Excellence in Diversity Awards

Tag: Diverse Company

  • The Open University: Diverse Company for Education

    Open UniWe caught up with Jiten Patel, Acting Head of Equality, Diversity and Information Rights at The Open University to catch his thoughts on seeing his University reign as The Diverse Company for Education at The Excellence in Diversity Awards 2015, here’s what Jiten had to say:

    The whole table erupted! It was the second win on our table that evening!! How fabulous to see the expressions of delight of the faces of my friends and colleagues; this award was truly about the part played the many individuals from across the University who work ceaselessly to bring alive the University’s mission and core values. I would like to thank the staff and students at The Open University; it is humbling to work with such amazing people who made it possible for us to win the award.

    How did you feel about the other shortlisted nominees within your category?

    I felt it was a great privilege to be amongst organisations striving to make equality, diversity and inclusion an integral part of the way the organisation operates. I know, personally, people from two of the other shortlisted nominees and had no doubts whatsoever about their commitment and dedication. In particular, I have worked with Patrick Johnson, University of Manchester, for at least the last 10 years and have respect for his work, so it was an honour to be in the same shortlisted category as these colleagues.

    Where are you going to go from here with your work?

    Well, our journey continues from strength to strength; we’ve just been awarded the Carer’s Scotland Kite Mark, the first Higher Education Institution in Scotland to have achieved this accolade. Currently we are refreshing our equality scheme for 2016-2020 and it’s really great that we have so many senior people who are willing to push forward changes to really bring alive our mission of social justice. Even more impressive is the fact that our new Vice-Chancellor, Peter Horrocks CBE, has taken on the mantle of being sponsor of Equality Diversity and Inclusion and he will be appointing Champions for the Protected Characteristics from amongst his direct reports. The campaign for Equality is being led from the top of the University.

    The Open University WinningWhat does Diversity & Inclusion mean to The Open University?

    Equality, diversity and inclusion are inherent in The Open University’s mission and core values. Winning this award just reaffirms our commitment to social justice and inclusion; to make higher education accessible to all people, especially those who were not able to study at this level previously. People studying part-time and working at the same time demonstrate that they are overcoming barriers to be more successful and fulfilled. This is why we are so keen to ensure that our students are not adversely affected by proposed changes to funding structures. We are passionate that Part Time Matters! Please support #PartTimeMatters on Twitter

    Where does this rank within your Diversity & Inclusion achievements?

    This university has done amazing things! This award ranks alongside our awards for Athena Swan (awarded by the Equality Challenge Unit) and Project Juno (awarded by the Institute of Physics) specifically looking at the development of women in STEM subjects. We are working across the range of protected characteristics including the setting up of highly successful positive action programmes for minority ethnic and disabled staff to advising Government on LGBT issues. In achieving this award there is public recognition for the University’s to address and reduce inequalities. We would be the first ones to recognise that we still need to do much more and it is that spirit which drives our innovation.

    What were your thoughts on the awards, did you enjoy it?

    Everyone on our table, without exception, loved the event and was, of course delighted to be there on the night. It was an opportunity to celebrate the vast array of people and organisations working exceptionally hard to make this world better for everyone. Our thanks to Paul and his great team for paying attention to every little detail. In particular, I could see that you had acted on feedback from previous events to make this night even more spectacular. The blend of formal (awards presentations) and informal (music, dance, etc) aspects meant that everyone was engaged throughout the evening; even after a hard day at work, everyone was full of energy and enthusiasm. It was inspiring!

     

     

  • 2015 EiDA Nominee – Liverpool Mutual Homes

    Liverpool Mutual Homes manages 15,000 homes in the city and have 17,600 customers. Their exceptional equality, diversity and inclusion strategy “People Matter” showcases their commitment to continuous improvement and to providing excellent services that recognise people’s differences and embrace their various needs. LMH invest in learning, training and development to help staff achieve and excel, and have long term strategies in place to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Their equality and diversity staff group ‘Your Voice’ is representative of the whole organisation and has 15 members, 7 of which are ‘diversity champions’. These remarkable champions assist in embedding inclusion throughout the organisation by promoting their own relevant protected characteristic and promoting activities and events. LMH have a thorough equality and diversity training programme consisting of induction sessions, handbook training sessions, e-learning training, regular ‘Did You Know’ email communications and learning sessions.

