Julie Dennis , Acas Head of Inclusive Workplaces Policy
Julie is a diversity and inclusion specialist with 20 years’ experience in the public and voluntary sector. At Acas she’s responsible for leading and providing expert advice to build an inclusive culture.
It’s been over 12 months since we launched our race equality action plan.
The plan formed part
Acas’s people strategy, which has the overall aim to make Acas a great place to work. It focuses on 4 key themes:
representation
promoting inclusive behaviours
transparency and accountability
promoting good practice in the workplace
What we’ve done so far
As part of our focus on representation, we have been reviewing our recruitment armenia phone number library processes to ensure we are doing all we can to remove any barriers for ethnic minority candidates. This has included reinforcing the need for ethnically diverse panels.
We have also run several positive action initiatives, including our Insight Pairs programme. By matching junior ethnic minority staff with senior leaders, the programme creates a powerful alliance. Shared knowledge and understanding of lived experiences facilitates a shift awareness and, most importantly, action at senior leader and board level.
We have also run our ‘pathways to releasing your full potential’ sessions. This 3-part workshop supports participants in the skills and tools that can increase effectiveness, address confidence issues and boost potential – whether they are seeking immediate opportunities for progression or as a focus on long term career goals.
Creating an environment where people can bring their whole selves to work is an essential element of our action plan. It’s also a key focus of our promoting inclusive behaviours theme. So, our ‘let’s talk about race’ meetings were designed to be informal and informative spaces. They give our people the opportunity to have open and why is the use of color important in marketing? honest conversations around the realities and challenges of race discrimination. Sessions were delivered peer-to-peer, by Acas colleagues.
We have also run sessions with our senior leaders to increase their awareness. Sessions focus them on what they can do to ensure Acas is an anti-racist organisation and the important role they play in achieving that.
And our Race Equality Staff Network continues to deliver sessions to raise aero leads awareness, including a number of specific workshops during Black History Month. Gil Pennant, a health and wellbeing coach, spoke about using happiness as a tool to tell your story. And Bernadette Thompson, deputy director for inclusion, wellbeing and employee engagement in the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, told her personal story and career journey. Finally Dr Anita Franklin, playwright and academic, told the story of Dr Mary Macleod Bathune, a Black American activist.