Being our true selves

We are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve, and to creating an inclusive and flexible workplace where all our employees can be themselves and succeed on merit. Without diversity of thought, we cannot continue to innovate and grow. 

Earlier this year we completed a D&I audit, to help us understand how diverse and inclusive RM is today and promote a culture of valuing diversity and inclusion where our employees could bring their whole selves to work. In response to the audit findings, employee volunteers from our D&I Advocates group have created a number of new employee networks to provide peer support and represent marginalised groups in RM by building communities that provide a safe space to be honest about the challenges they face in the workplace.  The groups are led by employees who are part of the identity/identities the network represents, and they are used to not only provide peer support to marginalised employees but also to take group ideas, solutions and concerns to improve policies and practices and implement changes to the organisational culture.

They are all run by volunteers and their purpose is to create employee networks where employees who face systemic discrimination can join together to both support each other, and also to provide input to ED&I programmes and activities across RM.  Understanding that there are groups in society that are disadvantaged for reasons beyond their control and wanting to do something to address the inequality in our society is an important part of building a diverse and inclusive organisation.

Our Women’s Network has been focussing on the topics that impact women across RM Group, but are not well understood in the wider RM community,  For example they have been starting conversations about the challenges of menopause across the business and helping people managers and colleagues to understand the impact this inevitable event has on both our female employees personally and our business performance generally, This is helping to give women experiencing the menopause in RM more confidence to talk openly about their symptoms and the support they need.  Our experience shows that supportive line management can make a significant difference in how well menopausal and perimenopausal colleagues can deal with the impact of their symptoms.

Alongside the Women’s Network other networks are starting to grow, including a LBGTQIA network. The employee volunteers behind the People of the Global Majority Network  were inspired by the idea of creating a safe place and sense of community which they felt had been missing for a long time.

Given neurodiverse conditions can affect up to 10% of the UK population we’re delighted to establish a Neurodiversity Network, which will be launched during Inclusion Week.