enei_Awards_Brochure_2015_-_LR

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Celebrating success; inspiring others
Sponsored by:

Overall Winner 2015 – Private Sector
Winner: Sodexo
Sodexo UK and Ireland employs 34,000 people and delivers services
that improve the quality of life to clients at 2,300 locations in the
corporate, healthcare, education, leisure, justice and defence sectors.
They deliver services ranging from catering, cleaning and reception
to asset management, security, laboratory and grounds maintenance
services, enabling clients to focus on their core business.
Personal Fair and Diverse
As a services company, people are Sodexo’s only asset so there is a very
clear business case for ensuring they have an inclusive culture. Sodexo’s
Diversity and Inclusion Strategy:
● Recognises the impact D&I has on employees, clients, customers
and suppliers
● Re-defined roles and responsibilities
● Introduced overall measures of success as well as those specific
to each workstream or segment to enable demonstration of the
impact of activities
● Has six workstreams: Gender, Generations, Disability, Sexual Orientation,
Cultures and Origins & Inclusion
An innovative devolved delivery structure has engaged all employees
at all levels. The structure is:
● 20 member D&I council of senior representatives from across Sodexo
● 6 workstreams each with a Leader and Executive sponsor
● HR Director/D&I council Chair/Head of D&I and D&I Advisor
● Employee networks for the Gender and Generations workstreams
with Sexual Orientation and Cultures & Origins networks launching soon.
Sodexo supports communication campaigns that reinforce their
commitment to embedding the values and cultures of a personal, fair
inclusive and diverse environment. Engaging everyone leads to continuous
improvement of the workplace which rewards/recognises people for their
contribution. Successes include:
● Demographics - better gender balance – in 2012, 24% of senior
management were women; this is now 29%, with 33% women
at board level.
● Engagement – In 2014, engagement among under 30s was up 5%.
In 2014, 78% of employees agreed with the statement, “I feel Sodexo
values diversity in the workplace”, a 12% increase from 2012 and
14% above the UK benchmark
● Business Growth – Between 2012 and 2014 the organisation’s revenues
have grown 15%. Since 2012 Sodexo has won substantial contracts.
Their reputation and ability to deliver a skilled, engaged and diverse
workforce are critical factors behind these successes
● Client retention – Sodexo has had a client retention rate of over 95%
for three years. In 2014, they hosted 12 client D&I interactions which
helped to build stronger client relationships.
Working Chance is the UK’s only specialist recruitment agency for women
with criminal convictions. We place dedicated, talented women into work
with forward-thinking employers from corporate companies to SMEs to local
charities. Prejudice against ex-offenders is the last bastion of employment
discrimination, which is why our partnership with the enei is focused on
breaking down preconceptions and building inclusive hiring practices. We are
delighted to sponsor the Overall Private Sector Award, recognising organisations
which lead by example in promoting workplace diversity. We believe in
empowerment through financial autonomy: in order to lay the foundations for
truly sustainable gender equality in the workplace, the pipeline of future female
leaders must include the most marginalised women in our society.
Sponsored by:
● Building brand awareness, examples include: 3 Award sponsorships,
increased external media coverage (75 pieces Jan 2014 - April 2015)
and recognition by external awards, e.g Times Top 50 Employers for
Women 2014 & 2015
Intergenerational Working
The aim of the Generations workstream is ‘to build the Sodexo Brand to
be recognised as an employer of choice for all generations, where flexibility
is embraced and those with parenting and caring responsibilities feel
supported and are retained’.
The GenERAtions employee network ‘Champions Generational Diversity’.
It was launched in October 2014 via the ‘GenMatch’ board game with
copies distributed to c.200 sites. Players match statements about work
motivation and style, technology and lifestyle to the relevant generations.
The purpose is to help employees appreciate the diverse workforce that
makes up the organisation and the opportunities and challenges this can
present as well as considerations outside of work.
Both the workstream and employee network supports employees in
understanding the personal and professional development needs of
different age groups and how they are affected by each other.
Headline impacts are:
● Broader understanding of the needs of people of different generations,
learning which applies in both professional and personal lives
● Wider engagement with the D&I agenda as the positioning of the
workstream and network enabled people to become involved as
everyone has an ‘age’
● Opportunities to network and learn from other employees and external
experts, assisting career development and organisational understanding
● Increased brand reputation (through external press) and
employee engagement
● Collaborative working with other networks reaching a wider audience
● Development of external partnerships, e.g. the charity Contact the Elderly
● Opportunities to engage with clients
Understanding the different needs of an intergenerational population
enables Sodexo to tailor its services offered to clients. In Sodexo’s most
recent survey engagement scores increased across all the age groups with
the biggest increase in the 20-30 age group by five points, two years ahead
of the 2016 target.
Raj Brainch, Diversity and Inclusion
Advisor, Sodexo Central Functions
Megan Horsburgh, Head of Diversity and
Inclusion, Sodexo Central Functions
Foreword by Denise Keating
- Chief Executive, enei
‘The enei Awards
recognise the
commitment of
organisations in
achieving diverse and
inclusive workplaces
and celebrates the
teams and individuals
who are really making
a difference.
These leading
organisations are proud
to share their achievements and the best practices
needed to provide insight for other organisations
to develop unique responses to the challenges in
their workplaces. It is clear from the award entries
that the best organisations recognise both the
benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce and
that continually raising the bar is the best way to
compete in a Global and National marketplace.’
Award Categories
● Overall Winner 2015 – Private Sector
● Overall Winner 2015 – Public Sector
● Small Employer of the Year 2015 (less than 1000 employees)
● Top Employer for e-quality
● Representative Workforce Award
● Employee Engagement Award
● Excellence in Training Award
● Tapping into Talent Award
● Inclusive Procurement Award
● Team of the Year Award
● Employee Network Group of the Year
● Equality & Inclusion Champion of the Year
● Wellbeing at Work Award
● Intergenerational Workforce Award
● Flexible/Agile Working Award
● Working Families Award
● Inclusive Culture Award
● Inclusive Recruitment Award
● Personal, Fair & Diverse Award
● Global Diversity Award
● Inclusive Communications Award
● Community Impact Award
Judges
The Judging Panel
● Mario Ambrosi, Head of Communications and Public
Affairs, Anchor
● Ben Black, Director, My Family Care
● Farrah Qureshi, CEO, Global Diversity Practice
● Paul Deemer, Head of Equality, Diversity and Human Rights,
NHS Employers
● Jocelyn Hillman, Founder and CEO, Working Chance
Judges followed a rigorous process and were asked to look
specifically for entries that showed:
● Clear response to specific challenge
● Definitive and measurable outcomes
● Evidence of significant impact
● An innovative approach
● A commitment to good practice above and beyond
legal compliance
● Initiatives or policies that inspire other employers

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Small Employer of the Year 2015
Winner: North East Lincolnshire
Clinical Commissioning Group
North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG),
established April 2013 under the Health & Social Care Act, employs 70
people. It is responsible for planning and purchasing health and social care
services on behalf of the 165,000 residents of North East Lincolnshire
including services provided by the local Hospital Trust, community based
health care services eg District Nursing, and adult social care services eg
Domiciliary care.
Flexible/Agile Working
The CCG recognised the need to develop modern working practices that
enabled employees to maximise their performance whilst maintaining
a good work/life balance and implemented a system of Agile Working
‘Flexible Plus’. Employees can work flexibly from any location including
the CCG HQ or other NHS buildings such as primary care centres,
in the community, home working or a combination of all of these.
An open plan “hot desk” environment in HQ, the norm for all employees,
regardless of their grade of employment, enables greater networking
between employees. Technology supports Agile Working, including
the use of smart phones and laptops; with access to Webex and other
teleconferencing facilities. The benefits of Agile Working include:
● For employees – motivation, trust leading to improved morale,
accountability, flexibility, improved time management and,
communication skills, reduced travel time
● For teams – networking, team working and increased productivity
● For the environment – reduced travel and paper used, less office
space needed
● For the organisation – reduced absence rates which, at 1.53% over the
20 months from April 2013, have improved by more than 1.3% from
2012-13 and are around 2.5% lower than the NHS average.
North East Lincolnshire CCG sees Agile Working as an important tool in
delivering contemporary and effective services; delivering efficiencies and
increased productivity, embracing technology, streamlining accommodation
and offering benefits to employees in terms of modern working practices.
At Pilat we aim to transform individual and organisational performance
by leveraging the power of contemporary technology, rigorous
processes and quality data. An example of this is our work in the Job
Evaluation field where achieving equality is key. Ensuring equality in the
workplace is a responsibility shared by all organisations, and Pilat is not
only proud to be supporting this particular enei award, but also to be
supporting the event for the second year.
Sponsored by:
The Executive Office Support Team -
(Top left) Sue Senior, Karen Stamp, Sue Major, Claire Jones,
Caroline Reed, Frances Perkins, Kaye Fox, (Bottom left) Louise
Nicholls, Travis Browning, Jeanette Harris, Carrie Cranston
(Clockwise from top left): Rachel Allan, Contract Officer; Brett
Brown, Contract Manager; Julia Wong, Quality Programme
Officer; Lisa Hilder, Assistant Director for Strategic Planning
Inclusive Procurement
The CCG has established an inclusive and holistic procurement practice
that encourages, shares and embeds Equality and Diversity in the health
and social care services provided to its residents. To embed inclusivity in
commissioning these services, the CCG has:
● Delivered Equality & Diversity Training for employees with additional
training and support for the contract and procurement team.
● Determined that the demographics of the geographic area meant that
deprivation should be incorporated into local Equality & Diversity practices,
alongside the nine Protected Characteristics in The Equality Act 2010.
● Overhauled the procurement processes around both paper-based and
face-to-face evaluations of tenders for health and social care services,
involving community members representing the demographics of
service users in the interviewing and evaluation processes.
