Altogether different

Last week marked an important moment for Royal Mail; as the Executive Board and more than 200 diversity champions came together under one virtual-roof, to share best practice and celebrate the amazing work that our six diversity networks do.

Royal Mail is committed to placing equality, diversity and respect at the heart of our business, and this event presented the perfect opportunity to look at how the networks can collectively work together in this mission. Ultimately, we want to make Royal Mail a place where everybody feels included and comfortable bringing their ‘whole selves’ to work, and where the diversity of our workforce is used to our advantage. Press play to watch our ‘I am Royal Mail, we are Royal Mail’ video.

Timed to coincide with National Inclusion Week and the start of Black History Month, our first-ever annual ‘Network Celebration’ event was a place to inspire, share future plans and recognise colleagues who have gone above and beyond to drive awareness for their respective networks.

CEO Stuart Simpson, said: ‘It was incredibly inspirational to hear what people have been doing over the past year, particularly given the challenging circumstances. We heard an amazing series of stories. There is so much fantastic engagement, and fantastic things that people are doing day in day out throughout the business. Fingers crossed next year, things will be back to normal and we can all meet together.’

As well as hearing from each of the steering groups, the agenda also featured guest speakers Chris Gardner and Paulo Levoni from eBay and allowed attendees to raise their D&I questions directly to the Board. Well done for everyone involved for making this such a successful and motivational event!

To give you just a small taste of some of the activities our six incredible diversity networks have been involved in (on top of everyone’s day jobs!), read on.

LGBT & Friends steering group

• Regularly celebrate and publicise all LGBT+ events (Pride, International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, Bisexual Visibility Day, National Coming Out Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance and more).
• Recently created a guide focused on LGBT+ inclusion, which was shared within the network in September. It includes using pronouns, supporting colleagues, using inclusive language and ways to be a good ally.
• Manage protected Facebook groups: The LGBT+ network and the NeTwork for our Trans* colleagues.

Get involved – email LGBT&Friends@royalmail.com

Women’s steering group

• Holds Springboard workshops to promote work and professional development for women.
• Runs local International Women’s Day events and initiatives.
• Coordinates female ambassador programmes.
• Responsible for the Everywoman partnership.

Get involved – email gender.diversity@royalmail.com

BAME steering group

• Participates in Business in the Community’s cross-organisation mentoring.
• Coordinates Royal Mail’s internal BAME mentoring scheme.
• Raises awareness through national media campaigns, such as the Black History Month postbox initiative.

Get involved – email bame@royalmail.com

Youth & Friends steering group

• The forthcoming ‘Future Delivery Board’ will offer the opportunity for a group of young colleagues from across the business to engage directly with the Executive Board on a quarterly basis to share their insight and opinions. Watch this space.
• Aims to attract more young people into Royal Mail, support/retain young talent and gain more of an insight into what it’s like to work here as a younger colleague (aged 18-30).

Get involved – email YouthNetwork@royalmail.com

Disability steering group

• Has driven initiatives such as re-designing front-line uniform to accommodate hard of hearing colleagues.
• Works closely with external communities, such as The Business Disability Forum.
• With a new Executive Sponsor in place (Nick Dunn), expect to see lots more from this group in the coming months.

Get involved – email DisabilitySteeringGroup@royalmail.com

Parents and Carers steering group

• Supports colleagues with caring responsibilities to work effectively on a day to day basis whilst fulfilling their caring responsibilities – such as reviewing flexible working options and job share opportunities.
• Raises awareness during Carer’s Week.
• With a new Executive Sponsor in place (Jane Simpson), expect to see lots more from this group in the coming months.

Get involved – email Parents.and.Carers@Royalmail.com

If you’re keen to be involved and are passionate about any of our networks, they would love to hear from you. Join today and we’ll see you next year at the Network Celebration 2021 – hopefully in person!