On 8th March we celebrate International Women’s Day. People across the world celebrate this day to recognise women’s achievements and create dialogue for change when it comes to gender equality. Gender equality has been a focus since the early 1900’s when this day was first celebrated, but with recent publicity and UK regulations, this is a hot topic for a lot of people and companies.
Figures from the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) employment trends survey show 93% of businesses are taking action to close the gender pay gap and increase diversity in their workforces, compared with 62% who were asked a similar question in 2017. Companies recognise the business case for building a diverse workforce – innovation, candidate & client attraction, & ultimately higher return or profits.
I have worked with numerous UK organisations over the last 6 years in Recruitment and have seen tremendous initiatives that have worked really well to promote a diverse and inclusive culture. For example, providing internships or shadow experience for students thinking about a career in technology or providing a return to work program for both men and women returning from a career break. In my experience, it has been the companies who are not just promoting gender equality but equality for all which seems to get it right.
How to celebrate
There are numerous activities you and your company are able to participate in to celebrate International Women’s Day and recognise the importance of creating a dialogue to increase diversity and inclusion.
- Attend an event – there are numerous events being held around 8th March to celebrate this day
- Promote your D&I strategy internally – what are you saying and doing internally to make your current and future employees feel included?
- Host an event – have you ever thought about hosting a coffee break or lunch to publicise the organisations’ thoughts and policies in diversity & inclusion?
- Have a conversation – it could be as simple as having a conversation with a colleague about diversity & inclusion
How YourPrime can help you
As a Diversity Champion and passionate Diversity in Technology advocate; I am here to help you in every step of the way. Through our expertise and passion, we can help you recruit and retain a diverse range of talent.
Here’s how:
- We have a dedicated in-house diversity & inclusion expert
- We have thought-leadership advice around best practices and strategies used to recruit a diverse workforce
- We work closely with a wide range of talented diversity & inclusions professionals and networking groups
- We have previous success initiating and planning diversity networking events
- We have created a step-by-step guide with quick tips on how to promote a diverse environment
If you want to find out more how we can help you recruit and retain a diverse workforce, have a read through our blog page which is updated regularly by the experienced YourPrime Recruitment team. Or, if you would like an informal chat, simply get in touch.
This post was written by Katie Nelson MSc who is YourPrime’s Head of Technical Recruitment and YourPrime Diversity Champion.