● Doubled the weighting given to positive Equality & Diversity practices
when selecting providers of health and social care services – this now
makes up 30% of the overall assessment.
● Built in contract monitoring processes to ensure continued quality
of service delivery.
Service providers are contractually committed to provide evidence of their
continual review, development and implementation of their Equality &
Diversity approach both within their own organisations and for the North
East Lincolnshire residents they are serving.
The 13 Standards in the Quality Framework measures the extent to which
the Protected Characteristics have been met and the CCG results were;
93% of Care Homes treated service users with respect, dignity, courtesy
and politeness and 90% provided well balanced, nutritious and varied
meals for individuals.
Overall Winner 2015 – Public Sector
Winner: Cafcass
Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) formed
in 2001, is a non-departmental public body that safeguards and promotes
the welfare of children; gives advice to Family Courts; makes provision for
children to be represented and provides information, advice and support
to children and their families. It is the largest employer of social workers in
England with c.1,800 staff and 43 offices.
Cafcass helps c.140,000 children and young people who are going through
Public Law care or adoption proceedings, or whose parents have separated
and are unable to agree about future arrangements for their children in
Private Law matters. Cafcass is the voice of children in the family courts and
helps to ensure that children’s welfare is put first during proceedings.
In 2010, Cafcass was declared ‘not fit for purpose’ by the Public Accounts
Committee; high sickness rates; low compliance from staff and ineffective
use of technology was crippling the organisation. Four years later, following
its first national inspection by Ofsted, Cafcass was assessed as ‘Good’ with
‘Outstanding’ national leadership.
Equality and Diversity (E&D) was rated as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted
(2009). Practitioners need a full understanding of diversity issues that
may be impacting on any child, to enable them to make informed
recommendations to the judge and ensure the best possible outcome.
Excellence in Training
The E&D Strategy focuses on improving frontline social workers’
understanding and reporting of relevant E&D considerations they may
encounter when working with vulnerable children and families. The Strategy
is supported by learning and development, using a national network of
Diversity Ambassadors who ensure consistent practice improvement across
the organisation. Training programmes included:
● Dyslexia Awareness Training delivered with Dyslexia Action.
● An Eastern European Families Conference with local judiciary
stakeholders.
● Local sessions, led by Diversity Ambassadors, on topics such as:
‘Challenging Homophobia’, ‘Understanding Autism’ and ‘Surrogacy
and Human Embryology’.
● An online learning portal and calendar to ensure practitioners are aware
of upcoming dates of religious, secular or spiritual significance to support
case planning and cultural sensitivity.
Cafcass now have higher assurance that regardless of a child’s individual
life experiences, the practitioner involved with their case will integrate the
relevant E&D considerations into their working practices and reflect these
in the advice and recommendations provided to the family courts.
‘Inspectors saw examples of very effective direct work with young
people…issues around contact and cultural issues arising from the
child’s ethnicity were sensitively but appropriately explored.’
Ofsted National Inspection 2014
Now more than ever, the NHS need to find ways of recognising and
rewarding policies and practices that create inclusive organisational
cultures. The service is entering a period of huge challenge as managers
and staff are asked to provide even better services with diminishing
resources. It is in times like this that we need leaders and champions
to stand up and be counted. These awards are a fantastic opportunity
for the NHS to not only showcase what it is doing - but also for us to
acknowledge, recognise and learn from what other organisations in the
private, voluntary and public sectors are doing in the diversity and inclusion
field. We are proud to carry on our long standing relationship with enei and
to spread the message and ethos of an equal, diverse and inclusive health
service through these awards.
Supported by:
Wellbeing at Work
Employee wellbeing focuses on equipping staff to manage their own health
and wellbeing which supports practice improvement by directing resources
to frontline social work. This includes:
● A new health and wellbeing plan, giving staff access to a range
of treatments
● Health and Wellbeing Specialists commissioned to provide seminars
on achieving wellbeing and high energy through positive lifestyle habits
● Resilience training to help staff manage the pressures of the emotionally
demanding work they perform every day. From 2012 to 2014, over 450
staff have benefitted from training
The monitoring, at individual, team or service area level allows bespoke
interventions to take place. The results are that Cafcass now has a healthier
workforce who are engaged in health and wellbeing:
● Sickness rates have reduced by 55% from 16.2 days (2009/10) to
7.3 days per person per year in 2013/14, reducing sickness costs from
£3.2million to £1.8million
● Stress-related sickness absence among social workers has fallen 58.5%
from 2009/10 to 2013/14, adding 4,540 working days to Cafcass
● 81% of staff agree their health and wellbeing is taken into consideration
by the organisation (Independent Ofsted Staff Survey 2014)
Cafcass continually innovates and develops its approach to Employee
Wellbeing, for the benefit of the business, its staff, and service users, who
can now be assured of a resilient, energised workforce working towards the
best possible outcomes for children and families in each individual case.
In 2014 Cafcass won ‘Best Healthcare and Wellbeing Benefits’ at the
Employee Benefits Awards, and is shortlisted for ‘Best Healthcare Strategy’
at the Very Important Benefit Awards (May 2015).

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Representative Workforce Award 2015
Equal Approach is proud to do things differently, and will make
diversity & inclusion a commercially successful reality for our
candidates and clients. We are proud to have sponsored the
Representative Workforce award again this year, in order to
recognise those organisations that are successful in reflecting
the customers and communities they serve.
Winner: Land registry
Land Registry, a self-financing government department created in 1862,
registers the ownership of land and property (more than 23 million titles)
in England and Wales and employs c.4,400 people. Their priorities for
2014/15 is to be recognised as a world leader in the digital delivery of
land registration services and in the management and re-use of land and
property data.
Land Registry’s Declaration Campaign aims to increase response rates
of the ethnic background of at least 98% and the religion or belief and
sexual orientation of at least 80% of its workforce by December 2015.
This is a strategic equality objective action designed to ensure the workforce
profile, talent management, discipline, grievance and managing attendance
processes can be audited across all diversity strands.
The drivers for collecting workforce data included building reputation,
improving productivity, recruiting and retaining the best people, creating an
inclusive workplace, providing specific adjustments/training or interventions,
identifying inequalities and avoiding risk.
Diversity monitoring started in 2009. However, by 2012, only 21% of the
workforce had declared their status which compared to 99% of employees
recording their disability status and 95% recording their ethnicity.
To enable the business to reach the targets, the Declaration Campaign was
launched (May 2012). The three year campaign has seen a 38% increase
of declaration in these two categories to 59%.
To increase declaration rates actions included:
● e-mails from the HR Director encouraging employees to voluntarily
update their personal data
● A newsletter, news articles and targeted emails to staff who had
not declared
● local diversity champions used poster campaigns and FAQs on the intranet
● In 2015, a video emphasised confidentiality and the business benefits
of obtaining workforce data
The yearly Equality Information Report provides workforce profile information
which assists diversity target monitoring in place for both SCS and feeder
grades for women, minority ethnic and employees with disabilities.
Data collected is used anonymously to identify areas where there may
be a disproportionate impact on certain groups and highlight differences
between groups in terms of satisfaction, engagement and progression
plus identify, tackle and prevent issues that would otherwise undermine
employee engagement and productivity.
For example, a perceived lack of career progression for under represented
employees leading to the ‘Pathways Career Development Programme’ and
line managers were trained in unconscious bias to enable them to rate
individual performance fairly.
The success of the Campaign is seen as best practice in central Civil
Service guidance.
Highly Commended: Lambeth Council
Lambeth Council employs 2,500 people and provides public services to one
of London’s most diverse boroughs. The Council’s workforce is increasingly
representative of its communities with c. 60% women, c.60% from an
ethnic minority background and 7% have a disability. The Staff Survey
indicates that 7 % are Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual, 31% are aged under 40
(average age 45) and 51% practice a religion/ belief.
To ensure this diverse culture continues to thrive by growing in-house talent
and supporting those from diverse backgrounds to progress, Lambeth
Council has focused on the following strategic equality approaches:
● Fair Recruitment Practices - Only resorting to external recruitment
once all internal recruitment procedures have been unsuccessful.
● Equality and Diversity Training - Providing e-learning and regular face
to face training to promote understanding and the benefits of a diverse
workforce. All councillors participate in this compulsory training.
● Organisational Restructures – the approach, working closely with the
unions, helps to protect staff diversity.
● Engaging Staff with Disabilities - Supporting and employing people
at all levels and addressing negative perceptions of this group highlighted
in the staff survey.
● Retention of Younger Staff – Recruiting and retaining those under 35
and helping them to progress further through encouraging positive
relationships with senior management.
● Supporting Staff Network Groups - Such as the young professionals
network led by young employees.
● Developing Lower Graded Staff - who are more likely to be female or
from an ethnic minority background.
The staff survey shows that, despite budget reductions, staff who are
advocates for the council as an employer is higher than in 2011 and 73%
agree that the council is an equal opportunities employer, the recruitment
process is fair (57%) and 74% believe equality and diversity is part of
everyday life.
Sponsored by:
Sue Sheehan, Senior Policy, equality and performance officer, Steve Sherman,
Assistant Director of Organisational Development and HR, and Rebecca Eligon,
Head of Policy, Partnerships and Equalities
Land Registry’s Diversity Working Group
One-stop shop for
diversity benchmarking
What is e-quality?
e-quality is a pioneering tool designed by the Employers Network
for Equality & Inclusion (enei) to benchmark organisational
performance in equality and diversity. It covers the nine protected
groups defined in the Equality Act 2010 – as well as other groups
such as carers and ex-offenders – and assesses performance in
relation to five key areas of diversity.
