Case Studies
Delivering Organisational Change: Our Case Studies in Action

True inclusion requires whole-system change. Read our latest impact stories to discover how NCBI Training partners with UK organisations – including blue-light emergency services and major housing groups – to dismantle structural barriers, build leadership accountability, and foster high-performing, empathetic workplace cultures.

MIND in Tower Hamlets and Newham

NCBI: Undoing Racism in the Charity Sector

MIND in Tower Hamlets and Newham (MITHM) was responding to the wider challenge of structural racism within the charity sector, as highlighted by the 2020 Voice4Change and ACEVO report Home Truths. www.acevo.org.uk/reports/home-truths  

 The report identified systemic and individual barriers faced by Black staff, alongside a sector-wide failure to embed race equity into organisational practice. In response, the organisation recognised the need for leadership accountability, stronger anti-racist policies, and collective action with partners, funders and regulators to dismantle structural racism and improve diversity, equity and inclusion across the sector. An ultimate objective was to bring the work and relationships closer to clients in the community.  

MITHM recognised that becoming an anti-racist organisation required more than a statement of intent. The organisation had committed to centering the experiences, insight and skills of Black colleagues, as well as Black-led and Black-focused organisations, in shaping its response to racism and inequality. This commitment also meant prioritising funding and support for those with lived experience and specialist expertise to help guide the work in a meaningful and accountable way. 

NCBI were called in because MITHM wanted structured, skilled support to turn this commitment into practical organisational change. MITHM needed NCBI’s external expertise to support trustees, senior leaders and staff to develop a shared understanding of racism, power and responsibility, strengthen accountability, and identify concrete actions to embed anti-racism into culture, decision-making, policies, practice and service delivery. NCBI’s experience in anti-racism, equality, diversity and inclusion made us well placed to support the organisation’s ambition to become fully anti-racist. 

The scale and make-up of the organisation also meant that change needed to involve the whole system. Therefore, NCBI were asked to support developmental work across all levels of the organisation, helping to build a shared understanding of racism, power, identity and organisational responsibility.

In 2020, NCBI delivered Equality, Diversity and Unconscious Bias training for MITHM, designed to support the organisation’s wider journey towards becoming anti-racist. 

The programme included one-day workshops with mixed staff groups, creating space for shared learning, honest reflection and a stronger understanding of experiences across the organisation. The workshops focused on: 

  • Explored identity, difference and belonging, while building pride in individual and collective identities. 
  • Examined how misinformation, prejudice and discrimination are learned and internalised. 
  • Built understanding of how different groups experience mistreatment, exclusion and oppression. 
  • Developed practical tools and actions to challenge oppressive behaviours and support organisational change. 

NCBI also facilitated strategic planning meetings to help MITHM identify clear actions, agree collective ownership, assign delivery leads and set realistic timescales on becoming an anti-racist organisation. Trustees, senior leaders and staff began to define the key principles, behaviours and organisational commitments needed to embed anti-racism in MITHM’s culture, practice and decision-making. These were delivered alongside an organisation-wide 100 days challenge that every member of staff undertook. 

NCBI’s work helped MITHM turn its anti-racist commitments into practical action by building shared understanding, confidence and accountability across the organisation. The programme strengthened awareness of racism, bias and exclusion, supported more open conversations, and helped staff and leaders take greater responsibility for challenging oppressive behaviours.  

It also enabled MITHM to identify practical steps for becoming more inclusive, locally responsive and equitable in how it works with diverse communities. Client became closer to the organisation and no longer saw barriers to accessing services.

In 2021, MITHM was supported to develop a clearer strategy for becoming an anti-racist organisation. This provided a more formal structure for the work and helped translate learning from the programme into organisational commitments with priorities and timelines. 

  • Developing an anti-racist commitment statement. 
  • Setting Race Equality in MIND goals for 2021–2024. 
  • Using equality data to understand the organisational context. 
  • Creating a framework and timeline to guide implementation. 

The resulting commitment positioned anti-racism as central to how MITHM would operate. It set an expectation that anti-racist practice would shape the organisation’s culture, values, structure, decision-making, services, partnerships, campaigns and the way staff approached their roles.

Peabody Housing

NCBI: Supporting Culture Change and Investors in People

Peabody Housing (CBHA) sought support to strengthen staff capability in two connected areas: delivering high-quality, empathetic customer service and responding effectively to organisational change. Customer feedback indicated a need to improve how staff engaged with tenants, particularly in relation to understanding identity, difference, and the impact these factors can have on communication and service delivery. In later years, as the organisation adapted to a changing working environment, Peabody also recognised the importance of equipping both managers and staff with the skills, confidence, and mindset needed to approach change positively and constructively. 

NCBI was invited to work with Peabody because of our experience and track record supporting organisational transformation, building stronger relationships, improving inclusion, and developing confident leadership. 

NCBI designed and delivered bespoke staff development interventions addressing change management, supporting staff and managers to understand change more clearly, respond with resilience, and contribute positively to organisational development. These interventions formed a sustained programme of support that combined reflection, practical tools, and action planning.

The workshop was designed to improve customer engagement and strengthen staff awareness. Practical behaviours explained paths to improve service quality, with emotional intelligence, active listening and effective questioning and staff were encouraged to look beyond first impressions and avoid stereotyping customers at the point of contact. They began to listen more carefully to tenants’ concerns, identifying and addressing root causes. This approach builds more reflective and responsive service culture. 

NCBI also delivered Change Management programmes aimed at developing positive attitudes towards organisational growth. The training helped participants define the impact of change on their day-to-day work with practical ways for making change work more effectively across their teams. Session Two emphasised the importance of recognising progress, celebrating success, and maintaining a forward-looking approach. 

