According to the latest polls, more than half of LGBT+ Czechs hide their authentic selves at work. This can be psychologically demanding and have an adverse effect on work performance.
That’s why Pride Business Forum offers employers interactive workshops. Through them, we help managers and teams to find ways in which the company can support LGBT employees in coming out, help create a better work climate and ensure a better output for the whole team.
Our interactive workshops train employees to recognize offensive behavior and to understand unconscious biases, strengthen their empathy and empower them to take specific actions as individuals.
You can choose from the following options:
1, Full-length workshop (on site)
- Length: 4 hours
- Location: at your company
- Price: starting at 25 000 CZK
2, Short workshop (on site)
- Length: 2 hours
- Venue: at your company
- Price: starting at 20 000 CZK
3, Online webinar
- Length: 2 hours
- Venue: online (Zoom, Teams, Meet)
- Price: starting at 15 000 CZK
4, Lecture/ talk
- Length: 40 – 60 min
- Venue: on site or online (Zoom, Teams, Meet)
- Price: starting at 7 500 CZK
We offer discounts for Pride Business Forum Members:
50% for Premium Members
15% for Regular Members
Capacity of workshops
A group of up to 30 people is ideal, and provides a comfortable space for questions and interaction. However, we can also design bespoke training for larger groups. Let us know your needs!
What will be the content?
Our workshops are like lego – put together an event from prepared blocks or together we can design a tailor-made programme for you.
Workshop topics:
LGBT+ inclusion 101
This introductory lecture covers the basics of the role of LGBT+ diversity in transforming workplaces, aiming to provide participants with a better understanding of LGBTQI+ identities, bring attention to common issues, offer ideas for employee driven initiatives and inspire employees to become allies. The lecture will address common microaggressions and provide strategies for challenging them in the workplace. Additionally, the talk can include inspiring personal narratives from LGBT+ facilitators or your own employees to highlight the power of diversity and encourage a workplace culture that embraces the unique contributions of LGBTQI+ individuals.
Length: 40 – 60 min
Form: in person or online
Group size: unlimited
Target group: employees in any position
Objectives:
- initiate a conversation: Begin a dialogue about your company’s investment in LGBT+ inclusion
- employee Engagement: Gauge the sentiments of your employees regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and LGBT+ issues. Identify potential areas for improvement and growth
- educate participants: Provide participants with comprehensive knowledge about LGBTQI+ identities, terminology, and contemporary issues to foster awareness and understanding
- promote inclusivity: Help employees recognize the impact of inclusion on driving company success, emphasizing its significance in the workplace
History of the Present
In order to better understand the LGBT people and the challenges they have to face nowadays, it is good to first look into the past. An interactive journey into European as well as American history will shed light on the key ideas and importance of the LGBT movement.
The second part of the workshop focuses on building understanding how historical prejudices shape acceptance of LGBT+ people today.
Length: 120 min
Format: in person or online
Group size: ideally 25-30 participants, can be adapted into a lecture format for larger audiences
Target group: employees in any position
Objectives:
- to learn about the evolution of attitudes towards LGBT+ people throughout history
- to better understand the emancipation process of LGBT+ people and their demands for equality
- to strengthen one’s own empathy for LGBT+ people
Walking in LGBT+ shoes
Sensitive role-playing helps to experience the feelings of a person with a minority relationship orientation or gender identity. The activity helps to develop empathy and understanding that LGBT+ people are still dealing with issues or situations that straight people are not very familiar with. The activity can be concluded with a joint brainstorming session on creating an inclusive working environment.
Duration: 90 min
Form: in person only
Group size: ideally 25-30 participants
Target group: employees in any position
Objectives:
- to put oneself into the shoes of LGBT+ people and promote empathy with people with minority relationship orientation or gender identity
- to learn about the stories of LGBT+ people and the situations they deal with in everyday life and in the workplace
- to better understand what influences an LGBT+ person’s behavior and level of openness in the workplace and to think about ways to help LGBT+ colleagues be more comfortable
All our coming outs
The coming out workshop is an interactive experience in which participants learn that coming out is not a one-in-a-lifetime announcement, but a never-ending process that takes various forms. The facilitators present a series of situations that may or may not be forms of coming-out, and the participants discuss their own experience. Can one come out as heterosexual? How is coming out specific for trans and non-binary people? And what lies behind the popular statement “I don’t care about your sexuality as long as you don’t shove it in my face”? In the process, facilitators share their personal stories and create an atmosphere where everybody else does, regardless of their identity. Enough room will be provided to workshop ideas on how to create a working environment in which one can come out safely.
Duration: 90 – 120 min
Format: in person or online
Group size: ideally 25-30 participants*ic
Target group: male*female employees in any position
Objectives:
- to understand the experiences of LGBT+ people
- to become aware of the tools available for building a safe and inclusive work environment
Are you looking for a workshop tailored to your needs?
Contact us, and together we will design a bespoke workshop exactly tailored to your needs. Write to us at [email protected]
What would an ally do?