● Organisational commitment and leadership
● Knowing your workforce
● Integrating equality, diversity and inclusion
● External relations and suppliers
● Organisational improvements
e-quality is easy to use:
● It is completed online using a simple secure website
● Questions can be forwarded to others in your organisation
to complete
● It can be completed in 2-3 hours and can be done in stages,
saving responses after each session
● After you have completed the questionnaire, your data is saved,
so you will only have to make updates in subsequent years
e-quality reports your results on each key area, together with
the minimum, maximum and average scores achieved by
participating organisations. An analysis of answers creates a
detailed report which can inform your diversity and inclusion
action plans. Participants receive an Executive Summary
template to enable easy presentation of the results to
business leaders. They also receive a certificate confirming
participation and the ranking achieved.
For more information please contact
Debbie Rotchell (07702 649082)
or Alan Beazley (020 7922 7786)
South East Coast Ambulance Service
NHS Foundation Trust
Santander UK plc
General Medical Council
RWE npower
DWP
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
IBM
Met Office
Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust
HM Revenue and Customs
Zurich Insurance plc
Nationwide
The Nursery and Midwifery Council
iCrossing

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Excellence in Training Award 2015
Winner: Cafcass
Formed in 2001, Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support
Service) is a non-departmental public body that safeguards and promotes
children to be represented and provides information, advice and support
to children and their families. It is the largest single employer of social
workers in England with c.1,800 staff and 43 offices.
Private Law matters. Cafcass is the voice of children in the family courts and
helps to ensure that children’s welfare is put first during proceedings.
Committee; high sickness rates, low compliance from staff and ineffective
its first national inspection by Ofsted, Cafcass was assessed as ‘Good’ with
‘Outstanding’ national leadership.
Equality and Diversity (E&D) was rated as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted (2009).
Practitioners need a full understanding of diversity issues that may be
impacting on any child, so they can make an informed recommendation
to the judge and ensure the best possible outcome.
The E&D Strategy focuses on improving frontline social workers’
understanding and reporting of relevant E&D considerations they may
encounter when working with vulnerable children and families. This is
supported by learning and development, using a national network of
Diversity Ambassadors across the country. Training programmes included:
● Dyslexia Awareness Training delivered with Dyslexia Action.
● An Eastern European Families Conference with local
judiciary stakeholders.
● Local sessions, led by Diversity Ambassadors, on topics such as:
‘Challenging Homophobia’, ‘Understanding Autism’ and ‘Surrogacy
and Human Embryology’.
● An online learning portal and calendar to ensure practitioners are
mindful of upcoming dates of religious, secular or spiritual significance
to support good case planning and cultural sensitivity.
Learning is disseminated nationally, ensuring wider and consistent practice
improvement across the organisation in relation to E&D issues within cases.
Cafcass now have higher assurance that regardless of a child’s individual
life experiences, the practitioner involved with their case will integrate the
relevant E&D considerations into their working practices and reflect these
in the advice and recommendations provided to the family courts.
‘Inspectors saw examples of very effective direct work with young
people…issues around contact and cultural issues arising from
the child’s ethnicity were sensitively but appropriately explored.’
Ofsted National Inspection 2014
Highly Commended: Northumbria
Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust employs 9,000+
people and provides acute and community health services and adult social
services to a population of over half a million people in the North East
of England. It also delivers community services including nursing, health
visiting, rehabilitation, public and sexual health services and adult social care
including support for caregivers.
People over 65 accounts for 70% of hospital bed days, they tend to be
in hospital longer, be transferred to multiple wards and readmitted after
a short period of time. Providing high quality care for the elderly (in a
dignified manner) is at the core of the Trust. The “Learning about the
person” programme, established July 2013, helps employees gain skills to
recognise and respond to the needs of individuals living with dementia and/
or delirium and their families.
There is a strong training focus on the importance of teamwork in the
“Learning about the person” programme. Teams are empowered to make
a difference by developing shared objectives, increasing knowledge,
challenging attitudes, discussing particular areas of concern (in a confidential
manner) and providing potential solutions.
As part of their Shared Purpose programme, the organisation delivered this
training to 20 ward teams since July 2013.
Outcomes include:
● A significant shift in understanding of and attitudes towards people
with dementia and their families
● Increased understanding and confidence in delivering person
centred care
● Empowered staff who are inspired to take action and make
improvements to their ward environments and practise
● Staff who feel more confident in their own skills and challenging
the actions of others
Despite challenging economic times, investment in effective learning and
development continues to thrive, delivering excellent results for organisations
and their people. Innovative techniques - including live delivery alongside
new technologies - are forging new ways to engage and inspire our people.
As a pioneer of bespoke experiential development programmes, Steps is
proud to be supporting the enei award for ‘Excellence in Training’. We aim
to ‘Inspire people to act differently’ and we are delighted to champion this
cause – supporting and celebrating the diversity, creativity and positive
impact of people development.
Sponsored by:
Northumbria Healthcare Training Team
Employee Engagement Award 2015
Winner: Environment Agency
The Environment Agency employs c.10,280 people who work to create
better places for people and wildlife, and support sustainable development.
They are responsible for a range of environmental, regulatory, operational
and advisory roles working with communities, business, industry, local
government and policy makers across England and Wales. Due to
the nature of the work, the Agency’s workforce has traditionally been
male dominated, especially at senior levels.
The Environment Agency’s Corporate Plan states that they ‘will build a
workforce that reflects the communities we serve and we will know we
are succeeding when we have a diverse workforce’ and this is reinforced
by the corporate 5 ‘how we do things’ issued to all staff. This led to the
Agency changing their approach to employee engagement on diversity and
inclusion by involving audiences that wouldn’t usually get involved. In 2007
there was 23% women in senior roles and they are proud to report that this
is now 36% (2015).
Engaging through the Diversity Confidence Programme
The Programme discusses diversity bi-monthly and encourages everyone
to get involved not just those in networks. Over 1500+ join local events,
100-500 people join live meetings, membership of networks increase and
2,500+ read the intranet news. It provides tools to support and engage
staff and increase the diversity capability of managers and team leaders.
Initiatives include Web Conferences, Field Services Web Conferences,
Local events in 92 offices across England and Team Leader and Executive
Manager communication packs.
Engaging through Employee Networks
The voluntary networks are vital to getting more people involved, to raise
issues, deliver and attend events. They encourage members to engage.
● c.100 people attended the LGBT, Women’s Network and BAME network
for a World Aids Day web conference.
● Feedback from the Women’s Network (2010 with 1,750 members)
annual survey found that:
● 76% felt that the Women’s Network encouraged them to
develop their career
● 77% had learned new skills to help their current role
● 74% had taken more control of their development and had career
discussions with their line manager
● The LGBT Network (2005) has risen from 113th in the Stonewall
Workplace Equality Index to 11th in 201
● There are now Networks for BAME, Mental Health, Visual Impairment
and, Hearing Loss.
Engaging people through Positive Action
This Programme includes a career and personal skills course (3 days) for
women, LGBT, disabled and BAME colleagues. The Agency partakes in
external initiatives eg Coaching Squared, 30% Club Mentoring Programme
and Radius Mentoring Circles.
Engaging through Senior Champions
Each Protected Characteristic is assigned a Senior Champion who all visibly
support the networks and have annual objectives.
Highly Commended: Brent Council
Brent Council employs 2,300 people and provides public services
(including Adult Social Care, Environmental Services, Education, Community
Safety and Regeneration/Growth) to c.312,000 residents in the UK’s most
culturally diverse borough. The council’s Vision is to be a place that creates
opportunities for all who lieve and work in the borough and to changes their
lives for the better. Its workforce reflects its population with 65% women –
an even gender balance at the highest levels of the organisation and
62% from a Black and Ethnic Minority (BAME) background and 12%
have declared a disability.
The Break Barriers: Open Doors programme introduced in 2014 aims to
increase staff awareness and engagement in diversity and equality issues
and includes:
Facilitating Events - encompassing Black History Month, International Day
for Disabled People, LGBT History Month and International Women’s Day.
The programme also includes internal and external focus groups, surveys
and communications with the goal of making Brent an inclusive and diverse
place to live and work.
Chief Executive Blog - Focusing on how to improve diversity in the
workplace as well as highlighting the experiences of Brent residents
including mental health and domestic violence.
Equality Focus Groups - Providing a platform for employees to share their
views and experiences in relation to equality and inclusion in Brent which
include specific sessions for BAME and LGBT staff as well as sessions for
line managers in order to encourage fair recruitment practices.
The Break Barriers; Open Doors programme boosts morale and provides
a mechanism for the council to maintain a diverse staff profile by allowing
employees to actively engage and make their voice heard.
Employee networks, Executive Diversity Champions, HR and the Diversity Confidence
Programme colleagues.
(From left to right): Sue Matthews, Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Development
Manager. Mala Maru, Project Officer, Community Safety. Subhaluxmi Mukherji,
Advance. Sandy Youngson, Health Improvement Specialist. Sarah Kaiser, Head
of Equality. Kathryn Bryans, Training Coordinator.

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Inclusive Procurement Award 2015
Winner: Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global automotive industry leader based in
Dearborn, Michigan manufactures or distributes automobiles across six
continents. With about 187,000 employees and 62 plants worldwide and
c.10,000 UK employees, the company’s automotive brands include Ford
and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor
Credit Company
Through the ONE Ford plan, Ford is transforming its business and aligning
the organisation into an integrated global team to accelerate the creation
of vehicles customers really want, reduce costs, introduce exciting new
technology, enhance quality and improve efficiency by eliminating duplicate
engineering and purchasing efforts. The ONE Ford approach is driven by
employees and underpinned by its desire to create a diverse and inclusive
environment for the people who work for Ford; the suppliers who work with
Ford and the communities that surround it.
Supplier Diversity is a key part of its wider Supplier Strategy. In the US, the
Company in alignment with US legislation has a long standing commitment
to sourcing from women and minority only suppliers. However, in Europe,
such sourcing actions could be in direct conflict with European or National
Laws. The European Purchasing function has therefore sought to engage
suppliers in other ways to promote our global diversity values.
