Capability not gender
Having recently joined a webinar on the Times Top 50 Employers for Women, contract performance manager and chair of the Disability steering group, Suzanna Bailey, has kindly agreed to share her insights into the session.
The Times Top 50 Employers for Women – of which Royal Mail is proud to be a part of for the sixth consecutive year – is the UK’s most highly profiled and well-established listing of employers leading the way on workplace gender equality
The webinar reflected on 10 years of The Times Top 50 and was hosted by Dame Helena Morrissey, alongside a panel of speakers drawn from some of the companies on the list. Some of the issues, which were discussed in the webinar, include: the current risks Covid-19 poses to gender equality in the workplace, and what needs to happen going forwards to ensure gender equality in the future.
‘Although I’m part of the Disability steering group, I joined this webinar as my interest in diversity and inclusion reaches much farther than our disability network and of course, being a woman, this topic really interested me,’ said Suzanna.
‘As well as hearing from Business in the Community (BITC) about all the amazing things they’re doing to help ensure that women can achieve their full potential at work, we also heard from Santander, Fujitsu and McKinsey Group about new gender diversity initiatives that they’ve been working on, the challenges they have faced in regard to working through the pandemic and how their organisations are adapting to our new normal.
‘Last year, Santander didn’t make the Top 50 list, so it was really interesting to hear how following their omission, they changed their focus on gender diversity and how committed they were to getting back on the list. It just goes to show how important diversity and inclusion is, not just to Royal Mail, but to other organisations too.
‘If you get five minutes spare, I would highly recommend having a look at the BITC website and maybe signing up to their newsletters. They’re involved in so many great diversity and inclusion initiatives, such as their support for greater visibility of women during the current crisis. There are also so many fascinating resources on offer, such as the below fantastic blogs and factsheets.’
- Factsheet - Gender and mental health at work
- Blog - ‘Half of businesses choose not to report their 2019-2020 gender pay gap’
- Factsheet - Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women, mental health and Covid-19
- Factsheet - Covid-19 and gender equality at work
- Toolkit - www.bitc.org.uk/toolkit/covid-19-domestic-abusesupporting-employees/
As one of the UK’s biggest employers, we are committed to putting equality and diversity at the heart of our business. Diversity and inclusion is about having representation from a wide variety of groups, but more importantly, it’s about giving those groups a voice and an opportunity to contribute.
You may or may not be a member of one of the 'protected characteristics' of the Equality Act 2010. These 'protected characteristics' may or may not be visible. But regardless, there’s one thing we all have in common - we are all part of Royal Mail.
Click here to read more about our six diversity steering groups.
