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AKD Sport – Our story so far…

When I first met our CEO (Akin Thomas) at a Sport England conference held at Aston Villa Football Club, we exchanged pleasantries.  Well after a short lunch meeting with Akin we concluded with him proposing we could do some work in the future of which I was open to.  A couple of months after that I was contacted by a colleague regarding a tender and I went to Akin saying ‘I think together we could win this’.  We had a week to bring together our submission and I hoped that we could compete with all the other established organisations out there.  We won and the small team delivered a seminal piece of research that still reverberates across the UK sports and physical activity space, that piece of research and report was ‘Tell Your Story’, that was the birth of the Sports Division at AKD. 

In the past two years, we have conducted pioneering research within the sport sector including ‘Tell Your Story’ which looked at the stories of those within ethnically diverse communities and their experiences of accessing or involvement in sport, click here to read. Following this, we delivered 2 more pieces of research. We are also working with a host of national governing sport bodies, Sport Wales, UK Sports, Sport England and more. The growth has been swift but our range and impact is testament to all the people involved in AKD Sport Division.

Our mission is to be pioneers in sport by bringing insight, stimulating brilliance within the sector and giving original thought leadership to help make changes that benefit all. This gives all the opportunity to access the rich ecosystem of sport and physical activity.

Written by Ladi Ajayi, Head of Sport Division

AGS, UK SPORT AND SPORT ENGLAND DETERMINED TO MAKE SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MORE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE WITH DIAPS
Diversity and Inclusion  ·  Sports  ·  Uncategorized
AGS, UK SPORT AND SPORT ENGLAND DETERMINED TO MAKE SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MORE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE WITH DIAPS

AKD Solutions together with The Governance Form and Sheffield Hallam University (AGS) have forged a consortium to provide a wide range of skills, experience and creativity for sporting and physical activity organisations as they produce actionable and robust Diversity and Inclusion Plans (DIAPS). Ladi Ajayi, Head of Sport Division at AKD stated; “As the landscape of sport shifts towards becoming more inclusive and diverse, AGS is determined to be part of the cohort of organisations involved in positively shifting the dial.”

Lady Ajayi
Ladi Ajayi, Head of Sport Division

There is a consensus that sport and physical activity sector in the UK is excluding large numbers of people. The sector must be progressive in breaking down barriers for more people to gain access and enjoy the physical and mental well-being benefits of sport and physical activity. When Sport England and UK Sport reviewed the Code for Sports Governance in 2021, they introduced a new requirement for their Tier 3 funded partners to create a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP). The plans are expected to be ambitious and robust and clearly show how partners will work to improve diversity and inclusion across their whole organisation. Karl George, Lead Independent Review said; “We hope to help each partner to follow a process that enables them to enhance any existing action plan they have around diversity or if they haven’t got a DIAP we envisage that the process that we have recommend will help them to prepare bespoke, ambitious and proportionate plans.” Additionally, the plans will include clear and accountable actions which involve all stakeholders.

AGS are keen for partners to work collaboratively to not just draft another plan but to see this as an opportunity to action and embed fundamental change. Simon Shibli Sheffield Hallam University notes, “I’d like to see a culture change, whereby using data on diversity and inclusion is embedded in the DNA of sport and physical activity organisations because we agree that it is the right thing to do and good for business.”

To achieve this, AGS believe partners cannot do what they have always done. Akin Thomas, CEO of AKD adds “We need to disrupt our normality to create something better. This is an opportunity for partners to fuse their knowledge, experience and goals with our energy and expertise to develop and deliver DIAPs that will shift the dial.”

To find out more information visit www.akdsolutions.com/ags or email diapsupport@akdsolutions.com

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Black History Month : the importance of context

To be honest, for many years I avoided Black History Month.  I questioned the motives of many organisations, who I believed weren’t genuine.  But I’ve witnessed changes with many individuals and organisations being more intentional about their approach to celebrating this month.  

I’m forward thinking, acknowledging the past but not necessarily given it the credence it deserves.  But in my reflections, increasingly I understand the importance of context.  The more context I’ve been afforded the greater my self-awareness, self worth and therefore my impact.  But for many my personal context  has been distorted, blurred or even erased.    

I was fostered at 6 weeks old to a white family in the late 1960s.  It was a common practice for Nigerian parents to foster their children privately to white families outside of London.  For many children it was a traumatic experience. I wouldn’t describe mine as traumatic, but definitely it was hard and challenging.  I don’t blame my mum, she did what she thought was right and it’s a huge contribution to who I am today.     

I recall my friends being on the football terraces on a Saturday with their National Front chants and then on Monday telling me “you’re alright Akin, you’re not like the rest”. I didn’t really know what it meant, but you begin to believe it. 

