It’s National Inclusion Week and all week we’re talking to our people about the importance of making sure everyone feels included in the workplace and the actions we can take to support this aim.
With this year’s theme of ‘Take Action, Make an Impact’, we’re talking about the importance of allies and how even the smallest action can have the biggest impact. We’re also taking the opportunity to discuss the impact of microaggressions – what they are, how they can affect people, and how to identify them.
We’ll also be hearing from the chairs of our three colleague networks about the work each network is doing, the achievements they’ve already made and how our allies can offer additional support.
National Inclusion Week offers a great opportunity to make a hugely important point to all of us at SGN. Inclusion in the workplace is about ensuring that everyone feels valued and respected as an individual. For me, it speaks to our SGN values including respect, openness and safety.
Essentially, it is about belonging. Belonging is a hugely undervalued condition which we need to perform at our very best. When we feel like we belong in a team, our energy and focus pour into the team’s shared mission. We can be ourselves, we feel respected and that we matter. We feel included. We can be a good teammate. If we don't feel included, we leak energy and focus, and we worry about things. And that’s not a good place to be for any of us.
Our workforce has grown significantly since the beginning of 2022 with well over a thousand colleagues joining and as a result we are more diverse than ever. So we’re asking everyone to check in on new teammates, and old ones, to make sure that they’re okay and really feel like they belong at SGN.
I’m pleased personally to be part of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group which forms part of the Executive Committee’s work. There is some great work taking place as we take a strategic look at how we can fairly and intelligently create an SGN workforce from the widest talent pool possible.
