All In – our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

What’s this all about?

There’s an important conversation happening about equality, diversity and inclusion right now. It’s only the start, and we want to be part of it.

But what does this really mean? And why is it so important?

To us, this is about treating everyone with respect and bringing the best out of each and every one of us. And this is how we plan to do it.

Our plan

We need to:

• come up with new ideas
• stop doing things the way we used to
• call out bad behaviour
• make sure we treat everyone with respect, always.

We haven’t always prioritised this issue as we should. For that we hold ourselves accountable and promise to do better. We want everyone to feel included. So, we have to do more.

It’s going to take time

We know this isn’t going to happen overnight. No big culture change ever does. But we are in this for the long haul. And we aren’t going to stop until we get it right. We want to involve everyone in this change, and it starts with a two-year action plan.

Over the next couple of years, we‘ll start seeing positive change happen in the place we work, and in the communities we ‘re involved in.

The idea is that everything we do from now on will include a clear focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. We’ll challenge ourselves and others on whether we really are doing our best to treat everyone with respect and to give them the opportunity to be their best.

And if we aren’t? Then we’ll keep searching for the ways in which we can do better.

Change starts from the inside

We have to take time to reflect on how we will get this right. It’s not the time to make vague promises.

So, we’re going to work with our colleagues to look at where we can be more inclusive as an employer. And then put new practices in place to be more representative of the communities we serve and the country we live in. We will stamp out biased and out-dated points of view.

It’s 2020, and there’s no place for discrimination of any kind on our doorstep.

Here’s the detail…

The corporate (but important) stuff you need to know:

• We’re going to collect and securely hold EDI-related data to identify areas to improve our services
• We’ ll recruit, develop and keep diverse and talented colleagues that reflects the communities we work in
• We’re going to encourage customer involvement to deliver high-quality services.

The road ahead

We expect to face some challenges as we continue to learn and improve. But we hope that, by listening and trying hard to find new ways of improving, we can create equal opportunities for everyone. We want to be part of ending discrimination for good. It’s in everyone’s interest that we succeed.

We hope that by working with our partners we can make change happen more quickly and effectively so the barriers that still exist in our country come down sooner.

There‘s a lot of work to be done, so we’d better get started.

Why are we doing this?

And if you’re still wondering why we’re doing this? It’s because we can’t address what we don’t talk about.  To do the best we can for customers, colleagues and communities, we need everyone to be given the chance to be their best. No ifs or buts, that’s the right thing to do, always.

We are All In.