Published on: Friday, 29 September 2023
Last updated: Friday, 29 September 2023
Greater Anglia has been playing its part in National Inclusion Week 2023, which has been taking place this week and concludes on Sunday, October 1.
The train operator has reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to being a better place to work and is championing inclusion while celebrating togetherness with its staff across the East of England.
Special boards promoting wellbeing, diversity, and inclusion have been put up at Colchester and Wivenhoe stations by local staff. Similar displays have also been placed at the company’s train maintenance depots - Norwich Crown Point and Ilford.
The boards promote everything from World Youth Day, local LGBT+ events and Islamic New Year, to charity helplines for young parents and even National Donkey Day to help raise a smile.
Greater Anglia is also pleased to be working with, and have been endorsed by, Work180 , a female-friendly job vacancy list that aims to give as much visibility to our vacancies as possible, and raise the profile of opportunities for women in what has traditionally been a male-dominated rail industry.
In addition, Greater Anglia is working with EvenBreak , which allows disabled candidates to search for jobs with inclusive employers.
Other initiatives included an internal Greater Anglia event, where staff learnt about how they can be mentored by more experienced peers through a peer mentoring scheme. The programme allows staff to be supported by other staff and contributes to both personal and professional development.
The train operator is also continuing to move forward with gaining its Disability Confident level 2 accreditation, improving how it recruits, retains, and develops its disabled workforce.
Rose Merchant, Greater Anglia’s Talent Attraction Manager, said:
“Our diversity and inclusion strategy helps Greater Anglia to be an inclusive and forward-thinking employer that supports colleagues year-round.
“We are delighted to be supporting National Inclusion Week 2023 – our staff are at the centre of everything that we do, and we are proud to be supporting them and making Greater Anglia a better and more inclusive place to work.
Earlier this year, the train company unveiled a Pride Train livery on one of its Alstom-built class 720 commuter trains, which takes passengers from London Liverpool Street to destinations across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk.
A group for LGBT+ colleagues and their allies, called ‘Affinity’, was also set up earlier in the year.
The aim of the group, run by frontline and manager members of staff together, is to inspire action, education and connection, along with acting as a support community around the topic of sexuality and ensuring the company is as inclusive as possible.