As part of its diversity strategy, Ford of Europe identified an opportunity to
establish a stronger relationship with its key suppliers. This includes:
● Sharing information regarding Ford’s Diversity and Inclusion
Commitment and supporting policies
● Suppliers invited to attend Diversity Workshops to discuss key topics
and share best practice across the industry
● Offering suppliers the opportunity to complete a Diversity Survey and
receive feedback / best practice recommendations in relation to their
results. The survey is split across 4 sections: Diversity Policy, Training,
Management Commitment and Company Activity and for each section
the suppliers are required to provide supporting evidence. Points are
then awarded by Ford Assessors on a scale 0 to 5 which encourages
them to engage in further action and improvement.
● Workshops and surveys which have allowed both Ford and its suppliers
to track their positive progress in diversity and inclusion.
As well as supporting European suppliers, Ford recognised the need to
help local start-up businesses. Working with Essex County Council, the
Company encourages experienced employees working in Purchasing
and Finance to become mentors; providing advice and guidance to
new business entrepreneurs.
This year Ford intends to introduce a Diversity Supplier Award which
gives recognition to suppliers who have delivered leading best practice.
Highly Commended:
North East Lincolnshire Clinical
Commissioning Group
North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), established
April 2013 under the Health & Social Care Act, employs 70 people. It is
responsible for planning and purchasing health and social care services
on behalf of the 165,000 residents of North East Lincolnshire including
services provided by the local Hospital Trust, community based health
care services eg District Nursing, and adult social care services
eg domiciliary care.
The CCG has established an inclusive and holistic procurement practice
that encourages, shares and embeds Equality and Diversity in the health
and social care services provided to its residents.
To embed inclusivity in commissioning these services, the CCG has:
● Delivered Equality & Diversity Training for employees with additional
training and support for the contract and procurement team.
● Determined that the demographics of the geographic area meant
that deprivation should be incorporated into local Equality & Diversity
practices, alongside the nine Protected Characteristics in The Equality
Act 2010.
● Overhauled the procurement processes around both paper-based
and face-to-face evaluations of tenders for health and social care
services, involving community members representing the demographics
of service users in the interviewing and evaluation processes.
● Doubled the weighting given to positive Equality & Diversity practices
when selecting providers of health and social care services – this now
makes up 30% of the overall assessment.
● Built in contract monitoring process to ensure continued quality
of service delivery.
The 13 Standards in the Quality Framework measures the extend to which
the Protected Characteristics have been met and the CCG results were;
93% of Care Homes treated service users with respect, dignity, courtesy
and politeness and 90% provided well balanced, nutritious and varied
meals for individuals.
Any procurement activity, be it at a global, national, regional or local level,
initiates an economic reaction. It reignites entrepreneurial spirit, brings
innovation, sustains and creates jobs and helps the growth of local and
national economy.
However, the economic benefits of any procurement activity can only
be felt by all if the sourcing processes are inclusive. As the UK’s leading
organisation promoting Supplier Diversity, MSDUK is proud to be
supporting this year’s enei Inclusive Procurement Award.
Sponsored by:
(Clockwise from top left):
Rachel Allan, Contract Officer;
Brett Brown, Contract Manager;
Julia Wong, Quality Programme
Officer; Lisa Hilder, Assistant
Director for Strategic Planning
Diversity Team
Members:
Andrew Bruell,
Joerg Peterssen,
Helen Wilson,
Selma Begic,
Beate Despineux,
Beda Dreber,
John Gasgarth
Tapping into Talent Award 2015
Winner: HM Revenue & Customs
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), employing c.64,000 people, are the
UK’s tax administration who makes sure that money is available to fund
the UK’s public services and helps families and individuals with targeted
financial support.
HMRC’s customers are from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds
and they recognise the need for the organisation to reflect its customer
base. embrace is HMRC’s positive action 9 month Career Management
Programme for Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff. It has
grown from 20 participants (2013) to 72 across HMRC (2014) to 96 in
2015. embrace aims to help participants attain a level playing field with
colleagues in order to address underrepresentation in HMRC’s first two line
manager grades. The Programme challenge was to re-engage BAME staff
who believed they were treated unfairly regarding career development and
equality of opportunity. Through senior leadership, Race Network, TUS and
BAME staff engagement, buy-in to the embrace concept of being ’positive
about potential’– our strap line, has been obtained. It is backed by HMRC
leaders including Lin Homer, Chief Executive. Participants set out on their
embrace journey with their line-managers and senior leader mentors as
partners and sponsors in their development which leads to their growth
as coaches, motivators and inclusive leaders.
embrace uses workshops, mentors, career sessions, BAME role models,
shadowing and secondment opportunities. The Programme provides
business sponsored projects where participants deliver recommendations.
For 2015 over 300 senior leaders volunteered to be mentors. So far, 64 of
92 participants (70%) have been promoted or moved sideways to improve
their career with 52 of these being promotions. As a result, embrace is now
been mainstreamed as part of HMRC’s overall talent offering.
embrace innovates by taking line-managers along as part of their
participants’ journey, giving them coaching, feedback, unconscious bias and
cultural awareness training. A number of line-managers promoted in the
last two years cited embrace as the reason. Participants are exposed to
many inspirational and motivational figures. Innovation includes intensive
assessment centre events for applicants who don’t make it past the
interview stage onto the Programme.
In 2014 embrace won the Race for Opportunity Talent Award which has
inspired other organisations to want to learn more such as The Foreign
and Commonwealth Office, Department for Work and Pensions, BP and
Deloitte. embrace featured in the Times Newspaper supplement on
Diversity at Work (April) with a headline ‘HMRC blazes a career trail
for its non-white staff’.
Highly Commended: The Civil Service
The Civil Service employs c.400,000 people who help to develop and
deliver its policies in the most effective and efficient manner. They work in
three types of organisation - departments, agencies and non-departmental
government bodies covering a wide range of areas touching on everyone’s
day-to-day lives, such as education, health and policing.
Inclusion matters because the Civil Service needs to attract the best people,
understand its customers and deliver high quality services. The aim is
to offer every talented and committed and hard-working employee the
opportunity to rise to the top, whatever their background or whoever they
are. The ‘Talent Action Plan: Removing the Barriers to Success’ (refreshed
in March 2015) focuses on promoting an inclusive workforce that
encourages individuals from all backgrounds to apply and work for
the Civil Service. The organisation runs two programmes:
1. The Whitehall Internship Programme aims to
● Tackle Employment Barriers - attracting talented individuals
from under-privileged backgrounds.
● Promote Social Mobility
● Raise Career Aspirations and increase awareness of the Civil
Service as an employer of choice
● Provide skills and experience - through developing practical skills
that employers seek.
● Encourage Diversity - increase Civil Service diversity by attracting
applicants from under-represented groups.
2. The Positive Action Pathway – ‘Levelling the Playing Field’
helps women, minority ethnic, disabled and LGB&T colleagues build their
skill and confidence to progress. It focuses on groups who have lower
representation at the senior level of the organisation.
The Positive Action Pathway Programme has resulted in an impressive
25% successful promotion rate. Plans are in place to quadruple the
number of available places to over 1000 participants during 2015/16.
At TXM Recruit we pride ourselves on our professionalism, our hard work
and our commitment to always go The Xtra Mile, not only for our clients
and candidates, but also in the development of our own staff. We admire
the fantastic work that enei is doing and are proud to show our support
by sponsoring the 2015 Tapping into Talent Award.
The embrace team
From left to right: Emma Dunnett – Disability Lead, Ray Dempsey – Team Leader,
Chris Hack – Race and Religion & Belief Lead, Ellie Binks – Gender and Flexible
Working Lead, Karen Riedl – PA to Janet Hill, Janet Hill – Programme Director,
Paul Carswell – LGB&T Lead Absent: Keith Knight – Age Lead, D&I Learning
Products Lead
Sponsored by:

12 13
Employee Network Group of
the Year 2015
Winner: CH2M
CH2M is a global engineering company which employs 25.000 people
operating in over 50 countries who provide consulting, design, construction
and operations services for both public and private sector clients.
The Junior and Mid-Level Professional UK Network (JuMP), a subset of the
global JuMP network created in 2012 to attract, develop and retain the best
talent in the industry is run by volunteers and supports staff who attended
focus group sessions based on career development. There are 268 members
across 27 offices and client locations. At the 2015 launch in January, over 80%
of JuMP UK’s members were returning members from the previous year.
JuMP UK’s vision is to be the workplace of choice for junior and mid-level
professionals and its Mission is:
● to foster a culture that invests in developing the future leaders
of the business.
● to maximise the potential of junior and mid-level staff.
● to better understand and bridge cross business group and project gaps.
● to enhance morale and retention.
JuMP is run by its members and includes an executive sponsor and senior
advisors from across the business who gives junior staff the power and
opportunity to shape and progress their careers.
Benefits
● For Employees - Being a member of JuMP UK provides access to
an integrated resource for professional development with opportunities
for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) learning events and
professional qualifications guidance plus access to a network of
mentoring contacts, networking opportunities and social events. Also,
the support of and exposure to the senior management team is a
unique feature of the network.
● For the Employer - The Network provides a cost-efficient way of training
and developing staff, through utilising the knowledge and skills of the
company’s workforce and providing opportunities to share best practice
for both technical areas and soft skills such as leadership and
team management.
● For the Industry - The knowledge and skills sharing are helping to
address skills shortage by up-skilling employees. Creating confident
networkers benefits the industry as a whole as best practice is
disseminated through an employee’s professional contacts. Supporting
future leaders early in their careers will impact the industry as these
individuals make significant contributions to the field.
By investing in and committing to the development of staff, CH2M have
increased retention rates through staff morale and rotation throughout
business groups, and therefore, reduced recruitment costs. In return,
JuMP have been able to produce the ‘next generation’ of industry
leaders who share ideas and experiences leading to innovative projects
that are fit for the future.
