Championing diversity – Race at work charter
Newable strives to be a diverse and inclusive organisation, which proactively works to create a positive impact on our staff, on our clients and on our local communities. Which is why we have committed to the Race at Work Charter.
We aim to be recognised as one of the UK’s best employers, through our advocacy for equality, diversity and inclusion, and through our initiatives to attract, reward, inspire and train our people.
Race at Work Charter
To deliver on our ambition, we’ve signed up to the The Race at Work Charter and joined over 600 other employer signatories to try to improve outcomes for Black, Asian and ethnic minority employees.
The Race at Work Charter was launched by Business in the Community (BITC) in late 2018, with the aim of tackling ethnic disparities in the workplace.
Signing the Charter means taking practical steps to ensure Newable is tackling barriers that ethnic minority people face in recruitment and progression and that the organisation is representative of communities, customers, clients and British society today.
Our Commitment
By signing the Charter, the Group Board has made a public commitment to being an inclusive and responsible employer, building on Newable’s work so far.
Newable has pledged to take the following five key actions:
1. Appointing Chris Manson, Newable’s CEO, as the Executive Sponsor for race.
2. Capturing data and publicising progress.
3. Ensuring zero tolerance of harassment and bullying.
4. Making equality in the workplace the responsibility of all leaders and managers.
5. Taking action that supports ethnic minority career progression.
This builds on work undertaken by Newable over the past several years to drive change and improve representation of ethnic minority groups throughout the company. This includes the ‘Rooney Rule’ which was first implemented in April 2018. The initiative aims to help increase the number of BAME and female candidates securing roles at Newable.
The HR team ensures the ‘Rooney Rule’ is implemented correctly by checking that the line manager interviews at least one BAME and one female candidate for any externally advertised vacancy. If the interview shortlist of any given role comprises of only female candidates, managers will be required to shortlist and interview at least one male candidate and vice versa.
Recruitment statistics continue to show we are attracting a higher percentage of BAME candidates – 37% of the job vacancies in 2019 compared to 24% in 2018. Newable’s BAME proportion rate has increased from 19% to 21% at the end of 2019. We hope we our commitments to the Race at Work charter further helps increase diversity at Newable.