Working with BME colleagues
As a predominantly white workforce we must recognise what we don’t know, what we don’t experience and see.
We aim to be a fair and inclusive place to work, and it is everyone’s responsibility to take action to address these inequalities.
What we've done
We have:
- reviewed our progress towards race equality with over 200 key stakeholders and co-created our Fair & Inclusive Action Plan in 2019
- collaborated with BME colleagues to co-create our We Need to Talk About Race campaign which launched in March 2020 and aims to openly discuss race and racial inequality, challenge racism and value diversity
- published the council’s definitions of racism and our zero tolerance approach to racism in the workplace
- created an additional safe space – our virtual Fair & Inclusive team – to raise and report issues of discrimination
- held joint workshops with our BME Workers’ Forum and HR Advisory Services to improve our approach to HR investigations relating to race, ethnicity and culture
- delivered mandatory unconscious bias training for all staff
What we will do
We will:
- hold managers to account through our performance management framework
- communicate to staff how and where to raise issues and get support
- communicate our anti-racist values and behaviours to existing and future employees
- deliver anti-racist training and publish anti-racist resources for all staff
- continue to collect, use and share data to ensure actions to address inequalities for BME staff are targeted and effective
- continue to collaborate with our BME staff forum and community groups to improve the experience of our BME staff, and BME staff that apply to work for us