Joint Highly Commended: DWF LLP
DWF is a top 20 business law firm with over 2,400 people working across
12 UK & Ireland locations. The firm serves a national client base, in addition
to having an extensive international reach and works across a wide range of
sector groups, including central & local government, energy and industrials,
financial services, retail, food & hospitality. Their mission is to change
client’s views of what astute legal advice can do for their business and
ensure employees recognise and benefit from DWF doing things differently.
In 2012, the DWF LGBT Networking Group started on the Yammer platform
inviting like-minded colleagues to share ideas, news items and feedback on
policies etc. The Network was rebranded (March 2014), it has 60 members
and has helped DWF climb 97 places in the 2015 Stonewall Workplace
Equality Index. The firm was also named a top ten employer in Yorkshire.
The launch of LGBT Confidential, a safe and secure helpline that offers DWF
employees support and confidence to come out at work has helped grow
the network and been a catalyst for raising awareness and understanding
of what it takes to become a business that nurtures and values an inclusive
workplace culture.
Strategic partnering with organisations, networks, clients and community
groups has significantly raised the profile of the network internally and
externally. This has helped secure the support of straight allies within
the business, generate income for the firm and ultimately enhance the
employment experience of its people by enabling them to be more
confident and perform better.
Joint Highly Commended:
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency employs c.10,280 people who work to create
better places for people and wildlife, and support sustainable development.
They are responsible for a range of environmental, regulatory, operational
and advisory roles working with communities, business, industry, local
government and policy makers across England and Wales. Due to
the nature of the work, the Agency’s workforce has traditionally been
male dominated, especially at senior levels.
The Women’s Network, established in 2010, enables, equips and
encourages women to reach their full potential in the workplace. There are
1,700 members (women) and friends (men) which is 35% of the female
workforce. They regularly refresh the ways they engage people in gender
equality. Initiatives include:
● The Power of Volunteers - 76 volunteers who host free lunchtime
events in local offices.
● Engaging men in gender equality - The network hosted
a ‘He For She’ web conference for c.100 attendees and launched
a guide on ‘five ways to support women in the workplace’.
● Annual Campaigns – including the Birthday celebration and
International Women’s Day.
● Engaging Remote Workers – over 300 people joined the
‘Mindfulness’ web conference.
Achievements
The organisation’s gender balance is now far more equal (40.2% female
and 59.8% male). In 2007 the percentage of women in senior roles
was 23% but this has now risen to 36% in 2015.
JuMP UK Group
Paul Maddock, Chair of
OutFront, LGBT network
Team of the Year Award 2015
Winner: Crown Office and
Procurator Fiscal Service
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) employ 1,723
people in 40 offices. It is Scotland’s sole Prosecution Service responsible
for the prosecution of crime across Scotland, the investigation of deaths that
require further explanation and investigating allegations of criminal conduct
against police officers.
As the sole prosecutor of crime in Scotland it is imperative that COPFS
is representative of the people it serves and empathetic towards the
diverse needs of all protected groups within Scotland. As a public service
organisation it is critical they have the trust and confidence of people they
work with: victims, witnesses, the media, criminal justice partners and all
who are affected by criminal behaviour.
A key driver in mainstreaming equality and inclusion within COPFS has
been the Equality Act Implementation team. This group, formed March
2011, was tasked with ensuring that COPFS complies with all aspects of the
specific Scottish duties of the Equality Act 2010 as applied to public bodies.
This was one of the first projects to be run using PRINCE2 project
management principles which required the team to form a strong bond.
Another challenge was the diverse nature of the team which included staff
from different operational functions, grades and geographical locations.
Finally, most of the work would need to be done in addition to regular
duties.
● The Implementation team worked on 38 products over 4 years with
the objective of embedding equality and inclusion into COPFS policies,
processes and practices.
● Four Federation Equality leads oversaw 8 restructured equality networks
across the country. The networks consist of staff at all grades who
work together to educate local staff on equality issues, reach out to their
communities and engage in partnership working on equality initiatives.
● In partnership with North Lanarkshire council, the team produced an
anti-sectarian DVD “Them and us” and a Hate Crime DVD “Just a Laugh?”
with teaching packs for secondary schools.
● Other activities/initiatives include - a revised equality impact
assessment tool, a Community Contacts Register, a DVD ‘Our Role
In Your Community’, two conferences on tacking offensive behaviour,
a community newsletter, Easy Read documents, Staff Networks
(Proud in COPFS and the COPFS Staff Disability Advisory Group,
e-learning, dedicated equality team in the Policy Division and
a ‘Managers’ Charter’ to ensure managers are aware of their
responsibilities.
The many staff involved in these projects, along with the team members,
shows the commitment of COPFS towards mainstreaming equality and
inclusion in everything they do. The team has been extremely effective
in achieving the project objectives.
Highly Commended: South East Coast
Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust employs
c.3770 people who are committed to providing high quality, safe and
compassionate care to service users. They respond to 999 calls from the
public, urgent calls from healthcare professionals, provide NHS 111 services
across the region and in Surrey and Sussex they provide non-emergency
patient transport services.
The Inclusion Hub Advisory, established September 2012, meets quarterly
to ensure patients and the public are actively engaged in decisions that
affect them and their care and reaches out to both those who are less often
heard and experience health inequalities. The group is carefully embedded
within the Trust’s structures and is directly linked into the Trust’s internal
governance and reporting structures.
Achievements of the Inclusion Hub Advisory include:
● Advising on public communication needs around the reconfiguration
of Emergency Operations Centres and Make Ready Centres.
● Development of a Learning Disability alert card toolkit, developed with
people with learning disabilities and delivered to c.4,000 people in
the area.
● Advising on the content of a patient information leaflet to be given
to patients who are not conveyed to hospital.
● Designed and developed ‘Experts by Experience’ training for all South
East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust staff members in equality
and diversity and cultural competency.
● Grading progress of the Equality Delivery System (EDS) and setting the
Trust’s Equality Objectives.
● Holding a joint Patient Experience event with Governors and other
Key Stakeholders
● Participating in focus groups to develop key messages for a range
of stakeholders
● Participating in the production of their Quality Account.
Personnel Today is proud to continue its support of the enei Awards.
Having a passionate team of dedicated people is critical to delivering
a successful diversity and inclusion strategy with real impact on the
organisation. It is the people behind a successful initiative and how they
work with one another and the wider organisation that is recognised
here and we congratulate all those teams that made the shortlist.
Sponsored by:
Inclusion Hub Advisory Group Meeting
Equality Act 2010 Project Team

14 15
Wellbeing at Work Award 2015
Winner: Cafcass
Formed in 2001, Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support
Service) is a non-departmental public body that safeguards and promotes
children to be represented and provides information, advice and support to
children and their families. It is the largest single employer of social workers
in England with c.1,800 staff and 43 offices.
Private Law matters.
Committee; high sickness rates; low compliance from staff and ineffective
its first national inspection by Ofsted, Cafcass was assessed as ‘Good’
with ‘Outstanding’ national leadership.
Employee wellbeing focuses on providing staff with tools and resources
needed to manage their own health and wellbeing which supports practice
improvement by directing resources to frontline social work. The following
is available:
● A new health and wellbeing plan, giving staff to access a range
of treatments
● Health and Wellbeing Specialists commissioned to provide seminars
on achieving wellbeing and high energy through positive lifestyle habits
● Resilience training to help staff manage the pressures of the
emotionally demanding work they perform every day. From 2012
to 2014, over 450 staff have benefited from training
Data provides evidence of take-up and impact and tracks and monitors
absence levels at an individual, team or service area level allowing bespoke
interventions to take place.
The results are that Cafcass now has a healthier, happier workforce who
are engaged in health and wellbeing:
● Sickness rates have reduced by 55% from 16.2 days (2009/10)
to 7.3 days per person per year in 2013/14, reducing sickness costs
from £3.2million to £1.8million
● Stress-related sickness absence among social workers has fallen 58.5%
from 2009/10 to 2013/14, adding 4,540 working days to Cafcass
● 81% of staff agree their health and wellbeing is taken into consideration
by the organisation (Independent Ofsted Staff Survey 2014);
Cafcass is continuing to innovate and develop its approach to Employee
Wellbeing, for the benefit of the business, its staff, and service users, who
can now be assured of a resilient, energised workforce working towards the
best possible outcomes for children and families in each individual case.
In 2014 Cafcass won ‘Best Healthcare and Wellbeing Benefits’ at
the Employee Benefits Awards, and is shortlisted for ‘Best Healthcare
Strategy’ at the Very Important Benefit Awards (May 2015).
Highly Commended: Barclays
Barclays, an international bank with four core businesses – Personal and
Corporate Banking, Barclaycard, Africa, and the Investment Bank offers
products and services to individuals, SMEs, corporations, institutions and
governments. Barclays operates in c.50 countries and employs c.140,000
people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers
and clients worldwide.
Reach, Barclays Disability Network, is committed to helping Barclays be a
disability confident organisation and is actively enabling Barclays to achieve
this by:
● Supporting the recruitment, development and retention of people
with disabilities / impairments
● Supporting colleagues to realise their full potential to achieve their
ambition in the right away
● Promoting accessibility of systems/process/products/services
Through focused interventions, Reach is enabling Barclays to build
an inclusive workplace and to deliver accessible services and products
for its customers.
The ‘This is me’ campaign, created and led by the Reach Disability Network,
is a colleague engagement and organisational change campaign. It features
‘real’ colleagues talking about their mental health in order to increase
awareness and support for others, gain access to support and information
and be open about themselves and their needs. It has increased access
to resources for colleagues and line managers, as well as identifying
opportunities to improve HR policy and practice.
From just 9 stories, there are now 75 being shared via the online
platform and declaration rates in the engagement survey saw 6%
declaring a disability.
