As you may have seen, last month I was appointed the new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) SMT sponsor, which I am delighted about and really excited to support the EDI networks and continue to create an inclusive and diverse culture at GC.
Firstly, I’d like to celebrate and support the great work what’s already been done including:
- Restructuring the EDI Steering Group – creating 7 different EDI Networks to enable us to drive change and prioritise our EDI Action Plan objectives, offering support and an employee voice to different underrepresented groups.
- Creating an annual EDI comms plan to raise awareness around a variety of different topics and have rolled out campaigns engaging with our people and sharing their personal experiences for Black History Month, International Women’s Day and currently working on Mental Health Awareness Week (10-16 May).
- And we now have an EDI Board which includes the EDI Network Leads, HR and comms colleagues and SMT Sponsor to engage with SMT and ensure that important EDI topics, challenges and ideas are being discussed at senior level.
There are many opportunities and challenges that we will be working on going forward including:
- We want to ensure intersectionality is considered across each of the networks and we work collaboratively where possible.
- Continue to analyse EDI stats, latest survey results and the Gender Pay Gap Report to understand the key barriers/blockers to attraction/progression/retention and discuss recommendations for action where areas for improvement have been highlighted.
- We have the New EDI Lead appointed who is due to start in June.
- Continue to make progress with all of our key objectives as outlined in the EDI action plan; the more active volunteers to help contribute ideas and get involved in driving the activities, the easier it will be to achieve these in a timely manner.
With all this is in mind, our priorities for the next 6 months are to:
- Develop and launch a ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, raising awareness and ensuring that our people are aware of the support and policies available to raise any issues.
- Review company policies and ensure they remain effective.
- Review current practices and deliver training to ensure that we attract, progress and retain more diverse talent that is representative of the local communities.
- Work with partners to take on best practice and support across all business units and the customers both individual and businesses that we work with.
- To achieve the All Equals Charter accreditation and launch the Pride in Practice training through our Champions across the Group.
Are you interested in being the lead for the new Religion Network?
As mentioned in our Ramadan email on Monday, we have decided that the Race and Religion Network should be separated into two network groups. Nisa Ahmad, will continue to the lead the Race Network which has been named EmbRace and we are now searching for people to join the Religion Network and someone to be the network lead.
For more information about the EDI networks, network lead role and membership, please read our terms of reference. If you would like more information or would like to join please email edi@growthco.uk
We have also had a change in network lead for the Health and Wellbeing Network, due to a change in working pattern, Shah Rahman will continue to support the network as a member. Thanks to Cheryl Madden and Zelakah Murphy who will now lead this network together and we will hear more about them and the network members during Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) next month.
Choose a charity for MHAW 10-16 May – as part of our MHAW activities we will be running a virtual Group fundraiser and would like you to choose which Mental Health Charity we will raise money for. Vote for your preferred charity before Wednesday 21 April.
Join our coffee mornings and events
The next Parents and Carers coffee morning is on Tuesday 18th May at 11am. Use the link to join or email Naomi Ilagoswa.
We will be running more coffee mornings in the future as networks but also all together. We are also planning some specific sessions to learn more about topics that are not often spoken about for example menopause and imposter syndrome as well as LGTBQ+ thought leadership events and Pride so keep your eyes peeled.
I’m looking forward to working closer with the networks to progress our proposed actions. Thank you for your continued support and stay safe.