We are committed to supporting our employees to develop their knowledge of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I), as this is key to the success of our DE&I strategy.

To achieve this, we provide training to all employees every two years with a specific focus area. In 2024, our focus was on Active Inclusion and increasing our understanding of the lived experience of people with characteristics that we do not share. By increasing our knowledge of the experience of others, we are able to consistently build inclusion into our day-to-day interactions and encourage our employees to ‘bring your whole self’ to work.

Our Executive Committee piloted the training to continue our approach of DE&I starting at the top. Training sessions were externally facilitated with small groups to support interactivity and openness. The sessions provided information on challenges faced and encouraged open conversations in a safe space, allowing employees to share their own experiences. At times, opinions differed but the focus was always on learning from one another. At the end of the session all employees also committed personally to doing one thing differently to support inclusion.

100% of employees attended Active Inclusion training in 2024. 98% of attendees had a clear idea of how they could contribute to active inclusion following the training.

Describing the programme, colleagues commented: “The entire cohort were able to express their thoughts and opinions in a safe space, without fear of judgement,” and “It takes the DE&I conversation to the next level, really useful and insightful.”

To build on the lessons learnt and commitments made in these sessions, a toolkit of inclusivity in different work environments will be developed in 2025.