UN Global Compact Network United Kingdom (UK) has started recruiting for the second round of its ‘Dialogue for Growth’ program, which will begin on January 18th, 2024. Registration will be closing on Thursday, January 11th. They will be accepting applications on a rolling basis until the cohort is full.

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Background

The need for organizations to embed sustainability and business transformation across their operations and broader value chains has never been more important. Sustainability teams often hold the responsibility for managing and addressing an increasingly complex, strategic, and broad range of sustainability issues whilst delivering on environmental, social and governance objectives, but they cannot do this alone.

To achieve change, company boards, employees and other stakeholders must be engaged. Research shows that people care about issues such as climate change, but do not feel empowered to drive change in their role or have the relevant skills to do so. The sustainability challenges businesses face are complex, but solutions exist, and these will be most successfully realized when diverse groups of people with different skills and experiences engage in effective dialogue.

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Dialogue for Growth Program

The UN Global Compact Network UK and Impact have designed, ‘Dialogue for Growth’, an 8 week program to support those responsible for sustainability performance within their organization to mobilize action across departments. This UN Global Compact Network UK members-only program aims to support participants to develop the interpersonal skills needed to effectively communicate and engage with colleagues and stakeholders on sustainability challenges to build the internal buy-in needed to drive progress towards their companies’ climate and sustainability goals.

Dialogue for Growth will give you improved self-awareness and practical skills to use in 1:1 and group conversations, from casual encounters to formal meetings. As a result of the Dialogue for Growth journey, you will:

• Understand your role in making change happen through dialogue
• Understand how to get the best out of your team and personal network
• Get the right balance of ‘ask’ and ‘tell’
• Dial down your biases and tune into what people are trying to communicate
• Ask questions that prompt new ways of seeing a situation
• Learn to give your opinion and personal feedback with confidence and strength

Format

• An 8-week virtual journey, hosted in MS Teams and Zoom
• Attending four live virtual sessions led by an Impact facilitator
• Attend four live circle sessions with other participants
• Access to a range of engaging resources for solo learning and real time application
• An individual commitment of 2.5 hours per week

Specific dates and times of live sessions:

Attendance at all live sessions is key to success for yourself and others on the program, so by signing up you are committing to attend all the live sessions and to complete all the preparation required for each session. Recordings from live sessions will not be available.

We intend to run this program on a recurring basis, depending on demand, so if these dates do not work, you can register to be added to our waiting list.

Dates and Times

• Launch session – Thursday 18^th January, 2023, 14:00 – 15:00 GMT
• Live class 1 – Thursday 1^st February, 2024, 14:00 – 16:00 GMT
• Circle Meeting 1 – Tuesday 6^th February, 2024, 14:00 – 15:00 GMT
• Circle Meeting 2 – Tuesday 20^th February, 2024, 14:00 – 15:00 GMT
• Live class 2 - Thursday 22^nd February, 2024, 14:00 – 16:00 GMT
• Circle Meeting 3 – Tuesday 5^th March, 2024, 14:00 – 15:00 GMT
• Live class 3 - Thursday 7^th March, 2024, 14:00 – 16:00 GMT
• Circle Meeting 4 – Tuesday 19^th March, 2024, 14:00 – 15:00 GMT
• Live class 4 - Thursday 21^st March, 2024, 14:00 – 16:00 GMT

*Dates of circle meetings are flexible to accommodate participants' availability.

Click here to access a one-page summary of the program format.

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Target Audience

The program is designed for senior sustainability professionals within both large and small companies that are looking to improve how they educate, engage, and influence individuals and stakeholders, whilst connecting with leaders from various industries and organisations to share and learn from each other’s challenges and journeys. Therefore, limited spaces are available, and priority will be given to industry professionals (rather than consultants and learning practitioners).

Fees

£1,250 per person (The program will be hosted on a recurring basis. Please note that we will only accept 1 person per organization, per cohort.)

*We will hold a limited number of places for smaller businesses at a reduced fee, please get in touch for more information.

Important Dates

• Registration will be closing on Thursday 11 January. We will be accepting applications on a rolling basis until the cohort is full.

For more information, please visit https://www.unglobalcompact.org.uk/dialogue-for-growth-programme/