Hitting the right notes

Throughout this week we’ll be sharing stories from around the business to highlight our inclusion campaign - Altogether Different.

Waheed Arshad is a subject matter expert in our Final Mile Optimisation Enterprise programme. He took part in our BAME mentoring scheme.

‘I joined the business in October 2006 on the Operations graduate scheme,’ said Waheed. ‘I was coming towards the end of my computer science degree, but after four years on the course, I realised that it wasn’t a field I particularly wanted to work in for the rest of my life.

‘Of all the graduate schemes I applied for, only one was with an IT company. It was a last resort and I was offered a job there. But I had also applied to Royal Mail’s Operations graduate scheme.

‘Although, like many people, I thought Royal Mail was just a postal delivery company, much of what they had to offer on the Operations graduate scheme was on par with other blue-chip organisations. The fact that they had opportunities across the country was a big selling point, and so I duly accepted.

‘The induction and support structure for graduates was really good and I can only imagine that it’s become even better since then. Since exiting the scheme, I’ve had some ups and downs in my early career but they are all things I have learned from.

‘Given the variety of roles and functions across the business, this has worked out quite well for me. I’ve worked in Delivery Operations, which led to Delivery planning. I then moved into Logistics network planning which in turn, led to an opportunity within Business Transformation working on a Logistics project.

‘I’m now working in Business Transformation on the Final Mile Optimisation project. The project is largely about the upgrade of GEO Route - a delivery routing software - which coincidentally, I was trained in and using as part of my second placement on the Operations Graduate scheme.

‘It’s possible that I may not have been selected for this project as well as other roles within my time at Royal Mail had I not had that previous exposure earlier on, which just goes to show that what you do today, either through your experiences or network of contacts, can end up being very helpful years later.

‘I am proud to tell my family and friends that Royal Mail is a good employer. I think the business has come on leaps and bounds in recognising and valuing diversity. It doesn’t feel like we’re just ticking boxes. More recently, the ‘Bring Your Whole Self to Work’ campaign was a very bold step in Royal Mail’s commitment to diversity and a great step towards changing the mindset across the organisation.

 ‘I think Royal Mail still has its challenges in identifying, attracting, recruiting, developing and retaining talent from amongst BAME communities specifically, so I do hope they will look to benchmark what other leading organisations have been doing in this sphere.’

Supporting BAME colleagues

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Making our business a place where black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues can achieve their potential remains a priority.

Career progression is a key focus as we work towards improving the representation of colleagues from BAME backgrounds across all levels of the business. We need to build greater awareness that the network exists and is there to support our people and shine a light on all the positive things we are doing across the business.

If you are thinking about holding a BAME cultural event in your unit, and need some help please reach out to us. To contact the BAME steering group, or volunteer to help out with their activities, please email bame@royalmail.com.