Everyone’s welcome
That’s our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion in a nutshell.
We’re the best short break provider in the UK and we’re proud to work with the best people. And we’re all at our best when we’re being ourselves.
We’re a place where everyone feels welcome. A place that you look forward to coming to, whether on a short break or to work. A place where you can be yourself, whoever you are.
Diversity, equity and inclusion is a key area of focus for the business. We want to create an environment where everyone can be themselves, whoever they are.
Where we are
We know that, like many organisations, we’re at the start of a journey of continually learning, evolving and adapting. We have been working closely with third party experts to review our policies, processes and procedures, as well as gathering feedback from our colleagues, all of which has shaped our strategy for the next three years.
We are focusing on three main areas:
Culture
We’re committed to enhancing our workplace and creating an environment where our teams feel a strong sense of belonging and are able to be themselves. We will take positive actions to build a culture that champions diversity, equity and inclusion so that it becomes a natural part of who we are and what we do.
Where we’re going
- We will have trained all colleagues in diversity, equity and inclusion by the end of 2023, with ongoing training for new starters
- We will review all relevant policies through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion
- We will ensure all new strategies take diversity, equity and inclusion into consideration
- We will develop robust data and analytics to inform the business on progress and future direction, ensuring decisions related to our people are based on insight
- We will roll out an awareness programme across the business to empower colleagues to create an inclusive culture and environment
- We will apply a cohesive and modern approach to flexible working, hybrid working and job shares, making them accepted and encouraged practices
- We will review our Employee Councils to ensure the make-up and function supports our work around diversity, equity and inclusion
Leadership
We will empower our leaders to role model inclusive behaviours and learn more about our team. We will lead by example to drive culture change.
Where we’re going
- We will achieve Level 3 of the Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Benchmark by the end of 2024
- We will ensure our Board of Directors review the progress of our work around diversity, equity and inclusion on a quarterly basis
- We will deliver management training to remove barriers to inclusion
- We will seek new ways to listen to and consider our colleagues’ views
- We will regularly update our data, including results of staff surveys, progress against this strategy, and demographic data
- We will embed diversity, equity and inclusion into our People Framework – the behaviours and values we expect of all our colleagues
- We will remove barriers to enable diverse representation at senior levels
- We will utilise insight to develop our leadership and culture, paying particular attention to respect, teamwork and valuing differences
Team
We aim to attract, develop and retain diverse talent, ensuring each member of our team feels equally valued, heard and engaged.
Where we’re going
- We will have delivered inclusive hiring training to all hiring managers by mid-2023
- We will work to ensure the diversity of our workforce and leadership team reflects the diversity of the areas in which we operate, paying particular attention to women in leadership
- We will develop analytics to monitor diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the employee lifecycle, using this insight to investigate potential obstacles and take corrective action
- We will continue to develop and deepen our recruitment teams’ knowledge of inclusive hiring practices
- We will continue to ensure all job descriptions eliminate unconscious bias and other barriers to inclusion
- We will review our external and internal brand marketing, ensuring we are sharing diverse images and real colleague stories
- We will focus on fairness, inclusion and transparency, ensuring that merit, competence and potential are the basis for all decisions around promotions and development
- We will ensure we are alert to the influence of both conscious and unconscious bias
- We will commit to an action plan to reduce the gender pay gap in both the UK and Ireland
- We will create a set of guiding principles around enabling flexibility, both in formal flexible working polices and in our general approach and leadership
- We will encourage managers to approach each individual and situation with flexibility, seeking to work collaboratively with colleagues to find solutions
- We will ensure there are clear pathways for all colleagues to develop meaningful careers with us, as well as removing barriers to learning opportunities