Finally, NCBI delivered a further two-day Welcoming Change programme. This intervention supported the introduction of CBHA’s new behaviour framework on Managing Change and enabled managers to embed the attitudes and behaviours required to navigate change confidently. 

The impact of the NCBI intervention was significant. It contributed to Peabody achievement of Investors in People Gold Standard, with the NCBI Identity and Difference programme recognised for creating a solid knowledge base to confidently build customer relations both internally and externally. Our work also supported the development of a more meaningful Equalities Strategy, enabling staff to better understand the importance of strong working relationships, effective customer service, better complaints handling, and solid, efficient organisational development. The roles of the Equalities Champion and Equalities Steering Group now had more meaning.  

Feedback from the Change Management programme showed that participants felt better able to embrace and own change rather than feel “done to”. Attendees described the NCBI intervention as thought-provoking, creative, and inspiring, and many reported that it had helped them reflect honestly on the fears of moving forward. This demonstrated that the programme had succeeded not only in building understanding of change as a process, but also in encouraging personal reflection and a more constructive mindset. 

Our work supported the new Peabody behaviour framework. Staff became more receptive and open-minded towards organisational change, while managers committed to inspire their involvement more. This included an agreement to communicate more openly about the reasons for change and to support individuals through periods of transition. Effectively, the NCBI training had created a new, embedded behaviour and culture framework.

Peabody (CBHA) – Communications and Improvement Director 

“CBHA has recently been recognised as achieving Investors in People at the Gold Standard”; “CBHA has held IIP since being established in 1996 but were delighted to be recognised as the gold standard as a result of the good work that has been done in recent years”; The IIP assessor “gave us positive feedback about the “Identity and Differences” workshop that you ran at CBHA as well the achievements CBHA has made in developing our equality strategy. Your course was widely cited by staff in their IIP interviews as being a useful and empowering tool for delivering excellent customer services. It had a lasting impact on many attendees and helped the organisation to develop our Equality strategy to a more meaningful level” (November 2011) 

Avon and Somerset Police

NCBI:The Impact of DEI Training on Organisational Culture and Performance

In the preceding years leading up to June 2018, a number of incidents led to the police in Bristol experiencing a reduction in confidence within the Black community. “As a consequence, youth and recruitment events that the police held locally were being undermined; there was a clear lack of support; overt criticism and even hostility”. The community expressed mistrust of the police with specific concerns about incidents, where officers consistently racially profiled individuals. A viral incident involving the tasering of a well-known and respected senior member of the black community added to the community’s negative impression of Avon and Somerset Police  

The National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) focuses on cultivating cooperative and productive communities and businesses. We offer transformational training in various fields, including leadership, unconscious bias, identity training, validating different faiths and resolving community conflict. NCBI Training with over 26 years of experience of delivering 800 workshops has helped change the lives of over 22,000 people . Participants leave with the knowledge and understanding to create change within the workplace, their communities and themselves. 

NCBI were called “To initiate a process of mutual understanding; reconciliation and the creation of positive projects” to get Police and the Black community working together to resolve some of the “really tricky relational and trust issues that were facing both the Bristol police and local Black communities” 

In June 2018, NCBI worked with Avon and Somerset Police and the Community towards deploying resources effectively and building better relationships.  This joint working partnership resulted in a Police and Community Relationship Building Event called “A Brighter Future for Bristol”. The day was delivered utilising the NCBI Controversial Issue Process with a workshop covering: 

 

  1. Exploring identity and difference  
  1. Reflection on mistakes, apologies, and lived experiences  
  1. Identifying a divisive issue together  
  1. Working through opposing perspectives constructively  
  1. Agreement on future collaborative action  

The desirable outcomes from the workshop aimed to strengthen listening, deepen understanding across differences, and develop skills for responding more effectively to human behaviour. They also focused on rebuilding trust and long-term relationships between the Police and the Black community, while creating shared momentum for practical joint projects and securing leadership commitment to sustain meaningful engagement.

It was agreed that “Reframing” is always necessary as a basis to work for change as it removes the “emotional charge” that can stop considerate, inclusive thinking for most people.  A previously agreed issue statement referencing institutional racism that divided the room was reframed as:  

“By acknowledging each other’s experiences and commitment to equality, we must work together to define and challenge racism on all levels. For example: cultural, in professional practice, institutional, conscious and unconscious bias and individual behaviours.”  

As a result of the workshop, participants identified 28 activities for Bristol. The 28 projects which had a positive impact on police and community relations, collaboration and communication included the following areas: 

  1. Understanding each other –e.g.Met shadowing community events 
  2. Activities -e.g. Community/police sports day 
  3. Cultural –e.g.culture sharing stories 
  4. Information & Training –e.g.ongoing workshop delivery to staff and sharing good practice 
  5. intervention strategies –e.g.Community debriefs after arrests 

Bristol Police Commander  

“NCBI delivered a challenging event, that was enjoyable and fully engaging for all who attended. This led to ownership in the room of a shared ‘Big Question’ that we all committed to resolve together, with an amazing 28 distinct and shared projects emerging to bring my officers and the Black communities of Bristol together in constructive and collaborative ways”  (September 2018) 

“We are enjoying an increasing proportion of the African and Caribbean communities who are welcoming a constructive dialogue and relationship with the Police. They accept that Avon and Somerset has changed and are doing many things right.  There is hardly ever a reference to Institutional racism”; “we have significantly more positive contact.  We are displaying more cultural awareness and intelligence.  We are seen as more transparent.  We share more that we get right and more of what we get wrong by living up to our ‘learning organisation’ mantra”; “I credit the events you delivered for us as critical to these positive changes.  You changed both Police and community thinking about the relationship we have with each other and started us down the path of having a clear vision and plans to get there” ; “I genuinely believe that I would not be where I am today if I had not commissioned you to host the original events”. (February 2020)