Deaf Managers – Facing the Challenge

How Deaf People Can Succeed in Management

How to Get the Best Out of Deaf Staff and Managers

A Training Course at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

16-17 May 2011

(British Sign Language)

 

 (International Sign)

Topics covered will include:

• Managing Deaf and hearing Staff
• Communication skills and cultural awareness for the bilingual/bicultural workplace
• How to identify and work around barriers for Deaf people and how to break through the ‘Glass Ceiling’
• Essential management skills for the Deaf manager and executive, current and aspiring (Option for Deaf participants)
• Skills for managing Deaf staff, identifying their needs and skills and supporting them in their career development  and as managers (Option for hearing executives)
• Tapping the Deaf Potential  - the legal, moral and business case for hiring and developing Deaf people as managers

How you and your organisation will benefit from this training course

• You will learn transferable skills about management, which you can put into practice
• You will network and learn from those who have more experience working in management and with the Deaf community
• You will have a better understanding of tools and techniques essential for the specific development of Deaf people as managers
• You will be able to transmit best practice processes to your organization

Who should attend the course?

• Deaf Managers and Executives
• Managers responsible for Deaf Staff, including Deaf Managers
• Aspiring Deaf Managers

Specialist presenters and trainers

Lilian Lawson MBA, OBE       

Director, Scottish Council on Deafness

Liz Scott Gibson                               

Director, Deaf Action and President, World Association of Sign Language Interpreters

Jeff McWhinney MBA   

Managing Director, Significan’t and former Chief Executive, British Deaf Association

Kaisa Alanne                                     

Director, Finnish Association of the Deaf

Professor Graham Turner

Director, Centre for Translation & Interpreting Studies in Scotland and Director of Research, School of Management & Languages, Heriot-Watt

Tessa Padden MA           

Teaching Fellow, Department of Languages & Intercultural Studies, Heriot-Watt

Dr Nicolina Kamenou   

Senior Lecturer in International HRM and Diversity Management . Nicolina was seconded during 2005 to the Scottish Government as a Senior Research Officer.

About this course

The School of Management and Languages at Heriot-Watt University has a unique combination of expertise in both management and languages, including British Sign Language (BSL) and other Sign Languages.

This training course, the first of its kind, will bring together experts from both fields in the UK and abroad to address the crucial questions of:

• how Deaf people who use BSL or another Sign Language can progress as successful managers;
• how managers, whether Deaf or hearing, can manage Deaf staff successfully and groom Deaf people to succeed in management.

There is little doubt that no one has ever succeeded in tapping the full potential of Deaf people in the workplace. Key to this is the fact that neither most Deaf people nor most hearing employers see Deaf people as potential managers. Neither side has a clear vision of career development and a route into management for Deaf staff. Many talented Deaf people see their careers stall because their employers do not understand their particular needs and are unable to assess their skills on an equal basis with hearing staff. Deaf people in turn do not have the tools and techniques to find ways of overcoming these barriers in the workplace. The result is stagnation, disillusionment and waste all round.

Our society and our economy must find the solutions to these problems, not only for the sake of equality and diversity, but because we cannot afford to go on neglecting and losing this untapped reservoir of potential talent.

This training course will not only address the issues around this problem, but will equip those who attend with tools and techniques for understanding how to tackle problems and overcome barriers in their own careers and places of work.

Course Fee

£395 per person

Contact Details

Tessa Padden   T.E.M.Padden@hw.ac.uk
Saiqa Anne Qureshi  S.Qureshi@hw.ac.uk  

Register Online

http://www.eventelephant.com/thedeafmanagerfacingthechallenges