Bristol born and bred

As part of our new series profiling colleagues from our black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community, project deployment manager, Majid Younis, shares his story…

‘The Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and the recent renewed focus on incidents of racism have made me reflect on my own experiences. I believe the focus on how tolerant and fair we are as a society is something important that should be reviewed and reflected on by all of us.

‘Firstly, I think it’s important for me to mention that I haven’t personally experienced any direct racism towards myself as an individual during my 17 years to date with Royal Mail.

'I started in the business when I was 16, working on the operational floor at Bristol Mail Centre while studying for my A-levels and university. My early experiences involved seeing racist comments written on the toilet doors in the mail centre. There would be swastikas and Islamophobic comments and I remember feeling both shocked and very uncomfortable not knowing which of my colleagues could have these feelings.

‘In terms of more recent experiences in my position as a manager on the Collections project team – I am one of a very small group of people from an ethnic minority background working in a non-operational management role. This is significantly different to the BAME representation on the operational floor.

‘I remember attending a Geo route training course and one of the other learners asked me in front of all the attendees: “Where are you from? I mean, where are you really from?” I replied stating that I was born and bred in Bristol, but my parents are originally from Pakistan. I can remember distinctly just how uncomfortable this question made me feel.

‘It can be very interesting attending large conference events for our wider project team and when looking around the room amongst hundreds of other attendees, trying to spot another BAME colleague. More often than not, there will only ever be one or two.

‘As a BAME individual looking to progress in my career at Royal Mail, I do feel that if I want to progress, I need to be the best, and significantly better than my white counterparts or I won’t be considered. This is supported by various studies that have been carried out involving people with non-English sounding names applying for the same jobs as people with more traditional English- sounding names.

‘I remember so many of my BAME colleagues on the operational floor, holding degrees and good academic qualifications, but not seeing any of those same individuals in management roles. Dare I say it, I have also seen some of my white colleagues in management without the same qualifications.

‘I feel proud to work for Royal Mail and I am happy that the company allows me to practice my beliefs. As a practicing Muslim, I pray five times a day and I feel fortunate that we have really good prayer rooms and washroom facilities in most mail centres nationally and that these resources are available to those who wish to use them. I’d like to add that I have never experienced any barriers from my line managers for allowing me to take a break to perform my daily prayers.’

Supporting BAME colleagues

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 good 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 the BAME steering group, or volunteer to help out with their activities. You can contact the group by emailing bame@royalmail.com.