Engineering subsidiary
Background
The company was an engineering subsidiary of an international company based in West London. They heard about the HR Healthcheck initiative through their Investors in People advisor from London West LSC.
The company were interested in undertaking the HR Healthcheck as they were currently looking at issues related to Equal Opportunities and wanted an impartial view to take forward their work on equality and diversity. They were aware of specific issues within their company but wanted an independent assessment by the Diversity Specialist to highlight the relevant issues that needed addressing. As well as an audit of their policies to ensure they comply with equality principles and legislation and assistance with producing Equal Opportunities policies that incorporated future legislative implications and help to change working practices; in particular, recruitment and selection procedures.
Aims
To gauge staff understanding of equal opportunities and whether they thought there was a demonstrable commitment to equalities, any personal experience of discrimination in the workplace and what changes they wanted to see in the company in relation to equal opportunities.
What was done?
- Initial review with HR department
- Audit of the current policies and procedures in relation to equal opportunities.
- One-to-one and telephone interviews with 20 staff to measure if they thought there was a demonstrable commitment to equalities, any personal experience of discrimination in the workplace and what changes they would like to see.
Recommendations
- Training for all managers on current and forthcoming legislation and recruitment practices.
- Exploring ways to develop and progress those staff from minority ethnic groups to obtain greater representation at senior levels.
- Undertake an equal pay review and investigate perceived pay differentials.
What was the outcome?
The company implemented the majority of the recommendations in their HR practices including:
- Briefings for managers on the new equal opportunities policies.
- Establishment of a training development programme for staff with the potential to progress to managers and supervisors.
- A new post within HR to advice the company on diversity issues.
- New policies and procedures to ensure female staff feel valued and supported in the workplace.
- Improvement in the monitoring of recruitment procedures.
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