masculinity?
The aim of the Culture Change Programme: men and masculinity is to work in partnership with you to explore how challenging, reshaping and changing attitudes, beliefs and behaviours towards childcare, masculinity, male vulnerability and allyship can contribute to an inclusive family friendly environment and result in improved mental health, wellbeing, engagement and gender equality.
The programme includes a discovery phase, measuring and benchmarking, a series of immersive events with staff and leaders, communications, toolkits and digital assets.
Each event is inclusive, honest, emotive and interactive. Each event in the programme is tailored to your specific objectives and will be aimed at creating conversation and encouraging a more open culture where men’s issues are discussed and action is taken. The events will include the use of slido, keynotes, panel discussions and group work to ensure participation from staff in the organisation.
The Culture Change programme runs from between 6-12 months. The exact duration is negotiable and I can be flexible based on your needs. We will agree event dates as part of the contract process.
What events and activities are included in the Culture Change programme?
The programme will include selection of the following events:
- What it means to be a man in 2022: equality, allyship & masculinity (in-person in Dublin)
- Equal Allies: how men and women can better support each other
- Engaging Dads: why it’s so important to support working dads and how you can go about doing it
- The truth about men’s mental health and how we can all help
- Leadership, relationships and flexible working
- Wrap-up panel event and next steps for leaders
Each event will include a pre-event survey to get an idea of attitudes and beliefs, pre-drafted communications materials for advertising, two signed copies of my DAD book, tailored sessions to meet your objectives, post-event toolkits to encourage follow-up team conversations and the event recordings and slides for internal use. The recordings are available for 28 days after the whole programme concludes.
In addition, I will be available for monthly consultation calls to discuss progress of the programme and advise on how to embed culture change in-between events.
If you would like to find out more about the culture change project and how it can help you, please contact me on hello@elliottrae.com