An interactive discussion of situations in the lives of LGBT+ people will help to experience the feelings of a person with a minority relationship orientation or gender identity. The activity helps to develop empathy and understanding of what life is like in a world where heterosexuality is valued and all ‘diversity’ is more or less denigrated. Participants* will also experience first-hand the ‘softer’ expressions of non-acceptance that LGBT+ people still face today. The activity will conclude with a joint brainstorming session on creating a friendly working environment for all.
Duration: 120 min
Form: in person or online
Group size: ideally 25-30 participants
Target group: employees in any position
Objectives:
- to better understand the manifestations of “microaggression” and to perceive the pitfalls of the “heteronormative world”
- to learn about the stories of LGBT+ people and the situations they deal with in everyday life and in the workplace
- to think together about ways to help LGBT+ colleagues be more comfortable
How many genders are there?
An interactive lecture on what makes us men and women in the eyes of others. What is the difference between sex, gender, sexuality and identity? Participants collaboratively think about what is masculine and feminine, male and female, and what can be found between these poles.
Length: 45 min
Form: in person or online
Group size: ideally 25-30 participants, can be adapted into a lecture format for larger audiences
Target group: employees in any position
Objectives:
- to better understand the concept of gender and its different components
- to perceive gender and its individual components as a spectrum, not a binary polarity
- to promote empathy with people with minority gender identities
Facilitators
Aleš Rumpel Training Manager
Aleš Rumpel, queer activist, formerly long-time director of the Mezipatra queer film festival and co-founder of the Platform for Equality, Recognition and Diversity, z.s. (PROUD) with a background in cultural management and education. Aleš traveled across the Czech Republic with the Mezipatra programme in schools to talk to thousands of teenagers about LGBT+ topics. He currently designs and facilitates workshops for major employers.
Tereza Kadlecová Learning Specialist
Tereza Kadlecová, queer activist and rainbow mom leads educational projects Prague Pride, facilitates Parent Prep courses and participates in other educational events. In the past, she worked at People in Need, in the One World in Schools educational program.
Reference
Thank you very much for organizing an excellent workshop. Thanks to the instructors, the way it was conducted, and the materials, we were able to bring the LGBT+ topic closer to our employees. Colleagues learned a lot of new things and they really enjoyed the event. I hope it was mutual!
Ashton Muller
společnost Footshop
Meeting Aleš and Tereza at the joint workshop was not only an insight into their life stories, but also an awareness that they experience coming out situations practically every day, which most of us are not aware of.
Mgr. Lucie Dudová
Learning Partner | Learning & Development
O2 Czech Republic a.s.
August 2022
I appreciate that the instructors share their life experiences during the webinar and constantly involve the participants in the discussion. The webinar is therefore practical, interactive, full of specific situations, and recommendations on how to support a trusting and accepting environment both in the workplace and in everyday life.
Marta Maráková
HR Business Partner
Generali Česká pojišťovna a.s.
August 2022
An ideal workshop for companies that want to keep up and work on their inclusivity. The workshop is based on discussion and interaction, it does not impose opinions on you, but cleverly opens up topics that the majority of the population often does not think about and leads participants to their own conclusions.
Barbora Tučková
Legal Personal Assistant
Allen&Overy
June 2021
Diversity in the workplace goes hand in hand with tolerance and understanding, which is why we are happy to share our own experiences from our surroundings regarding LGBTQ+ topics and reflect together on how much some things seem obvious to us, even though they are not for many others.
Anna Machová
Senior Engagement Specialist
Provident
June 2021
The training and education offered by the Pride Business Forum have a significant advantage precisely because they have a practical relevance that companies need. The common denominator is psychological safety in the workplace. Together, we organized a panel discussion with five guests and moderator Aleš, which took place online, followed by a workshop that was conducted in-person for the participants.
Martina Zimmermann
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
ŠKODA AUTO a.s.
May 2023
Organizing workshops with PBF has been a powerful and enlightening experience, providing us with the support and guidance to become more aware and welcoming of diversity in the workplace. We are proud to be a part of the PBF family and look forward to participating in more events and workshops in the future.
Veronika Brožek
General Manager
Clifford Chance
April 2023
Workshop let our non-queer-identified colleagues and allies discover how the same or similar issues affect them, whether they are aware of it or not before the workshop! You kept us on track, were excellent at listening and reformulating to check your own and others’ understanding of questions and responses, and brought wonderful perspective and numbers (yay data!). It was particularly appreciated that you emphasized how themes of coming out, tolerance, and acceptance have aspects which are both universal and deeply particular to each locale and situation.
Theron Haan
Customer Quality & Performance Specialist
RWS Group
RWS Language Services & Technology – Strategic Solutions Group
February 2023
We were very excited to be able to deliver two separate workshops, available over a span of several months, to raise awareness of LGBT+ issues and topics for our colleagues here at MSD. The opportunity to offer these sessions to our People Managers and all our colleagues in our Central European region was very welcomed and the feedback was amazing. We heard that these sessions were “Motivational,” “Engaging and informative,” and “Illuminating & eye-opening.”
Donna Dvorak
Diversity & Inclusion Specialist
MSD
November 2021
More information and orders
Aleš Rumpel
Tereza Kadlecová