At M&S our values of In-Touch, Integrity, Innovation and Inspiration are
reflected in everything we do. That’s because our business is all about
understanding people and what they want. It’s about trust and doing
the right thing. It’s about pushing boundaries. And it’s about creating
experiences that delight the people who use them. Our values help
us to deliver the products and shopping experiences our customers
love. They also push us to create the well-balanced, welcoming,
supportive and open working environments where people want to work.
Sponsored by:
This is Me Group
Equality & Inclusion Champion
of the Year 2015
Winner: Joan Pons Laplana -
Bupa HomeCare
Joan Pons Laplana is an excellent role model, going above and beyond the
expected in his role as a Community Nurse. His passion and dedication for
providing excellent care is evident in the unsolicited praise from patients
and staff alike. Examples of outstanding performance are:
● Supporting the 6C campaign from the beginning and
is a 6C! LIVE Champion
● Being a Dignity Champion, A Dementia Friend and an Innovation Scout
● As PFD Champion, Joan promotes Equality and Diversity and his
commitment to personal care has been recognised by NHS Employers
who awarded him the 2014 PFD Champion of the Year Award.
● Shortlisted for both Hero of the Year at the 2014 European Diversity
Awards and the 2015 Excellence in Diversity Awards
● Becoming a Care Maker and promoting the PFD Campaign on behalf
of NHS Employers
● Appointment as an East Midlands Area Coordinator, receiving
recognition for his role in NHS Change Day
● Working with Helen Sanderson promoting patient centred care,
introducing One Page Profiles into East Midlands and with Andy
Bradly embracing the Compassionate Circles. As a result, Joan has
been shortlisted for the NT Awards 2014 for enhancing patient dignity
and the HSJ Awards 2014 in the Compassionate Care Category.
● Being part of the Chesterfield Carnival organising committee.
The Carnival was a family festival day in July 2014 supported by
Chesterfield Borough Council. The aim was to raise money for Ashgate
Hospice and create awareness in the community of the available
services, opportunities, clubs, groups, companies etc.
● An Ambassador for the Mary Seacole Appeal (2015). Mary was a
pioneering nurse and heroine of the Crimean War, who as a woman
of mixed race overcame a double prejudice and history has forgotten.
● Is involved with a new platform called New HC Voices which aims to
give everyone a voice and to create networks of like-minded people
working across organisational boundaries and fostering innovation
by reducing competition and encouraging, sharing, collaborating and
highlighting the need to be diverse and inclusive. It draws on
leadership, skills and knowledge from people at all levels regardless
of position and authority.
● Creating and expanding the BME (black and ethnic minority)
Employee Network Group in DCHS, his previous employer
Serving one of the youngest and most diverse communities
in the Country, Birmingham City Council is proud to be
supporting this enei award. The passion, commitment & drive
of individuals can make a difference and it’s their inspirational
leadership that is at the vanguard of driving the organisations
change we all aspire to achieve.
Joan Pons Laplana, Proud Nurse, NHS Change Day
Hubbie and Care Maker
Sponsored by:
Patients and colleagues love Joan’s attitude and positivity. He is always
happy to help, polite, and never gets disheartened or negative. In 2014
Joan won the DCHS Extra Mile Award for Compassionate and Outstanding
Care, the only award nominated by the patients. He was also shortlisted
for the Kate Granger Award for his compassionate care.
As an avid communicator, Joan is very active on Twitter (Account: @
thebestjoan) promoting equality, diversity and good practices. With nearly
6,000 followers in last year it is clear his opinion is well respected and
followed in the twitter community and beyond.characteristic. He has
emerged as a true champion of Equality, transforming the organisation
into an employer that is now recognised nationally to be inclusive and
a workplace where LGBT staff are becoming increasingly visible and
proud to be open about their sexuality.

16 17
Flexible/Agile Working Award 2015
Winner: Post Office Limited
The Post Office is a commercial organisation with a social purpose. Its
network of 11,800 branches delivers over 170 products and services,
serves 18 million customers per week and has 7,000 employees. It is
at the centre of communities across the country and is transforming its
business to become financially self-sustainable.
An ageing workforce, unionised environment and long length of service
had contributed to a work-force that had suffered from bureaucracy and
silo working. So, when the opportunity arose to relocate 900 people to the
organisations head office; it recognised the chance to use this as a catalyst
to change.
Underpinned by the ethos that ‘Work is an activity and not a
destination’ a detailed change and engagement programme was
launched by the Post Office which has both reduced costs and transformed
the organisations ways of working to be more agile and collaborative.
The new Customer Support Centre has helped the business achieve:
● An annual operating cost saving of £1.9 million
● A 25% increase in employees who feel their working environment
enables them to do a great job
● A 4% increase in the organisations overall engagement index
(up to 62%)
● A 20% increase in employee’s belief that teams collaborate
across functions
● A 6% increase in the organisations customer focus index (up to 75%)
These results have only been possible through the extensive
communication and trialling of new ways of working in advance of the
move. Six months before the relocation, business teams trialled new ways
of working in the safe environment of the existing office. The number
of desks was reduced by 38%, hot-desking, working from alternative
locations was introduced together with increasing the use of technology to
communicate. There was, of course, resistance and issues to be resolved,
but by addressing these in the existing building it allowed for problems to
be remedied before the move took place.
A key driver of this change programme was the advocacy and role
modelling of senior leaders to support more agile and flexible ways of
working. In the previous location, each Executive had their own office and
they were spread across five floors. In contrast to this, in the new Customer
Support Centre the Executive team all sit together and hot-desk from one
shared table. This visible role modelling of new behaviours has increased
the speed of decision making, facilitated cross-functional working at the
most senior level and has been key in setting the example that the
business is embracing agile ways of working.
We are proud to support the Agile Working Award. At EY we aspire to be
the leading professional services firm for flexible working, which will not only
benefit our people, but also our clients and the communities we work within.
We feel it’s important to celebrate those organisations who are leading the
way in this field.
Highly Commended:
North East Lincolnshire Clinical
Commissioning Group
North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), established
April 2013 under the Health & Social Care Act, employs 70 people. It is
responsible for planning and purchasing health and social care services
on behalf of the 165,000 population of North East Lincolnshire.
The CCG recognised the need to develop modern working practices that
enabled employees to maximise their performance whilst maintaining
a good work/life balance and implemented a system of Agile Working
‘Flexible Plus’. Employees can work flexibly from any location including
the CCG HQ or other NHS buildings such as primary care centres,
in the community, home working or a combination of all of these.
An open plan “hot desk” environment, the norm for all employees,
regardless of their grade of employment, in HQ enables greater networking
between employees. Technology supports Agile Working, including
the use of smart phones and laptops; with access to Webex and other
teleconferencing facilities.
The benefits of Agile Working include:
● For employees – motivation, trust leading to improved morale,
accountability, flexibility, improved time management and,
communication skills, reduced travel time
● For teams – networking, team working and increased productivity
● For the environment – reduced travel and paper used, less office
space needed
● For the organisation – reduced absence rates which, at 1.53%
over the 20 months from April 2013, have improved by more
than 1.3% from 2012-13 and are around 2.5% lower than
the NHS average.
Sponsored by:
Aidan Alston, Talent and
Diversity Manager
The Executive Office Support Team: (Top left) Sue Senior, Karen Stamp, Sue Major,
Claire Jones, Caroline Reed, Frances Perkins, Kaye Fox
(Bottom left) Louise Nicholls, Travis Browning, Jeanette Harris, Carrie Cranston
Intergenerational Working Award 2015
Winner: Sodexo
Sodexo UK and Ireland employs 34,000 people and delivers services that
improve the quality of life to clients at 2,300 locations in the corporate,
healthcare, education, leisure, justice and defence sectors. The organisation
delivers a range of services ranging from catering, cleaning and reception, to
asset management, security, laboratory and grounds maintenance services,
enabling clients to focus on their core business.
Generations is one of the six focus areas within Sodexo’s approach to
diversity and inclusion.
The aim of the workstream is ‘to build the Sodexo Brand to be recognised
as an employer of choice for all generations, where flexibility is embraced
and those with parenting and caring responsibilities feel supported and are
retained’. The workstream which has an Executive sponsor, was launched in
2014 as part of Sodexo’s revised D&I strategy.
The GenERAtions employee network, aimed at ‘Championing Generational
Diversity’ was launched in October` 2014 via the ‘GenMatch’ board game
with copies distributed to c.200 sites. Players match statements about work
motivation and style, technology and lifestyle to the relevant generations.
The purpose is to help employees appreciate the diverse workforce that
makes up the organisation and the opportunities and challenges this can
present as well as considerations outside of work.
Both the workstream and employee network supports employees in
understanding the personal and professional development needs of
different age groups and how they are affected by each other. Headline
impacts are:
● Broader understanding of the needs of people of different generations,
learning which applies in both professional and personal lives.
● Wider engagement with D&I agenda as the positing of the workstream
and network enabled people to become involved as everyone has an
‘age’ rather than it being pitched as an issue that affects a minority group.
● Opportunities to network and learn from other employees and external
experts, assisting career development and organisational understanding.
● Increased employee engagement.
● Collaborative working with other networks reaching a wider audience.
● An increase in brand reputation on these issues.
● Development of external partnerships, e.g. the charity Contact the Elderly.
● Opportunities to engage with clients.
Understanding the different needs of an intergenerational population
enables Sodexo to tailor its services offered to clients. In Sodexo’s most
recent survey engagement scores increased across all the age groups with
the biggest increase in the 20-30 age group by five points, two years ahead
of the 2016 target. Through external press coverage of the work undertaken
in relation to intergenerational working, Sodexo has been able to raise
awareness and recognition of its brand.
