A major European bank wanted to make sure diversity was at the forefront of their HR agenda. A Town Hall was planned to encourage women to have a greater say in the workplace. The challenge was to make people engage with this hard-hitting and challenging topic.
They called in Maynard Leigh to send their associates in, undercover, at the next Town Hall. As they blended in to the crowd, one associate raised their hand to ask a question to the leader. With nobody expected this, there was uproar in the room, with the actors creating a ruckus and leading a heated debate. This progressed, engaging the room, before disclosing later that it was a scripted event.
To this day, the HR team recount this experience as one of their most memorable Town Halls. The audience were taken by surprise and were blown away by the spontaneity and unpredictability of the situation. The success of this initiative was so impactful that the organisation now have a theatre team, mentored by Maynard Leigh, who perform regularly at their Town Halls on a wide palette of themes.
