With the focus on #Metoo and the gender pay gap, the media spotlight shone on diversity and inclusion in 2018, and it has remained a hot topic into 2019.
In the corporate world, businesses of all sizes are beginning to prioritise developing diversity and inclusion policies and strategies and the 2019 National Inclusive Week, organised by membership organisation Inclusive Employers, has a theme of “everyday inclusion”, asking businesses to look at the practical ways that they can foster inclusion through daily activities.
In a city as diverse as Manchester, inclusion is at heart of many of the city’s most successful companies.
Inclusive Manchester recruiter The Sellick Partnership is expanding its footprint after selling a majority stake to Samsic, one of Europe’s largest soft service providers earlier this year.
The existing management team, led by founder and managing director Jo Sellick, will retain a significant stake in, and continue to lead, the business, with Samsic taking on a strategic advisory role.
“From day one, I aimed to build a business that felt like a family so an inclusive culture has always been crucial at The Sellick Partnership,” says Sellick.
“I wanted to staff to know that my door was always open. It’s really important to us that all employees, from differing walks of life, feel like they have the opportunity to voice their opinion and feel connected to the whole company.
“A lot of people think inclusion is about having a diverse workforce but it’s not just about that. It’s ensuring that your diverse workforce is comfortable, happy and is working cohesively.
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“The key thing for us is the connection between culture, diversity and inclusion. Not enough companies have that link, they see equality, inclusion and diversity as three separate entities, but they need to work together in tandem.”
Sellick says the sale will not affect the company-wide culture of inclusion that is spearheaded by the board and overseen by a team of diversity champions.
“The whole board at The Sellick Partnership is very hands on and we still have that ‘open door’ policy whereby each staff member feels comfortable talking to colleagues who are at board level, even though we are a big company.
“As we grow as a business and staff members are added to our teams, the biggest challenge will be to ensure that we don’t forget where we’ve come from and the reason that we built an inclusive culture.
“Although it will be a challenge to keep this in check as we grow, we won’t lose sight of this. Even as we grow with Samsic,we believe that our original vision will still shine through.”
Another Greater Manchester success story, TransPennine Express, has strived to build a workforce that reflects the communities it serves.
A long-term strategy has been created to encourage more women into the rail industry as the company grows.
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This has involved the creation of a Diversity Council to ensure policies are at the forefront of the business. The council has overseen a networking group for members of BAME communities, helping them to realise their full potential within the railway.
It also offers employee courses such as TPE Disability Awareness, Managing Mental Health, Unconscious Bias and Safeguarding to colleagues, allowing them to understand and challenge their own personal prejudices and those of others.
A spokesperson from TransPennine Express says: “To ensure that our diversity and inclusion is continually evolving the Diversity Council and promoters provide support and guidance to the whole of the business.
“We’re committed to making trains and our offices accessible to all and provide all necessary adjustments and accommodations, where possible,to individuals who may require them. We are also hugely proud of what we have achieved so far, including being named in the Inclusive Top 50 海角视频 Employers 2018/19 list.
“Currently, four out of ten of our executive team members are women, including our Deputy MD, while several of those in management positions are female.”
In the construction industry, Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure has won a string of diversity and inclusion awards for its work in breaking down barriers in what was once perceived as white, male dominated sector.
Dawn Moore, director of human resources at Morgan Sindall explains: “Misconceptions around the construction industry have led to a view of ‘traditional’ cultural and environmental values, an understanding which has contributed to a self-fulfilling prophecy as the sector has historically become unattractive to many underrepresented groups.
“For Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure, inclusion is about removing these barriers and, in particular, traditional mind-sets, to support those who may not have thought a career in construction to be a possible path.
"We have focused our efforts on creating a working environment where everyone feels included and supported, regardless of their background.”
Realising that female and BAME candidates have often historically proven more difficult to attract, the company has created a Returnships Programme.
“This has been designed to allow a flexible and accommodating system for people who are returning to work after a period away of 18 months or more, and was specifically designed to have ‘no barriers’,” says Moore.
“All of these commitments have contributed positively to the hiring process which is part of the Returnship programme.
"With over 200 applicants so far and 70% of applicants coming from BAME backgrounds and 50% from women, a stark improvement on the traditional application profile for the construction industry is evident.”
Moore says disabilities have also been misunderstood for some time – with the perception that physical disabilities often make it too difficult to work in construction.
To tackle this, Morgan Sindall has also achieved Disability Confident Level 2 status and been accredited as a MIND Gold Employer for its range of initiatives, including improving access to sites, supporting those with physical and mental disabilities in the workplace and training over 400 mental health first-aiders.
“We have never set specified targets of improvement but rather focus on developing real, long term culture change and monitoring that we are continually improving – that’s crucial for us, and also for any other business looking to become more inclusive.
“This also means we can respond to changes internally and externally presented by expansion and growth, continually identifying those methods which attract and retain a diverse workforce,” says Moore.
In the face of rapid growth and change, Auto Trader has, in the last four years, consistently increased its recruitment of Women, BAME, LGBT+, Disabled and Neurodivergent colleagues each year.
The most recent employee survey, 88% agreed that people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to succeed while 83% agreed that Auto Trader has teams that are diverse. 81% of colleagues felt respected at Auto Trader, up from 2017, and 83% agreed they could be their true selves at work, up 3% compared to 2017.
Auto Trader has also a dedicated Diversity & Inclusion Working Group, an Inclusive Design Working Group, and Employee Networks for LGBT+ Women, Disability and BAME.
"They also have an established team of Mental Health First-Aiders who are qualified to provide support and advice to colleagues experiencing ill mental health.
It also participates in regular workshops with leading charities such as Action on Hearing Loss and is a staunch supporter of Forever Manchester and Manchester Pride, having been awarded the “Best Corporate Entry” Award three years in a row.
Christos Tsaprounis, Head of People & Culture at Auto Trader, says: “Diversity and Inclusion is a fundamental part of our culture. It is not just a short-term project but a key business priority and it is supported by everybody from our board and executive team to all our employees across the organisation.
"It makes us more creative, competitive and commercially successful as well”
And the business benefits don’t end there “Being a widely recognised inclusive business makes us more attractive to new talent and we have become a destination employer of choice because of it; this year we were included at No.12 of theInclusive Top 50 (IT50) business in the 海角视频.
“Diverse people join us and they find that Auto Trader is a place where they can belong, their ideas are listened to and they have opportunities to thrive and develop.”
The company actively engages with different communities by liaising with organisations like Inclusive Companies, Stonewall, Change 100, Auto30% and Manchester Digital.
“We have recently become Disability Leaders and the first company in the world to be awarded the “Autism Friendly” accreditation by the National Autistic Society, continues Tsaprounis.
“Different stages of a company’s growth will create different challenges of course, but diversity and inclusion should be a constant priority for any business at all times.”
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“As we change, we make sure that we measure our people’s thoughts and feelings towards diversity and inclusion, and keep revising our strategy based on their feedback.
And Tsaprounis highlights the importance of all business working together “We need to collaborate widely and really make a difference across Greater Manchester. D&I is a cause that requires us all to put our competitiveness aside and concentrate on creating solutions together for all our people. Manchester is the place where community spirit thrives and we have a chance to be a leading city on D&I as well.”