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Active Bystander Training

Empower action across your workforce

Drive awareness, encourage responsibility and action to stamp out exclusive behaviour

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Active bystander

Training Overview

2.5 Hour In-person or Virtual (live) session
Up to 20 participants
Bespoke Digital Tools
3 Packages to Choose From

Empower your workforce with active bystander training

We might think we would step in if we saw something inappropriate, yet research shows that 86% of us do nothing when we witness exclusive behaviour.

Why? Often, we’re not sure exactly what to say or do, or fear the consequences of intervention.

We’re all responsible for upholding an inclusive, collaborative and effective working environment. But if your workforce don’t know how to intervene, then exclusive behaviour can fester, undermining inclusive, effective and psychologically safe work cultures.

Effective bystander intervention

Pearn Kandola’s Active Bystander training enables participants to identify and act upon exclusive behaviours and micro-incivilites when they occur in the workplace.

Critically, during the programme they will practice a variety of approaches in real-world scenarios, and will leave equipped with the skills and confidence to intervene in the most effective way, depending on the situation.

This is the difference between our evidence-based programme and off-the-shelf alternatives. Our programmes are proven to go beyond awareness raising and trigger lasting behavioral change, that you can measure.

Equip your employees to start taking action, accountability and shared responsibility for upholding an inclusive culture in your organisation.

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Our active bystander training packages

Pearn Kandola’s Active Bystander training centres around an engaging and interactive 2.5-hour live workshop that covers everything participants need to know about spotting, assessing and intervening effectively when witnessing inappropriate behaviour.

Participants will engage in interactive exercises using real-world scenarios – and our powerful proprietary tools will crucially help them to understand their own strengths and challenge areas.

From here, they will be motivated, confident and equipped with practical strategies to tackle exclusive behaviour in the workplace.

Package options

All of our packages include a 2.5-hour workshop designed and delivered by trained business psychologists.

You have the option to run the workshop in-person or for it to be delivered virtually in a live online setting (e.g. Zoom or Teams).

Each package is based on a limit of 20 participants to ensure maximum engagement, interaction and impact for behavioural change.

Further customisation is available, such as through incorporating your own business-specific scenarios and data, or using professional actors to enhance the immersive element of the workshop.

Standard

Pre-programme communications
2.5 hour Active Bystander workshop
Kandola+ DIORAMA Inclusion diagnostic tool
Kandola+ DRIVE motivation diagnostic tool
Personalised action plan for each participant
Progress measurement via repeat Kandola+ DIORAMA completion
Email nudges to maintain focus and momentum following the live session
Inclusion data insights

Enhanced

Pre-programme communications
2.5 hour Active Bystander workshop
Kandola+ DIORAMA Inclusion diagnostic tool
Kandola+ DRIVE motivation diagnostic tool
Personalised action plan for each participant
Progress measurement via repeat Kandola+ DIORAMA completion
Email nudges to maintain focus and momentum following the live session
Inclusion data insights

Ultimate

Pre-programme communications
2.5 hour Active Bystander workshop
Kandola+ DIORAMA Inclusion diagnostic tool
Kandola+ DRIVE motivation diagnostic tool
Personalised action plan for each participant
Progress measurement via repeat Kandola+ DIORAMA completion
Email nudges to maintain focus and momentum following the live session
Inclusion data insights

What Our Active Bystander Training Covers

Learners will:

  • Recognise exclusive behaviours in the workplace
  • Understand the impact of these behaviours on individuals, teams and business performance
  • Understand what prevents people from intervening and being an active bystander
  • Have personal insight into their own inclusion strengths and how to improve on their weaker areas
  • Learn the 4 Ds Framework for Intervention
  • Have practiced different approaches to dealing with exclusive behaviours
  • Be confident to apply these skills in their role

Trusted by Our clients

We’re proud to partner with leading organisations around the world, helping them cultivate inclusive cultures, attract top talent, and develop exceptional leaders. Here are just some of the clients who trust us to deliver outstanding results and lasting change.

“The majority of participants would recommend this to other employees. They enjoyed the training despite finding the real-life scenarios hard-hitting. However, it did spark a light-bulb moment – that these sorts of things were happening in our organisation. They went away knowing, as leaders, what they had to do and how to do it.
Pearn Kandola are specialists in their area, and it is definitely worth taking the time and money to have the initial design conversations – that’s where the value is.”
Director of TalentTop 50 Global Law Firm

Our approach to active bystander training

As a firm of business psychologists, our work is rooted in over 40 years of research and evidence-based practice that you can actually measure.

Our active bystander workshops focus on three core areas to deliver lasting change:

Insight
Awareness
Action

Insight

At the start of the programme (for all packages), participants are given access to Kandola+ DIORAMA, our proprietary online diagnostic tool, to give them personalised insights into their strengths and challenge areas.

Used by thousands of people across the globe, participants will receive comprehensive feedback on their ability to:

  • Recognise exclusive behaviours and micro-incivilities
  • Show empathy towards those experiencing exclusion
  • Take action to challenge exclusive behaviours
  • Promote feelings of belonging with colleagues

Those on the Enhanced or Ultimate programmes will also receive access to Kandola+ DRIVE, our motivation diagnostic, where they will understand exactly what drives them.

