Good Practice

(Level 3)

In July 2022, the Growth Company joined the Armed Forces Covenant which enables us to recognise, understand and support those who serve, or have served, and family members of the armed forces to ensure fairness and accessibility to services.

It’s a pledge which ensures no member of the Armed Forces community is unfairly treated, or left disadvantaged in their day-to-day lives.

We received the 'Silver Award' in June 2024 for our unwavering commitment to supporting Defence and the Armed Forces community.

 This award further reinforces our commitment to supporting ex-Armed Forces personnel.

Leader

(Level 3)

Disability Confident is a government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with health conditions. It has replaced the previous Two Ticks Positive About Disabled People scheme.

It is voluntary and has been developed by employers and disabled people’s representatives. The Disability Confident scheme has three levels that have been designed to support organisations: Level 1: Disability Confident Committed, Level 2: Disability Confident Employer, Level 3: Disability Confident Leader

The Growth Company has progressed from Supporters to Members of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, demonstrating our continued employment excellence and how deeply embedded good employment is within our organisation.

To become members of the Charter the Growth Company has gone through extensive assessment to ensure that each characteristic needed is evident within our practices and policies.

The Good Employment Charter is working to improve employment standards across Greater Manchester, which in turn contributes towards a thriving and productive economy.

Investors in People assess how our organisation is performing against our ‘We invest in people’ framework. They advise and support us on how to improve our workplace culture over time, specifically in areas around employee engagement, communication, organisational culture and work practices.

The Gold accreditation is a great achievement and was only achieved with the contribution and dedication of all our colleagues.

The Growth Company has signed the Mental Health at Work Commitment.

We're committed to achieving better mental health outcomes and a genuine longer-term positive impact on our colleague’s wellbeing, joining a growing movement of over 1000 organisations.

Developed with the knowledge and expertise of mental health charities, leading employers and trade organisations, the Mental Health at Work Commitment provides a simple framework for employers who recognise the importance of promoting colleague wellbeing.

This framework sets out the following six clear standards based on what best practice has shown is needed to make a difference and create an environment where colleagues can thrive.

At the Growth Company we’ve worked hard to cement our position as a leading social enterprise and in 2022 we were awarded the ‘Social Enterprise Gold Mark’.

The Social Enterprise Gold Mark is a prestigious accolade, which demonstrates your organisation has been through a rigorous external assessment process to achieve a recognised social enterprise quality standard.

It offers enhanced accreditation to social enterprises which can show best practice across several key business areas that are central to social enterprise excellence: governance, stakeholder engagement, business ethics, financial transparency, social impact.

The Race At Work Charter asks businesses to make a public commitment to improving equality of opportunity in the workplace.

In 2021, the Charter was expanded to include allyship and inclusive supply chain commitments, meaning signatory organisations are now asked to make seven commitments: Appoint an Executive Sponsor for race equality, Capture ethnicity data and publicise progress, Commit at board level to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying, Make equity, diversity and inclusion the responsibility of all leaders and managers, Take action that supports Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse employee career progression, Support race inclusion allies in the workplace, Include Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse-led enterprise owners in supply chains.

We're committed to the Menopause Workplace Pledge (Women of Wellbeing) whereby we're recognising that the menopause can be an issue in the workplace and women (as well as transmen and non-binary) may need additional support. We're talking openly, positively and respectfully about the menopause and actively supporting and informing those affected by the menopause