Amanda Browne, SR HR
Business Partner
James Laverick,
Management
Consultant Services
Denise Howse, Analyst
Sales Operations
Steve Stevens, Principal
Support Engineer
Richard Owen Director,
Software Engineering
Rama Varsani, Partner
Technical Architect
Highly Commended: CA Technologies
CA Technologies is a Global IT Management software and solutions
company employing 13,000 people. Inclusion and Diversity is at the heart
of everything they do in driving success and developing a culture that will
positively impact the way they operate. Supporting employees to achieve
a work/life balance and career development is vital in achieving a motivated
and engaged workforce.
The Challenges faced:
● The stats showed a problem retaining employees in the 36-45 age
range. In 5-7 years in certain product areas with higher age individuals,
employees will be looking to exit the organisation which will leave
a skills gap
● Mentoring less experienced staff in certain technologies
● Creating an awareness of the Generation topic
In response to these challenges, CA’s Global Generational Employee
Network group, launched in the past year, has sought to encourage
meaningful interaction among various generations at CA, from
new associates to seasoned professionals. In order to gain a better
understanding of the diverse workforce at CA, the group provides an open
space for members to share ideas, network with one another and for older
employees to mentor younger ones.
Successes of Generational Activity
A 61 year old IT professional who has been working at CA for 30 years
was recently promoted. He was also asked to help develop younger IT
professionals in CA’s Prague office. This is an example of the continuous
employee development and retaining of valuable expertise that CA’s
Global Generational Employee Network seeks to promote.
Raj Brainch, Diversity and
Inclusion Advisor, Sodexo
Central Functions
Megan Horsburgh, Head
of Diversity and Inclusion,
Sodexo Central Functions
Harri Khela, SR
Consultant Presales
Keith Sessions, SR
Principal Support
Engineer
Roy French, SR Director
Practice Services

18 19
Inclusive Culture Award 2015
Joint Winner - Private Sector:
Hands-Free Computing Ltd
Hands-Free Computing Ltd, established in 1997, employs 27 people.
Its Mission is to help people with disabilities in the workplace reach their
full potential and improve their working life. This is achieved by using
training, coaching and provision of assistive technology, ergonomic
equipment and adaptations.
Hands-Free has taken an innovative approach to creating a more
inclusive culture by:
● Providing assistive technology for staff whose first language is not
English with a choice of literacy software that enables staff to be
more confident and independent without having to ask other team
members to proof read work.
● Working towards Clear Assured – making a commitment to removing
barriers from recruitment policies, processes and practices for
disabled people.
● Clear Talents - a profiling tool that recognises people have diverse
backgrounds, circumstances and cultural beliefs so that necessary
adjustments can be made.
● Flexible working - for all staff to improve motivation, reduce stress,
improve performance and productivity and encourage staff retention.
● Equality and Diversity Training.
● Continuing Professional Development – To reduce travel they provide
webinars and skype/webcam training sessions and provide CPD
courses in locations such as Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol.
To further inclusive recruitment they have:
● Reviewed the Application Form to ask if applicants have any special
requirements to be made
● Updated the Equality Monitor Form to understand their workforce
profile, ensure people are not discriminated against and provide
equal opportunities
● Job Advertisement - Using social media (Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+)
to reach people and promote vacancies to organisations that support
minority groups
● Interview process – guaranteed interviews for candidates with disabilities
and provision for adjustments
● Introduction of Clear Kit - to support the recruitment process
The business has benefitted from employing staff from diverse
backgrounds. This has allowed Hands-Free to draw on a wide range
of skills and personal experience.
Successes include:
● In 2014 Hands-Free won two Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative
Awards - Maximising Potential and Individual Choice
● An inclusive workplace with great example of how they have
supported individuals
● Increased Productivity - feedback received from staff is that morale is
high, their needs are accommodated and they feel valued by Hands-Free
● Improved image/reputation based on their excellent understanding
of diverse backgrounds
● In 2014 productivity rose by 18%
and net profitability rose by 172%
compared with last year
Joint Winner - Public Sector:
The Civil Service
The Civil Service employs c.400,000 people who help to develop and
deliver its policies in the most effective and efficient manner. They work in
three types of organisation - departments, agencies and non-departmental
government bodies covering a wide range of areas touching on everyone’s
day-to-day lives, such as education, health and policing.
The Civil Service needs to ensure that every talented, committed and
hard-working person has the opportunity to rise to the top, whatever their
background and whoever they are. This is necessary in order to understand
their customers, develop evidence based policies that take into account
the needs of different communities and deliver high quality services to
everyone who needs them.
In September 2014, the ‘Talent Action Plan: Removing the barriers to
success’ (TAP) was published (refreshed March 2015) which commits the
Civil Service to co-ordinated action across government to address barriers
and build on best practice in order to continue to develop an inclusive
culture. This focuses on three key themes:
● Clear leadership and open culture
● Talent
● Capability
While the Civil Service outperforms other sectors in terms of inclusion
in some aspects, they know that difference of thought, background and
culture leads to improved decision making and innovation and TAP is
a clear demonstration that they are striving to be even more inclusive.
Key Initiatives:
● The online Civil Service Job Share Finder (March 2015) allows people
to identify and contact others looking for a job share partnership.
● Shared Parental Leave (SPL) is paid at occupational rate across the
Civil Service which sends a strong message about the inclusive
culture they want to promote for working parents.
● Positive Action Pathway – Levelling the Playing Field (as at January
2015) targets minority ethnic, women, disabled and LGB&T employees
in administrative to senior management grades across the Civil Service.
In 2015/16 there will be c.1,000 places.
● In April 2015 the Civil Service Work Place Adjustment Service was launched
to provide a case management service and offer specialist advice on how
to progress and resolve cases. Combined with the Workplace Adjustment
Passport, this improves the ease at which employees with a disability or
health condition can move jobs across Government.
● The Civil Service Leadership statement, focused on inspiration,
confidence and empowerment, publically commits the Civil Service to
champion difference. It sets out the values expected of all Civil Service
Leaders and offers guidance and best practice examples.
● Challenge Change Champion Campaign – the Champion Difference
Campaign was launched to embed the TAP and Civil Service
Leadership Statement in the organisation.
As a firm of chartered accountants, Buzzacott helps build individual and
corporate success and is committed to providing and promoting inclusive
working environments. We are thrilled to sponsor the enei Inclusive
Culture Award which recognises and rewards organisations with inclusive
working environments in relation to diversity, professional development
and work/life balance.
Sponsored by:
(From left to right) Emma Dunnett,
Disability Lead, Ray Dempsey, Team
Leader, Chris Hack, Race and Religion &
Belief Lead, Ellie Binks, Gender and Flexible
Working Lead, Karen Riedl, PA to Janet
Hill, Janet Hill, Programme Director, Paul
Carswell, LGB&T Lead, Absent: Keith Knight,
Age Lead, D&I Learning Products Lead
Hands Free Computing Staff Photograph - September 2014
Working Families Award 2015
Winner: Centrica
Centrica’s Vision is to be the world’s leading integrated energy company
with customers at its core. It is a FTSE 100 company, with 36,000
employees worldwide, operating in the UK and North America. They supply
gas, electricity and home services to millions of homes and businesses.
Their upstream businesses, Centrica Energy and Centrica Storage invest in
gas production, storage and other reliable and affordable sources of energy
for the future.
Centrica recognises that its people both contribute significantly to continued
business success and play a vital role in the lives of their families. Centrica is
committed to creating an inclusive working environment in order to attract
and retain the best people and enable everyone to fulfill their potential.
They have a robust approach to flexible working which enables employees
to manage the personal commitments in their lives. All employees have
the right to request flexible working from day one and Centrica endeavour
to find, wherever possible, a solution that works for the individual.
The following networks and resources have made Centrica a family friendly
employer.
● Centrica Dad’s Network – launched 2014, creates a community
of working Dads who share experiences. More than 750 Centrica
employees became new dads in 2014.
● Working Mum’s Network - Centrica has worked hard to support
women to make personal decisions about their lives and manage
their work-life balance as they balance a family and a career.
● Carers Network (2005) – sponsored by the MD of British Gas,
the Network supports Carers which, in turn reduces turnover,
recruitment and training costs, retains talent and experience,
builds resilience and improves wellbeing. The Carers Network,
has c.1,000 members and over 19 locations.
● Working Parents and Carers (Dec 2014) - All Centrica employees
have access to a range of family friendly resources and services
online that makes combining work and family easier.
● Manager Capability - to coincide with the extension of flexible working
rights, Centrica launched a pilot line manager training programme
focused on supporting flexible workers, in particular those with
caring responsibilities. The pilot has been a success and a wider
roll-out is being looked at.
● Agile Working – the business case for a shift review in British Gas
was built on increased productivity levels, better alignment of resource
to customer demand, clarity of roles/responsibilities and teams
organised by work complexity. The shift pattern was reduced from
c.1600 shifts to 35 new shift patterns which included family and
carer friendly shifts.
Centrica is looking to introduce a cross-business ‘Returnship’ Programme.
Employees are more confident, setting up or joining networks or asking
for flexible working, and managers are better equipped to lead in an
inclusive way.
My Family Care is the leading provider of Work+Family solutions and
dependent care services to employers in the UK. Our service portfolio
addresses the full range of employees needs in combining work and family
successfully; from the delivery of crèches and nurseries, through search
and selection of child and eldercare, provision of emergency backup care
and coaching and consulting services. And they’re all accessible through
an online platform that supports both managers and employees and it’s
tailored to their specific needs and life stages.
Alison Hughes, Group Head of HR Policy
& Diversity
Sponsored by:
Highly Commended: Brunel University
Brunel University London (Founded 1966) is a campus-based university in
Uxbridge, West London and is home to c.13,000 students from over 100
countries worldwide. Their Mission is to combine teaching and research
excellence with a practical and entrepreneurial approach.
