In this episode, Tash Thomas is joined by Dante Frederick, Diversity and Inclusion Partner at Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the rail industry and the important DEI work GTR has been undertaking. 

Exploring some of the DEI challenges facing the rail industry, Dante shares insights into the initiatives GTR has put in place to improve diversity in their workforce, from inclusive recruitment practices to appeal to a more diverse range of candidates, to developing an inclusive culture where all employees feel valued are able to be their authentic selves. 

Tash and Dante discuss the lack of gender representation in particular roles in the rail force, and the success that GTR’s initiatives have yielded so far, such as a doubling in the number of female applicants applying for train driver roles and achieving a 50/50 gender split of new train driver hires. 

On the benefits of diversifying the workforce, Dante comments: “It’s not just a tick box exercise. There is so much value in diversity of experience and perspective. If you have a team made up of the very top of whatever the focus is, if they are all from the same background and same perspectives, there will have the same blind spots and they will make the same mistakes. And as soon as you diversify, even a little bit, that really opens things up for creative problem solving and catching things that otherwise may not have been seen. There is tons of data that speaks to this.”

Tash and Dante also explore the benefits of employee resource groups (ERGs) and share tips for successfully setting them up and how to take account of intersectionality in your approach to ERGs. They also discuss the importance of collecting diversity data and how this can help inform business decisions, but also the sensitivities many may feel sharing data on their protected characteristics. 

Follow Govia Thameslink Railway on LinkedIn.

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in DEI or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Rail Industry

It's time to change the narrative on menopause at work. A one-size-fits-all approach cannot be applied to a diverse group of people who experience menopause and peri-menopause symptoms. So how can employers better support people affected by its symptoms and account for intersectionality?

 EW Group Managing Director, Rachael Wilson, spoke with two workplace menopause experts - Mel Healy and Jane Stubbs - about how organisations can take an intersectional approach to workplace menopause support. It is crucial businesses and leaders understand the health inequalities and cultural nuances that mean women from different groups (whether race, religion, disability, LGBT+, class or any other identity) will experience, vocalise and receive support for menopause symptoms very differently.

Sharing their own personal experiences, they also discuss the different approaches organisations can take to support those experiencing symptoms of the menopause in the workplace, from awareness training and staff consultation sessions, to reviewing policies and procedures.

Mel Healy is a sports therapist, bio-medical scientist and lecturer with a passion for EDI. She is particularly interested in how our different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicity and cultural pressures affect us in the workplace. Follow Mel on Twitter at MelinaHealy, and on Instagram at lets_talk_menopause.   

Jane Ordaz is a menopause awareness advocate and the Founder of a Facebook community group, the Global Menopause Community, to help other women experiencing menopause not living in their passport countries, offering non-country-based support.   

This is part 1 of a 2 part series discussing menopause at work. 

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in DEI or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

Taking an Intersectional Approach to Supporting Menopause in the Workplace (Part 1 of 2)

In this episode, Yvonne Howard is joined by David Latten, Head of Procurement at Logitech, a multi-national consumer electronics manufacturer, to discuss the power the procurement function has to influence DEI across the supply chains they work with, and how Logitech has been working to drive gender equality in the tech and gaming industries. 

With a career spanning over a decade, David has a wealth of knowledge in finance and procurement. He comments “Being in the pivot point between the internal and external there is a huge and untapped potential for what procurement can do. Procurement can be a huge force for good and that’s really exciting. No one can do everything, but we can all do something.”

Sharing insights into Logitech’s values and its focus on promoting gender equality, David discusses Logitech’s partnership with Gender Fair, a coalition of companies focussed on influencing large consumer organisations to work towards gender equality and live up to the United Nations’ Women’s Empowerment Principles.

Yvonne and David also touch on the importance of diversity data reporting, policies, the role of leadership in driving change, ERGs, women in leadership and the challenges of hybrid working.

Connect with David on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/david-latten

The Coalition Home Page: https://genderfairprocurement.com/

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in DEI or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

EW Group

The Power of Procurement in Influencing DEI: Driving Gender Equality at Logitech

To mark International Women’s Day, we were delighted to welcome Pamela Jones to the podcast. EW Group Client Solutions Manager, Nana Umoh, and Pamela discuss the significance of the day and how organisations can better support women in the workplace to excel rather than just survive. 

Rather than just a day’s focus, Pamela stresses the need for gender equality to be an ongoing conversation, focussed on transformation change which tackles issues such as how women are positioned in the workplace, what their contributions stand for, and how they are recognised. 

Pamela comments: “More work is needed around really speaking to power structures. How do we start engaging with organisational power structures to bring this parity to women? I think there needs to be more than just a policy. A lot of the time I speak to CEOs and Managers and they say, ‘we have a policy for that’. Whilst policies are useful, they are redundant unless put into practice and mobilised effectively.” 

Nana and Pamela also speak about the work needed to increase the representation of women in the workplace at all levels, and the additional challenges faced by women from under-represented groups.  

Pamela Jones is an equality and diversity specialist, executive coach, public speaker and mentor who has held multiple leadership roles within financial services in the UK and internationally. She also sits on EW Group’s parent company’s (eQS) Board as a Non-Executive Director. 

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in DEI or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

Dismantling Power Structures All Year, Not Just on International Women’s Day

Welcome to reWorked, the diversity and inclusion podcast from EW Group: Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy. 

A seismic shift has taken place in the world of work.

Workplace culture continues to adapt and respond – as it always has done – to the wider world. Covid turned our working lives upside down; Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement challenged and changed our expectations of what a responsible and inclusive business looks and feels like. Society, culture and work now overlap in ways we have not seen before.

The reWorked podcast provides a space to explore how business can respond to this complex, and sometimes contested, landscape. We speak to leading thinkers and doers about their ideas for what an inclusive workplace looks like in 2023.

Listen below and on all your usual podcast platforms.

reWorked: the Workplace Inclusion Podcast

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