Awareness

The awareness stage centres around a highly interactive and engaging small-group workshop, combining the science behind active bystander behaviour with real-world business examples and effective frameworks for intervention.

This part of the workshop focuses on educating participants and covers the fundamentals such as:

  • What are exclusive behaviours and micro-incivilities?
  • The impact of exclusion on individuals, as well as team and business performance.
  • What prevents people from being active bystanders
  • The 4Ds Model of Intervention
  • Real-world, interactive practice scenarios to test different approaches

 

Action

Research shows that when people have clear insights into what they need to make change, they are more motivated to take action.

Throughout the workshop, participants will be asked to reflect on their results from Kandola+ DIORAMA, considering where their own bystander intervention behaviours are likely to be strong and where their personal risk areas are.

It’s this stage of the workshop where participants will leverage this personal understanding in order to take effective action.

This stage allows participants to discuss and practice the most effective actions using real-world scenarios, so they feel confident and equipped to use their new skills in the workplace.

Please note that the tools and resources used in this phase will vary depending on your chosen package (see our packages section for more information).

For example, in the Enhanced and Ultimate programmes, each participant will receive a targeted action plan to develop the weakest areas, as highlighted by their Kandola+ DIORAMA results.

The Ultimate programme includes weekly email nudges to keep participants focused and motivated to apply their personalised plan, with the opportunity to repeat Kandola+ DIORAMA after a fixed period of time, with brand-new inclusion scenarios to measure their progress as a result of their hard work.

You’ll get access to this data so you can directly measure the impact of the programme and prove ROI.

Why choose Pearn Kandola’s active bystander training?

Proven results
Accredited psychologists
Holistic approach

Proven results

Whilst raising awareness is important – organisations choose us because of our research-rooted, evidence-based approach, proven to trigger behaviour change.

This isn’t an on-demand, pre-recorded e-learning module that only goes as far as raising awareness.

This is a highly interactive programme with multiple touchpoints that is proven to deliver behavioural change.

Our Active Bystander programme uses our proprietary digital diagnostic tools to provide each learner with personalised insights, and combines a live, interactive small-group workshop led by a trained business psychologist with clear action plans for participants to continue self-paced learning and application.

If you want to prove ROI, trigger and measure behavioural change, then you’re in the right place – participants say that our Active Bystander workshops give them the skills needed to take action

Accredited psychologists

All of our workshops are designed and delivered by our team of experienced, qualified business psychologists.

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and human behaviour. In short, we know how people work.

We recognise that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses – and our bespoke proprietary tools, backed by 40 years of research, help unlock these for each and every participant so they know exactly where they need to focus their efforts.

With four decades of in-house research behind us, we offer a truly expert, evidence-based approach, one that delivers results.

Holistic approach

We’ve been consulting in inclusion, leadership development and assessment since 1984.

Our services are rooted in our in-house research and over forty years’ expertise, eliminating assumptions and minimising bias to work towards truly fair, meritocratic workplaces.

As a firm of business psychologists, we see your organisation as a whole, across departments and seniority levels. We consider where you were, where you are now – and where you want to be.

Working across more than 90 countries globally, we understand that different cultures demand different approaches, and factor cultural intelligence into our services to ensure you can drive progress on a modern, global scale.

So, whether you’re training your workforce to tackle exclusion through bystander intervention, developing your senior leaders or assessing graduates, we’re with you every step of the way.

Frequently asked questions

What is an active bystander?

Being an active bystander means taking proactive, appropriate and timely action when witnessing exclusive or discriminatory behaviour in the workplace.

Instead of remaining a passive observer, an active bystander takes action to challenge and confront these behaviours, fostering a culture of psychological safety and inclusion.

Active bystanders do more than just watch. They take action. They’re catalysts for change in the workplace.

What is active bystander intervention, and why is it important in the workplace?

Everyone in your organisation has a role to play in upholding your company culture and values.

If your employees don’t feel able – or equipped – to speak up and challenge inappropriate behaviour, then it’s more likely to persist – or be seen as an acceptable part of your company culture.

Our research showed that taking action to challenge exclusive behaviours is the weakest area for individuals when it comes to inclusion.

Active bystander training provides each participant with the skills required to act, so that everyone in your organisation knows how to spot, prevent and address unwanted behaviour.

What are the key strategies taught in active bystander training?

Our active bystander workshops are designed to resonate with professionals across all levels of your organisation.

Through this highly impactful program, participants will:

  • Recognise exclusive behaviours and micro-incivilities
  • Learn how to intervene in the most effective way, depending on the context of the situation
What is the Worker Protection Act?

The Worker Protection Act, introduced in October 2024, was an amendment to the Equality Act (2010).

It introduced a new positive legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to protect their workers from sexual harassment.

Learn more in our widely-read article, co-written with Law Firm Shoosmiths LLP, What is The Worker Protection Act? What You Need to Know

Our Active Bystander and Bullying & Harassment sessions will help your organisation to take proactive steps to protect your workers from harassment and other unwanted behaviour.

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Free consultation with a
business psychologist

Ready to empower your employees to take action when witnessing inappropriate behaviour at work?

Get in touch with our expert team today.

Book an Appointment

Janet Tarasofsky, Managing Psychologist

11 years’ experience

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Not sure what you need? Get in touch with our team of expert psychologists to discuss your organisational challenges and goals, and we can put together a bespoke suite of services to support you.

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