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  • 2015 EiDA Nominee – Greater Manchester Police

    Greater Manchester Police has shown outstanding contribution to harnessing diversity within their workforce, actively taking the lead to highlight the business case for inclusion within the police service. In recent years, Greater Manchester Police have taken robust measures to increase the diversity of their workforce, successfully doing so in the process. The force has resourced a new operation, ‘Operation Peel’ to increase the diversity of staff recruitment, and to tackle issues internally last year GMP established a Hate Incident Governance Group to have organisational oversight of all hate cases involving discrimination within their police force. Having such a group enables GMP to have an understanding of the volume of cases and the type of issues staff experience when concerned about fairness. GMP have seen astonishing results from initiatives that they have implemented in response to their employees needs and diversity related issues, and continue to make improvements across many areas internally and externally.

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  • 2015 EiDA Nominee – Victim Support

    Victim Support is the independent charity for victims and witnesses of crime in England and Wales. They were set up 40 years ago and have grown to become the oldest and largest victims’ organisation in the world, taking pride in being a diverse organisation enriched by the participation of all individuals and communities. Their services are free and available to everyone, whether or not the crime has been reported and regardless of when it happened. To achieve this, Victim Support ensure non-discriminatory practices are in effect in both employment and service delivery. Their policy is to ensure that no victim, witness, employee, volunteer, trustee, or job applicant receives less favourable treatment. Selection criteria and procedures are regularly reviewed to make sure that individuals are selected on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Victim Support’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee is dedicated to a programme of action to make this policy effective and bring it to the attention of all employees.

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  • Gentoo

    Gentoo Group is a social business whose ambition is to improve the lives of the people, communities and the environment in which they operate by investing in people, the planet and property, what they call ‘the Art of Living’. As a ‘profit for purpose’ organisation, they use any profits from their commercial activity to reinvest back in towards achieving this. Gentoo has obtained recognition from a number of sources for its work and commitment to equality and diversity and clearly puts a phenomenal amount of effort into this area. Their dedication is outstanding and quality evidence showcased the number of initiatives and projects put place to encourage and embrace diversity internally and externally. Gentoo make it their business to champion causes to eradicate inequality, drive change and challenge conventions, promoting diversity and inclusion across so many spheres. This extraordinary housing association clearly demonstrate to employees and residents why inclusion it is integral within their corporate vision and values.

    www.gentoogroup.com/for-customers

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  • Asda

    Diversity and inclusion sits at the heart of Asda. They place great emphasis on creating a working environment that truly promotes this, not just because it is the right thing to do, but to make them representative of the customers they serve and local communities they work in. Exceptional evidence highlights why inclusion is important to their business, and diversity is seen as more than just a policy, but plays a central role in everything they do. As part of their commitment to addressing key issues, they have created dedicated Network Groups to focus on all protected characteristics. Asda recognise they still have a long way to go, but should be extremely proud of their ongoing development across all aspects of diversity. They have shown outstanding commitment to continue reviewing their diversity strategy; ensuring they are working towards a truly inclusive environment for all diverse segments in their employee make up, and continue to step change their programmes to be best in class for diversity policies.

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  • 2015 EiDA Nominee – The City of Liverpool College

    The City of Liverpool College is a bold and exciting national leader that is the largest college of further education in Liverpool. Their inclusive approach highlights the great strengths the college goes to in order to create an environment that upholds respect and removes all barriers to achievement. The college is committed to promoting equality and diversity throughout its practices for both students and staff which is evident through quality evidence. As a College, they serve some of the most deprived areas of the country and also some of the most diverse; they recognise not only the relevant Equality legislation but also the most basic principle of fairness and the importance of creating a College where everyone has equal opportunity and access. Whilst their data and statistics are positive, City of Liverpool College continues to consider ways to improve the diversity of their workforce across all aspects of diversity, and are working tirelessly to be a true representation of the community they operate in.

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  • 2015 EiDA Nominee – Oxfam

    Oxfam

    Oxfam is a globally renowned aid and development charity working and campaigning with partners in over 90 countries worldwide. With over 70 years experience, Oxfam GB is a champion of equal opportunities in all of their work, internally and externally. Their international development work and crisis response always seeks to equally distribute resources and ensure all genders, ethnicities, age groups, cultures and sexualities have their voices heard. Their community projects excel in creating lasting change through initiatives such as health promotion, agriculture support and WASH initiatives. Impact is astonishing; internationally, 4.3 million people have been reached by health promotion activities, 700,000 have benefitted from agricultural support and 2.6 million from improved sanitation facilities. The outcome of such work aids many minorities worldwide with a variety of different issues – therefore, ensuring a strong diversity pedigree, which has been earned through Oxfam’s desire to include those who need help most.

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