“What makes Mouse and Elephant training different is that it’s not just a lecture, it’s not just, ‘Watch a video and let’s discuss it.’ It’s providing people experiences that they wouldn’t normally have in their life. I think a lot of people can set out to do training sessions, but a lot of consultants won’t set out to change someone’s viewpoint on life.
I think the value of an ongoing approach to diversity and inclusion is that it changes the culture of the organization. Ultimately a one-stop, check-the-box day might get people to understand the laws, and maybe understand what to do and what not to do, but an ongoing engagement helps people think differently. It helps them approach things differently. I feel like in our organization now, we treat people differently as a result of the work that The Mouse and The Elephant does with us. It changes who we are as an organization, and it challenges us to aspire to be greater than we are today.”
Suzanne Wilson, Senior Vice President for Human Resources, MiddleOak
“The Mouse and the Elephant is diametrically opposed to any training I’ve had, and sometimes that term could be a negative term, but this one is a real positive. Most of the training, and I’ve been in business for 27 years, is formalized training. It’s a canned training program. We’ll go to a vendor, they’ll bring a program in. You might be able to mix and match modules, but that’s really about it. This program was really tailored to what the needs were of MiddleOak, with the Mouse and Elephant and MiddleOak’ers working together to fashion a program that would really respond to the needs of our employee group.
We all look at it as an investment in our employees which is going to come back in multiple returns as it relates to the business developed from that because of the environment we build here. That will transcend the walls of MiddleOak to our policy owners, our customers, our vendor relationships. It’s not just one dimensional.”
Bill George, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, MiddleOak