Akin Thomas, AKD Solutions

I was one of only 4 black children in the area and I was the only black child for the entirety of my schooling from 5-16.  It was often challenging, but when you’re 10, you’re just existing because this is all you know.  I recall my friends being on the football terraces on a Saturday with their National Front chants and then on Monday telling me “you’re alright Akin, you’re not like the rest”. I didn’t really know what it meant, but you begin to believe it.  So I grew with a massive void, of knowing that I didn’t really fit in my environment, but being deprived of context.  

So fast forward. The first time I went to Nigeria, I was 28 years old.  I had delayed going, because of being estranged for such a long time, but importantly I had a point to prove.  I felt the need to go back with a sense of achievement and accomplishment.  It was need to show my family that I had amounted to something despite them.  What I got was so much more.  The two things I got was a big dose of humility and a huge amount of context.   The humility came from being in a go slow (traffic jam) and I remember two people running to the car to sell me their oranges, one I suspect was an 80 year old woman, the other a 4 year old boy.  If they didn’t sell, they didn’t eat.  In that moment all of my career and entrepreneurial accolades were insignificant.   

The other thing I got was context.  Being in Nigeria, in the buzz of Lagos, going to my home town in Abeokuta, climbing Olumo Rock, visiting the original compound of family, hearing the origins of my family was so grounding.  Seeing thousands of people like me, brilliant entrepreneurs, those struggling but going about life with a sense of joy and expectation, the loudness of conversations, the sea of colour, the sense of possibility, I just remember thinking “I get it”. I get them, these people who I have little or nothing in common and yet we share so much.  I understood the power of language and feeling cheated for not having the opportunity to speak Yoruba.  But also being honest that it wasn’t required to for me to thrive in the UK.  

But more importantly “I got me”. I got where my burn, my thoughts, my drive came from and it gave a sense of a sense of acceptance and of greater completion.  Context has allowed me to be much more than I was without.  So for me I want Black History Month, to give context, to those who have been denied theirs so that they can be unshackled to be who they were gifted to be.   

Written by Akin Thomas, Founder and CEO of AKD Solutions.

Find out about our most popular Equality, Diversity and Inclusion workshop Equally Yours which has been used by leading international organisations. Equally Yours uses the power of conversation and playfulness to help organisations navigate EDI.

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Bespoke Training Course -Toyota

Toyota is the largest car manufacturer in the world. In the US over 70% of customer engagement was online. In Europe it was 5%. ‍Toyota Europe wanted to address this and make it easier for customers to engage with them online. They wanted to develop a comprehensive strategy that facilitated this, included a programme of learning and development that could be rolled out across all the European nations.“Kaiwa (the Japanese name of our programme) was an excellent and refreshing way for our national marketing & sales companies across Europe to experience the wide range of social media available on the internet, and to be challenged and learn the practical impacts of customer handling in a safe social media environment.”David Heming, Customer Relations Manager, Toyota

Our ApproachA Bespoke training course for Customer Relations and Marketing staffWe worked very closely with Toyota to develop Kaiwa (Kaiwa means conversation in Japanese). This was a 2-day course that was attended by customer relations and marketing staff. This equipped employees with the skills to communicate more consistently and clearly with customers online, optimise different channels, and work together more collaboratively. We delivered the programme across Europe to delegates from over 30 nations. ‍It has supported countries which had little or no social media presence, as well as providing a stimulating learning event for more mature markets

OutcomesContinuous development over the past four years. Our programme has now become an integral part of Toyota’s social business model and feedback received from Toyota reports that tangible improvements regarding customer experience have been made nationwide. The success of Kaiwa has meant that we were regular guests at their annual European conferences, where we deliver customer experience based workshops.

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Customer Experience Training Programmes

Mears is one of the UK’s leading housing repairs and care providers to both the public and private sector. With 6,500 employees looking after 13,000 people, customer satisfaction is a top priority. 

Mears goal was to put the customer at the heart of everything they do. They wanted to ensure that all colleagues had the awareness, understanding, and tools to do this. They asked AKD Solutions to help develop a programme to deliver significant improvements in customer satisfaction.

We worked with Mears to create the Customer Success Acceleration Programme. This was a five-month talent management initiative for Team Leaders and Managers in their Customer Service and Community team. ‍The programme covered a range of topics from; Communication Skills and Management Development to Social Value.

We developed a disruptively creative programme to stretch participants. Their collaborative challenges included designing a restaurant and project-managing the arrival of 4000 Paralympians to an Athletes’ Village at a global sporting event. Finally, delegates received an opportunity to demonstrate their learning by completing a project set by their senior managers. 

The programme was a great success with 92% of delegates saying they would recommend it. Mears
told us that our work had enabled employees to better connect with both their customers and colleagues, instilling a more collaborative culture within
the company.

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The influence of women in Sport

AKD and BWB making Basketball more inclusive and diverse.

