Our Achievements so far

2022

Recruitment

All hiring managers were trained on inclusive hiring practices and potential barriers to applications were reduced by ensuring gender neutral language in our advertisements. In addition we have also included a statement on all job adverts to encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds. In 2022 we successfully recruited 19 apprentices into a variety of disciplines in both our Operational and Central Support locations.

Employee Voice

Colleagues told us twice whether they felt like they had a sense of belonging at Novus. The result was targeted and reviewed by the Board.

Data

We reviewed our colleague diversity data, understanding their differences based on information we had available to us and also by providing colleagues with the opportunity to share their differences through an anonymous questionnaire.

Gender Pay Gap

Our Gender Pay gap reduced to 17.8% mean and 12% median (April 2022 report).

Communication

We celebrated National Inclusion Week internally with an identified activity for each day, encouraging colleagues to get involved.

Colleague Network Groups

Four new Board Sponsored colleague network groups were launched based on colleague feedback. The groups are Disability, Carers, LGBTQ+ and Race focussed.

Learning and Development

We launched three new development programmes for our leaders. We ended 2022 by inviting all colleagues to further develop their EDI knowledge by undertaking eLearning.

External Commitments

Race - We signed the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter. Menopause - We implemented a menopause policy and signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge.

1.

Everyone is included and will feel able to be themselves

Purpose

Nobody ever goes home after a working day and feels that they have been discriminated against or treated unfairly

Our Focussed Commitments

2.

We will actively champion diversity, inclusion and belonging

3.

We will enhance education and development opportunities that support everyone

1. Everyone is included and will feel able to be themselves

Our people will be empowered to take an active role in creating and shaping how it feels to work at Novus. Colleagues’ opinions, ideas and feedback will be actively listened to.

We will actively seek opportunities that show we care about each other and prioritise people through leading people-oriented policies and procedures, which are flexible and inclusive.

Everyone will be able to feel they can belong at Novus. Our people will be ambassadors of diversity and inclusion and we will support our colleagues to break down barriers and increase awareness.

We will create feedback channels that encourage our people to communicate with the business regularly. Our leaders will champion colleague voice and act upon feedback.

All colleague network groups will be Board sponsored and employee led to enable action and steer change to support minority group sense of belonging.

Our People policies will be reviewed annually to ensure they remain people oriented and industry leading.

Measures of Success:

80%

Our colleagues’ belonging score is at least 80%

Each business unit has a colleague engagement plan that prioritises inclusion

2. We will actively champion diversity, inclusion and belonging

The decisions we make will always be fair, and we will hold ourselves and our colleagues to account for our actions. This will include our recruitment decisions, which will always be transparent and ensure the right person joins our team.

How we give back to the communities we work in will be evident in every piece of work we complete. We will pride ourselves in our external memberships and pledge our support publicly to EDIB initiatives to promote positive change. We will continuously seek other opportunities to make a difference beyond the workplace, whether through charities or partnerships.

We will work within our industry to drive better inclusive practice through working together with our stakeholders. We will publish our intersectional data alongside action plans to encourage representation. We will work with our partners to ensure EDIB is a priority throughout all our interventions.

We will work in partnership with specialist organisations to support us to better represent people differences internally and will ensure that candidates can see themselves in the role they are applying for.

Our reward and recognition is fair and enables us to attract people to work for us.

Our colleagues are clear on their personal responsibilities for all inclusion related metrics.

Measures of Success:

Achieve Business in the Community’s Responsible Business Benchmarking Accreditation

The % of people applying for roles from minority groups increase year on year

3. We will enhance education and development opportunities that support everyone

Empowering our colleagues to continuously develop will require a comprehensive approach to learning and development that recognises differences. Ensure self-directed learning alongside tailored programmes of development accompanied by the provision of time, space, and resources to support all.

Colleagues will be able to see a career at Novus and will be given opportunities to access practical as well as developmental skills and education to support them both inside and outside of work.

Colleagues from minority groups will have access to mentors to support their development and to better build awareness of potential barriers.

Education opportunities will exist for all colleagues to support an increased understanding towards others differences.

All recruiting managers will be trained on inclusive recruitment methods, and we will ensure our recruitment practices will be open to all.

Measures of Success:

Year on Year increase in minority backgrounds colleagues accessing development opportunities

5%

5% increase in inclusion related training hours for all colleagues