Celebrating National Inclusion Week
We are excited to be involved in National Inclusion Week, a campaign run by Inclusive Employers to encourage businesses to develop inclusive workplaces.
This year’s theme is Each one, Reach one. It is about the opportunity to connect with someone else, or another organisation to inspire each other to make inclusion an everyday reality.
This year to raise the importance of inclusive workplaces we selected a handful of small, but meaningful activities that get everyone involved in thinking about inclusivity. Read more about how we raised awareness below.
Books and Films that Changed our Minds
Being open to learn and change is at the heart of being inclusive. Every day this week a member of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion taskforce has shared their favourite film or book that has made them think about diversity.
Click on the below to access all our teams recommendations, we hope you enjoy reading and watching some of these thought-provoking recommendations
Inclusive Culture: Inappropriate Behaviour
Banter gone too far? We recognise the construction industry still has a way to go to tackle inappropriate behaviour that may unintentionally alienate and exclude. This year we are taking a deep dive on inappropriate behaviour with live polls to understand if this is still the case, and if so what we can do to combat and tackle it. The polls will help us shape our business to make it a truly inclusive workplace.
Inclusive Working Environments: Agile Working
The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the power of being able to work more flexibly and with greater productivity. We recognise however that there is still a way to go to embed agile and flexible working on construction sites, and this may impact not only the ability to recruit a more diverse workforce, but also productivity and mental health.
This week we are excited to take a deep dive on the topic with all our supply chain and site teams. We have been asking them to provide their feedback on working patterns and how we can make working practices more inclusive.
Inclusive Working Environment: Site Set Ups
We believe all people should be empowered with the right working environment to thrive and progress their careers. We recognise however that the spaces we work in can greatly impact opportunities for inclusivity and diversity.
This week we are taking our first step to better understand how our site set up can be improved to provide better spaces for inclusion by engaging teams to actively consider diversity when developing and planning their site set up requirements.
Raising awareness around Period Dignity through Webinar
Delivered in partnership with social enterprise Hey Girls and FabLittleBag, we hosted a 1-hour webinar to hear from social enterprise tackling period poverty and providing sustainable solutions to sanitary waste disposal. This webinar highlighted the best ways to tackle the stigma attached to talking about periods, and how best to procure period dignity items for sites in a sustainable way.
Watch our on-demand webinar
To wrap up National Inclusion Week, we asked some of our people what inclusivity means to them and why an inclusive workplace is important…hear their thoughts below
What does inclusivity mean to you?
“A culture and environment where everyone is comfortable to be 100% themselves and feel confident that they have access to equal opportunities in their career, regardless of any differences.”
“Inclusivity is really important to me as I think that every human being deserves the same treatment and respect as everyone else.”
“Inclusivity is about making everyone have equal opportunities and make sure they feel that they are valued the same as their peers.”
Why is an inclusive workplace important?
“Feeling included is essential for employee’s happiness and in turn drives positive engagement, collaboration and productivity. Having a diverse range of people brings diverse perspectives and ways of thinking, strengthening innovation, creativity and problem solving.”
“I think it is important as not only can it attract more potential employees but can positively impact our future clients and our competitors. Furthermore, on a personal level it is important to me to work for an inclusive workplace as it is an issue which I hold close to my heart.”
“An inclusive workplace is important because it not only increases diversity which can drive companies to change for the better by differing opinions and creativity, but it can also allow individuals to see ‘role models’ that are like them in the company or industry which allows them to feel that they really can succeed in this environment.”