We are really proud to announce our newest client, British Wheelchair Basketball.  We are working with them to explore how to make the sport even more diverse and inclusive.  

Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced and fast-growing sport that allows non-disabled and disabled people to compete together in its domestic leagues and competition. British Wheelchair Basketball is the governing body for wheelchair basketball in the United Kingdom. Currently there are 17,000 people playing the sport with the hope of growing it to 70,000.

The first thing on our agenda was to watch a match and see this exciting sport in action, we were not disappointed! Ladi, Nana and Akin watched East London Phoenix win their opening match against the Cardiff Met Archers, one of the first matches in the Women’s Professional League, the first disabled professional league in the UK.  It was brilliant game and we were privileged to be part of this historic event.  

“We are really pleased to be working with British Wheelchair Basketball.It is a great organisation who recognize the challenges in diversifying their sport and we value their honesty and transparency in tackling these issues. We are at AKD are looking forward to working together with BWB.”

We are looking forward to working alongside British Wheelchair Basketball as they set out to make basketball more inclusive. We will be sharing with you the great work we are doing so do follow us on this journey.

Make sure you check out the fixtures and get to a British Wheelchair Basketball match, we promise you will be amazed and inspired!

British Wheelchair Basketball we are super excited to be working with you.  Signup to our FREE Sports ACE Leadership taster workshop, this disruptive workshop is designed for sport Leaders, find our more here.‍

Download our racial diversity report #tellyourstory here.

We are always adding to our free leadership and management courses and demos, to spark brilliance by designing and delivering stimulating, challenging and fun learning experiences and training programs. Our ACE free online Leadership Workshops can be found here. Contact Us for a FREE demo on 0345 034 1105 or email info@akdsolutions.com

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British Equestrian breakthrough research to make the equestrian industry more diverse and inclusive. #HorsesForAll
Image from Ebony Horse Club

British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and AKD Solution have launched a breakthrough research project, #HorsesForAll. This research will seek to better engage those from low socio-income backgrounds as well as those from ethnically diverse communities. The research project will survey 600 participants through a quantitative approach and further engage 140 participants in one-to-one forums done either face-to-face or virtually providing qualitative data, to understand the barriers faced from underrepresented groups.

The UK equestrian industry has taken strides in being inclusive when it comes to gender equality however as it relates to ethnically diverse representation there is a glaring obvious underrepresentation in the sport. Chief Executive of British Equestrian Jim Eyre said; “Equestrianism and the passion for horses is by its nature hugely diverse and open to all, regardless of age, gender, religion, ability or background.  However, we know ethnically diverse communities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are under-represented across equestrianism and may not feel it is for them. If we are to thrive as an industry and open up participation for everyone to experience the unique joy horses bring, we have to do more to embrace our differences and recognise what can be possible when equality, diversity and inclusion is woven into our culture.”

Offchurch Bury Horse Trials (Unaffiliated) – Offchurch, Warwickshire, United Kingdom – 01 August 2020

AKD is committed to looking for ways to work with those in the Equestrian sport, the #HorsesForAll research project provides AKD with an opportunity to work with BEF to shift the dial. The research approach will capture the stories that illustrate the patterns and trends that affect participant engagement and involvement in sports, and in particular Equestrian activities. By identifying trends and patterns, AKD hopes to create long-lasting and effective solutions that can be implemented at the organisational level and throughout the sector.

AKD Solutions is an international learning and development consultancy. Their purpose is to stimulate brilliance in people and organisations. AKD sparks that brilliance by designing and delivering stimulating, challenging and fun learning experiences. Their Credo outlines their core beliefs which reflect very strongly in everything they do. With experience in creating a pioneering report with the Sports Council #TellYourStory campaign, sharing the experiences of Black, Asian and ethnically diverse people across the sporting landscape, AKD Solutions is ideally placed to conduct this research. This collaboration with BEF will be long-lasting and will provide an effective way to make an impact. “We are excited to be working with BEF on this project. We are going to bring some creative ideas to how we design and deliver this project. We intend not just to deliver a great research project but also to build long-standing relationships between communities and equestrian sport, providing greater awareness, breaking down barriers, and bringing genuine opportunities for people.” Akin Thomas, CEO of AKD Solutions.

AKD and BEF would like everyone to get involved in driving this change in the Equestrian industry. “While this is a strategic imperative for the Federation, it’s more about working to break down those barriers and creating a community where everyone truly feels they belong. Today marks the start of our commitment to doing just that. We look forward to working with partners and stakeholders on a number of research projects which will bring a strategy and an action plan, which will help us collectively deliver on our pledges.” Chief Executive of British Equestrian Jim Eyre said.

To get more information on our #HorsesForAll campaign contact Faith Anyanwu at AKD Solutions via email, marketing@akdsolutions.com .