Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Find out more about S-RM’s approach to EDI and why it sits at the heart of our strategic agenda.
At S-RM, we’re proud to foster an environment where people are valued for their individual experiences and perspectives. Because of this, our EDI journey sits at the heart of our strategic agenda. Being open to differences makes us better at what we do so we strive to embed EDI values throughout our business in a way that’s realistic and sustainable.
Building an equitable, diverse and inclusive culture
Establishing a culture of EDI takes time and dedication. In 2021 we starting working with Challenge Consultancy, experts in building more inclusive workplaces. They helped us understand what we do well, highlighted areas where we could improve, and supported us in developing our EDI strategy. This included the appointment of our first EDI Lead, Maria Petnga-Wallace, who holds a strategic leadership role in helping us improve EDI at S-RM.
Embedding EDI for real change
Continuous learning underpins all of S-RM’s EDI objectives and is embedded into all stages of our employee’s journey from their first day. Compulsory EDI learning modules are complemented with regular Culture Café conversations on topics such as allyship and parental leave. Our partners Inclusive Employers have delivered a bitesize learning series covering topics such as inclusive language and challenging microaggressions. Inclusion is embedded into all our Academy’s programmes including training for team managers and for those carrying out interviews.
Empowering our people to drive our EDI agenda
S-RM’s EDI Council consists of its chair, Maria Petnga-Wallace, and five employee network leads. Each of the employee networks are sponsored by a member of the Executive Committee. Network leads work with EDI champions to engage with people across the business to understand their views on equity, diversity and inclusion, and to deliver awareness-raising initiatives throughout the year. Previous events have included lunches for Eid and US Black History Month with local tours and film club discussions for Pride. We have employee networks for Disability, LGBT+, Race & Ethnicity, Religion & Culture, and Women.
Evidencing our approach to EDI
S-RM’s approach to EDI aims to design interventions that are evidence-based. We are proud to commit to the Standards of Business in the Community’s Race at Work charter, Tech Talent Charter and Disability Confident. And we undertake regular reviews of our policies and processes to ensure our approach to recruitment improves the diversity of the people who work at S-RM.
Meet our dedicated EDI lead
Maria Petnga-Wallace drives our EDI agenda. She chairs the EDI Council and works with our Executive Committee to ensure accountability within leadership at S-RM. If you’d like to find out more about our EDI commitments feel free to contact her directly.
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Building a culture of EDI
We know that achieving our equity, diversity and inclusion goals requires deep scrutiny of our business, so we’ve made it part of our culture.
