We are a respectful employer that welcomes diversity and promotes equality, tolerance and teamwork. We know that it is essential that we create an inclusive workplace in which you can bring your whole selves to work, feel valued and able to make an impact. Our belief in ‘diversity of thought’ extends our conception of diversity beyond the traditional facets of gender, ethnicity, age and sexual orientation to include personality, communication and work styles. We recognise that diversity enriches our creativity and adds value for our stakeholders.
Chickenshed - Unconscious bias training
We have a very balanced male:female ratio however we have been working towards achieving the Hampton-Alexander Review gender diversity targets for female representation on our Board, Executive Committee and Senior Management teams. An overview of our progress can be found below.
To enable us to achieve our overarching aim of becoming a truly inclusive company, over the last few years we appointed 4 employees to sit on our Responsible Business Committee, established a Diversity & Inclusion Working Group and achieved the National Equality Standard accreditation in 2021.
As part of this journey, we have a suite of activities and initiatives to advance diversity and inclusivity going forward, including Unconscious bias training programme alongside the charity Chickenshed, investing in Inclusive Leadership training, joined the Business Disability Forum, took part in the #10,000 Black Intern programme and work alongside e.g. Pathways to Property to identify how we can support and widen access to our industry to all, by raising awareness about the vast range of careers available.
We also work closely with recruitment agencies to ensure that any shortlist is balanced in terms of gender and ethnicity and that there is a fair and open recruitment process in place.
We were so pleased to enhance our family friendly policies. Whether its pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption, we have:
- Increased our maternity & shared parental leave pay to 26 weeks full pay
- Increased our paternity leave to 4 weeks full pay
- We continue to offer parental transition coaching for employees before, during and when returning from an extended period of leave