The art of starting again

TichaonaëtichíNyamayaro quit Zimbabwe in 2002 as drought, sanctions and social unrest tore into Africaís one time breadbasket and the countryís increasingly desperate president, Robert Mugabe, sought to tighten his grip on a crumbling economy. Leaving behind his childhood sweetheart and a settled way of life, the 28 year old went on the run after finding himself on the wrong end of death threats from Mugabeís volunteer militia. After taking shelter in a variety of safe houses, the former political activist headed for Britain where, with the help of family and friends, he set about rebuilding a shattered career.

Today, Tich is one of the star graduates groomed by Diverse City Services ñ a Brum based training consultancy that steers talented yet disadvantaged and hard to reach individuals into career shaping traineeships. Last year, the Zimbabwean joined Diverse City after a friend showed him an ad for trainee Police and Community Support Officers (PCSOs).

ìPCSOs are not police officersî, explains Tich, who has ambitions of being a fully-fledged police officer, ìthey work alongside regular officers and help to build better police and community relations. I like it because itís about helping to maintain good order and accountability. To me, accountability is the highest good. I had to leave Zimbabwe because there was no accountability ñ just chaos.î

Diverse City Services is a non-political organisation with roots in Positive Action Training. The consultancy was created by Doreen Osborne, a former Director of minority think tank The Birmingham Partnership for Change and Christine Hemming, wife of Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, the former deputy leader of Birmingham City Council.

The two women have notched up more than forty years of working in Equal Opportunities. Christine, one of only a handful of black town planners in the UK has been a principal race adviser to Wandsworth Borough Council and the Greater London Council. In Birmingham she served for six years as Executive Director of PATH (WM) the national Positive Action charity.

Christine: ìAt Diverse City, we set out to do a number of things ñ namely, help firms build and consolidate a more diverse workforce in terms of age, gender, religion, sexuality and ethnic background. And, through traineeships, help the disadvantaged talented vision and work towards a better future for themselves.î

Since its launch, the two women have taken action to secure places for disadvantaged yet skilled trainees at a growing number of public sector employers ñ from the BBC to the West Midlands Police.

Doreen Osborne has a firm belief that the holy grail of a settled, pluralist workforce is very much realisable in Britain, of all European countries. However she concedes that ìtoo manyî business leaders are still struggling to re-imagine the British workforce in light of a globally-oriented economy (which is slowly unravelling notions of national identity) and in wake of conflicts as far away as Zimbabwe and Iraq where best brains are looking for new, safer Jerusalems.

Doreen: ìThe social arena in which British firms and public sector organisations operate has changed massively in the last five years. But the bald truth is that, as the UK has become more inclusive in terms of its population, we are still lagging behind in terms of workforce diversity. And that is unsafe, because we are witnessing an enlargement of an increasingly educated and skilled underclass which is bad for business as well as becoming an increasingly dangerous thing.î

Dealing with death, devastation and grief had become an occupational routine for Krishnadas Sukumaran, another Diverse City trainee. The former Times of India employee and social development executive spent years developing disaster relief programmes in his native India.

Sukumaranís CV speaks of a long career managing projects at the hard edge of poverty and deprivation in his own country. His experience spans work to alleviate the fall-out from inter-ethnic communal rioting, the effects of imprisonment on first time offenders, and carnage resulting from earthquake and other natural disasters.

Four years ago he applied successfully to the Home Office for permission to join his young family in Britain. He soon realised though that any hopes of restarting his career with a British overseas development agency was a non-starter.

ìI was stunned,î says the father of two. î More than fifteen years of managing crises in some of the most hostile environments couldnít even give me an edge for similar jobs at British based overseas charities. At the time I was confused, but now I know the feeling of being shunned is an everyday thing for minority people! I still believe in Britain though. At heart it is a decent countryî

After a short stint as a researcher with Keele University, Khrishnadas decided that a return to more community-focussed activity suited him best. ìSome people have said the job of disaster relief manager and humble PCSO are two very different occupations. I look at it differently. Itís all about working with people from all different backgrounds and temperaments, reassuring them, and helping them out - helping to maintain order and provide information that is to benefit everbody.î

Like the Zimbabwean, Khrsinadas sees his new role as the first step to better things. ìI think that the bottom is sometimes the best place to start because it gives you a wider and longer perspective, and that will always help you to better understand any industry you want to work in. I have though about this a lot and I really think that itís true.î

A year ago, Armed with NVQs in Information Technology plus units in Business Administration, Diverse City trainee Peter Wright got more offers to work as a packer than an office gopher. He remains, however, refreshingly upbeat about the challenges of the job market.

ìYou get knocked back but you pick yourself up and start againî, says Peter. ì And I know itís not easy to pick yourself up.. thatís like an art,î he laughs, ìwith practice it gets better.î

ìQualifications alone canít guarantee success,î adds Peter ìÖand sometimes you have to take any job thatís going to keep yourself going,î

Since joining Diverse City, Peter has waved goodbye to the packing job and went on to complete his NVQ level II In Business Administration at West Midlands Local Government Association (WMLGA)

Adrian Hayward, WMLGA Office Administrator, remembers Peter.

ìHe was quiet at first and I wasnít sure what to expect, neither did he perhaps - but the attitude was right. He fitted in quickly, the confidence grew and soon he began to rely less and less on others. Looking back what I remember most was his cheerfulness. He was always very cheerful!î

Chris Hemming: ì So much has been said about diversity and the workplace thatís its in danger of becoming really boring, a clich. You mention diversity and somebody yawns. But the smart managers and business owners knows that in a world grown smaller workplace diversity is already written into the future of business.î