What makes an issue sensitive in a work context? It can be any issue in which one or more people has an emotional investment that brings feelings of anger and fear near the surface.

On a macro level, processes like organisational or cultural change generate lots of issues that have to be handled with care in order to minimise people’s level of disturbance and resistance.

On a micro level, performance management, team dynamics and the process of decision-making can all generate local sensitive issues that, if mishandled, impact negatively on relationships.

Our approach focuses on the manager’s ability to anticipate potentially sensitive issues and plan and manage an appropriate response. We help managers to:

• be aware of how their own attitudes, emotional responses and behaviour affect their ability to manage sensitive issues;
• separate the personal (emotional) response from the professional role as managers and employees;
• understand the psychology behind people’s emotional responses to situations and emotional needs;
• identify effective strategies for handling sensitive issues.

Out interventions are tailored to your needs, depending on the specific issues involved and the associated skills that your managers need to develop.

The experiential approach allows managers to practice different strategies through a combination of an interactive live action scenario and
role play. The learning is then supported by action learning or coaching to ensuree that it leads to changes in practice.