Act I: The vision – scaling success through strategic inclusion
Eight hundred voices across 28 global offices. A 15 percent organic growth trajectory. And a leadership team that understood a fundamental truth: sustainable growth requires every voice to be heard.
BMS Group, the dynamic global broker providing specialist insurance, reinsurance and capital markets advisory services, recognised that their continued success as the independent broker of choice demanded more than operational excellence. It required cultural intentionality. As they scaled rapidly across global markets, they made a strategic decision to proactively strengthen their inclusive culture.
The appointment of DEI specialist Louisa Erwin as group head of diversity, equity and inclusion in early 2022 signalled this commitment. Louisa arrived with deep expertise and a clear mandate: to ensure that BMS Group’s impressive growth trajectory was matched by an equally impressive commitment to inclusive communications.
The strategic objectives were ambitious and actionable:
- Empower employees at all levels to contribute confidently
- Strengthen the inclusive culture that underpinned their success
- Develop colleagues as active allies across the organisation
Act II: The innovation – from insight to impact
BMS Group’s approach to embedding inclusive communications was as sophisticated as their business strategy. Working alongside our specialist DEIB training consultants, they designed a comprehensive programme touching every level of the organisation through three strategic strands:
- Inclusive leadership for executives
- Inclusive leadership for managers
- Speaking up sessions for all employees
The innovation began with deep listening. Between spring and summer 2022, pre-sessions involved confidential conversations with employees across all UK offices, gathering authentic insights about their experiences. These insights were turned into lived experience recordings, anonymised testimonies voiced by professional actors, carefully adapted to resonate across different cultural contexts whilst maintaining their emotional truth.
“The lived experience recordings engaged our leadership team emotionally, creating powerful learning moments that transcended traditional training approaches,” says Louisa.
The sessions deployed cutting-edge drama-based techniques that transformed learning into experience. Forum theatre scenes placed real workplace scenarios on stage, inviting participants to collaborate on solutions and practise inclusive interventions.
In one memorable moment, a participant watching a scene of a senior leader dismissing a junior colleague’s concerns about non-inclusive language called “Stop!” and suggested the leader ask, “Tell me more about what happened in yesterday’s meeting” instead of immediately telling them why these comments might be “banter”. The room watched the scene transform from shut-down to collaboration. This wasn’t theoretical. It was emotional muscle memory in formation.
A strategic growth gap between session parts allowed participants to absorb and embed their learning, with expert coaches available throughout to provide support. This recognition that inclusive communications requires both time and expertise demonstrated BMS Group’s commitment to getting it right.
The programme culminated in thirty-minute practice conversations with actor-coaches, where participants rehearsed real situations they faced or anticipated. With one actor-coach to three participants, everyone could observe, learn, and contribute feedback in a challenging yet supportive environment.
Through these experiences, participants gained practical understanding of:
- How power and systemic advantage (privilege) operate in workplace dynamics
- Why allyship strengthens organisational culture
- How equity, diversity and inclusion drive business performance
- What intersectionality means in practice
- How inclusive communications accelerates innovation
Act III: The achievement – embedding excellence
The results validated BMS Group’s strategic approach. Participants didn’t just understand inclusive communications. They practised it, refined it, and embedded it into their daily interactions.
“These sessions have been incredibly impactful in building a more inclusive culture at BMS, where employees feel empowered to speak up,” confirms Louisa.
UK CEO Ian Gormley observed the transformation in organisational dialogue in an interview with Insurance Business UK: “I’ve seen our conversations really progress following the roll out of our Speaking Up and Inclusive Leadership programme, focusing on effective communication, allyship and leading with empathy. We designed this in partnership with an excellent provider, using forum theatre and actor-coaches to bring scenarios to life and the impact has been huge.”
The programme’s success led to immediate expansion, with the leadership team commissioning refresher sessions for existing staff and mandatory sessions for all new recruits throughout 2023 and 2024.”We recognised the real shift comes from continued conversations,” Gormley explained, “and have invested in ongoing workshops and touchpoints for all colleagues.”
By year-end 2023, the programme had rolled out across the UK-based global HQ. By year-end 2025 tailored sessions were rolling out across international locations, each adapted to local contexts whilst maintaining the core methodology.
The business case: why inclusive communications drives competitive advantage
BMS Group’s investment in inclusive communications directly supports their position as the independent broker of choice in the insurance market. Their 15 percent organic growth trajectory depends on:
- Diverse perspectives driving innovation in complex markets
- Global teams collaborating seamlessly across cultures
- Top talent choosing employers who demonstrate genuine inclusion
- Client relationships strengthened through authentic engagement
- Risk mitigation through open communication channels
The programme’s drama-based methodology ensures lasting behavioural change by engaging participants emotionally and practically, not just intellectually. By experiencing different perspectives through performance and practising inclusive interventions through forum theatre, teams develop the muscle memory of inclusive communications.
Your next scene: building culture at scale
BMS Group’s journey demonstrates that market leaders don’t wait for culture to evolve. They actively direct its development. Their proactive approach to inclusive communications shows that excellence isn’t just about maintaining standards as you grow. It’s about raising them.
The question for growth-focused organisations isn’t whether to invest in inclusive communications, but how quickly you can embed it into your expanding operations. Because in today’s global marketplace, the companies that harness every voice aren’t just more inclusive. They’re more innovative, more resilient, and more successful.
Ready to embed inclusive excellence in your growing organisation? Contact us to explore how drama-based inclusive communications training can ensure your culture scales as impressively as your business. Because market leadership requires every voice at full strength.
Discover how forum theatre, practice conversations, and experiential learning can transform workplace dynamics and unlock your organisation’s potential. Contact us to explore strategic DEIB solutions built to fit your culture.