New Regulations, 1 December 2014, allows eligible parents the option to
use the new Shared Parental Leave rights, where a baby is due to be born
on or after 5th April 2015, or for children who are placed for adoption on or
after that date. The University realised that it could start to receive notices
of eligibility and the intention to take Shared Parental Leave from qualifying
employees from January 2015.
A new Shared Parental Leave and Pay Policy was written, to enable the
University to fulfil their legal obligations to allow eligible mothers, fathers,
partners and adopters to choose how to share time off work after their
child is born or placed for adoption. They were aware that this could mean
that the mother or adopter shared some of the leave with her partner,
perhaps returning to work for part of the time and then resuming leave
at a later date.
They wanted to give parents the maximum flexibility in how to share
the care of their child in the first year following birth or adoption, enabling
them to be off work at the same time and/or take it in turns to have
periods of leave to look after the child.
Sanchia Alasia, Equality and
Diversity Manager
Barbara Shennan,
HR Operations Manager
Shelagh Richards,
Senior HR Business Partner

20 2121
Personal, Fair and Diverse Award 2015
Winner: Sodexo
Sodexo UK and Ireland employs 34,000 people and delivers services that
improve the quality of life to clients at 2,300 locations in the corporate,
healthcare, education, leisure, justice and defence sectors. They deliver
services ranging from catering, cleaning and reception to asset management,
security, laboratory and grounds maintenance services, enabling clients to
focus on their core business.
As a services company, people are Sodexo’s only asset so there is a very
clear business case for ensuring they have an inclusive culture. A refresh
of Sodexo’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy led to a new strategy that:
● Recognises the impact D&I has on employees, clients, customers
and suppliers
● Re-defined roles and responsibilities
● Introduced overall measures of success as well as those specific to each
workstream or segment to enable demonstration of the impact of activities
The strategy focuses on six workstreams:
● Gender
● Generations
An innovative devolved delivery structure has brought in employees
at all levels of the business, from senior management to frontline staff.
The governance structure consists of:
● 20-member D&I council of senior representatives from across Sodexo
● Executive sponsors for each workstream
● 6 workstream leaders
● HR Director/D&I council chair
● Head of D&I and D&I Advisor
● Employee networks for the Gender and Generations workstreams
with Sexual Orientation and Cultures & Origins networks launching soon.
Through their structures Sodexo has supported communication campaigns
that reinforce their commitment to embedding the values and cultures of
a personal, fair inclusive and diverse environment. By engaging employees
at all levels, Sodexo is able to continually improve the working environment
and reward and recognise individuals for their contribution.
Successes include:
● Demographics - better gender balance – in 2012, 24% of senior
management were women; this is now 29%, with 33% women
at board level.
● Engagement – In 2014, engagement among under 30s was up 5%.
In 2014, 78% of employees agreed with the statement, “I feel Sodexo
values diversity in the workplace”, a 12% increase from 2012 and
14% above the UK benchmark
● Business Growth – Between 2012 and 2014 the organisation’s revenues
have grown 15%. Since 2012 Sodexo has won substantial contracts.
Their reputation and ability to deliver a skilled, engaged and diverse
workforce are critical factors behind these successes
● Client retention – Sodexo has had a client retention rate of over 95%
for three years. In 2014, they hosted 12 client D&I interactions which
is helping to build stronger client relationships.
● Building brand awareness:
● 3 Award sponsorships
● Increased external media coverage (75 pieces Jan 2014 - April 2015)
● Recognition by external awards, e.g Times Top 50 Employers
for Women 2014 & 2015
Building and sustaining a diverse and inclusive healthcare service takes
real commitment. Personal, Fair and Diverse (PFD) uses the power of
networks and social media to drive the values of the campaign into
the heart of the NHS – helping to bring the NHS Constitution to life.
NHS Employers is proud to be supporting this enei award. We hope
that people taking small actions will bring renewed energy and focus
to this important area of work.
Highly Commended:
Barts Health NHS Trust
Barts Health, created in 2012, employs c.14,000 people and is the leading
provider of acute and community health care services for a population of
c.2 million in East London. The Trust has six hospitals, is leading centre for
academic research and excellence and provides specialist services.
The Trust brings together three hospital trusts: Barts and The London NHS
Trust, Newham University Hospital NHS Trust and Whipps Cross University
Hospital NHS Trust.
Its diverse workforce includes over 52% of people from Asian, Black, Mixed
and Other ethnic backgrounds. Over the last year they have engaged in a
Trust wide culture change programme where the Trust Board demonstrated
its commitment to equality in the workplace by commissioning an
independent review into ill-treatment at work. In response to this review
there are increased avenues for support for staff and mechanisms now in
place to support and encourage staff voice:
● Employee Assistance Programme (online and by telephone 24/7)
● ‘Ward conversations’, Schwartz rounds and 90 day engagement
programme following ill treatment review
● Speak-in-confidence - anonymous and online channel for raising
concerns with a named director
● Quarterly Staff Diversity Network meetings together with subgroup
meetings: BME, Disability and Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender
(LGBT), offering support, networking and platforms for staff consultation.
● Dignity at Work Advocates Network - impartial and confidential advice
to individuals who may be experiencing bullying in the workplace.
● Active Staff Partnership Forum including staff/Trade Union
representatives and Trust management.
● Changing Lives Internal Working Group to lead on all internal
communications.
● Health and Well Being Committee
Supported by:
All participants of the Project Search Group
(Left) Megan Horsburgh,
Head of Diversity and Inclusion,
(Right) Raj Brainch,
Diversity and Inclusion Advisor,
● Disability
● Sexual Orientation
● Cultures and Origins
● Inclusion
Inclusive Recruitment
Award 2015
Winner: DiversCity
Joint initiative by Baker & McKenzie, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer,
Herbert Smith Freehills, Hogan Lovells, Olswang, Pinsent Masons, RPC and Taylor Wessing
Nine law firms Baker McKenzie; Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP); Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer;
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF); Hogan Lovells; Olswang; Pinsent Masons; Reynolds Porter
Chamberlain and Taylor Wessing collaborated to arrange and host ''DiversCity''. A unique
recruitment event aimed at raising awareness of pursuing a legal career in the City amongst
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students at degree and postgraduate level.
The legal sector has previously been perceived as less inclusive by the LGBT community.
Recognising the importance of diversity in organisations, the need to promote an inclusive
environment and attract future lawyers from an underrepresented pool of talent, BLP & HSF
created the first DiversCity event in 2011 and invited other firms to participate.
With the slogan 'Now you are out, let us help you get in' the DiversCity initiative aims to:
● Provide a forum to showcase the experiences of successful LGBT lawyers and dispel any
misconceptions young LGBT aspiring lawyers may have
● Allow students to speak first-hand to LGBT lawyers and build their own networks
● Attract LGBT candidates into the legal profession
● Build a pipeline of diverse talent for the participating law firms
● Ensure the profession continues to strengthen as an LGBT friendly environment
To be successful the partner firms had to collaborate which is unusual in such a competitive
market. They reached out to LGBT students with attendance growing from 30 to c.200 over
four years. During the one-day event, students were able to:
● Combat any misconceptions or out-dated negative perceptions of being LGBT in the City
● Gain more confidence in themselves and in the inclusive nature of the legal sector
● Learn how to deal with their sexuality/gender identification in a formal work setting
● Build networks with peers and contacts with a stakeholders
● Gain access to a mentoring scheme designed to support LGBT students and
young professionals
Successes include:
● 2011 saw over 90% of the attendees going on to apply for a position
at least one of the sponsoring firms. Four attendees accepted graduate
job offers and at least six attendees from the 2014 event have acquired
a vacation placement at one of the participating law firms.
● Feedback from attendees at the most recent event found that 78%
of the attendees strongly agreed that by attending the event they
would feel confident about pursuing a career in law.
● DiversCity has been recognised and held in high regard across the
legal sector resulting in a further three prestigious law firms becoming
involved with the mentoring scheme and, potentially, in the 2015 event.
Highly Commended:
Barts Health NHS Trust
Barts Health, created in 2012, employs c.14,000 people
and is the leading provider of acute and community
health care services for a population of c.2 million in
East London. The Trust has six hospitals, is leading
centre for academic research and excellence and
provides specialist services.
It brings together three hospital trusts: Barts and The
London NHS Trust, Newham University Hospital NHS
Trust and Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust.
Project SEARCH, launched in 1996, is a year-long
supported internship programme for young people with
autism and/or learning disabilities. It has grown from a
single programme site at Cincinnati prestigious Children’s
Hospital to over 300 sites across the United States and
Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Australia.
Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to provide
meaningful and valued work based opportunities
for young people with autism/learning disabilities/
difficulties that will enable them to be fully immersed
in a work place setting. This programme provides
them with on-site internship experiences, acquire the
necessary skills, knowledge and exposure of a busy
working environment to enable them to apply for and
secure competitive employment positions, many within
the NHS, but also with employers outside of the NHS.
Project SEARCH is a partnership between a host business,
education and adult supported employment. In July
2014, all the interns that graduated found full time jobs.
The benefits for Barts Health are access to diverse and
talented individuals, highly motivated and trained interns,
role models for customers and improved retention.
In common with many other sectors, the speed at
which technology is impacting our business in a rapidly
globalising world makes sourcing the right talent a
commercial imperative. We need to be able to look
at our customers and their challenges from different
perspectives to unlock these new markets to stay
relevant. We see inclusive recruitment as a blend of
strategic insight from leadership to set direction, effective
communication and ongoing engagement as well
as career development to attract, recruit and retain
the best people. Inclusion is proven to be an effective
contributor to higher performance and innovation,
something all businesses need to master to thrive.
Inclusive recruitment underpins this approach, but it isn’t
easy to achieve. It requires cross functional collaboration
and commitment to do it well, which is why we are so
pleased to be part of identifying a new gold standard by
sponsoring this award. Good luck to all of the finalists.
Sponsored by:
All participants of the Project Search Group

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