EDI Charter
“I’ve already learned so much. As well as the opportunity to network, I’ve got some great ideas that can be applied within the workplace, and as a group we are discussing long-term sustainable change.” Melissa’s journey in rail started four-and-ahalf years ago when she joined Colas Rail UK. “For me it is all about creating an environment in which people feel they can speak up, feel safe and be allies, which is particularly important for an industry like the railway,” she said. “I’m enjoying my time in the industry, but one thing that I’ve found is that some people still feel that historic societal attitudes around disability remain due to a lack of understanding, and therefore people do not feel entirely comfortable disclosing a disability for fear of what impact it could have on career progression. Within the Charter we need to establish challenges and remove the stigma and unconscious bias for people from underrepresented and minority backgrounds and actually focus more on removing barriers and enabling everyone to participate in the same way and feel confident to be open and honest.” Positive change Since being launched, the Charter has been successful in raising the profile of EDI in the industry as well as enabling discussion on how to ensure inclusive opportunities for disabled colleagues, building inclusive leadership development and facilitating relationshipbuilding with the industry. In recent months the Working Group has launched a newsletter sharing initiatives and Coffee Roulette, an opportunity for signatories of the Charter to meet, listen and chat with new people across the community on moving inclusivity forward. “As well as the networking rubbing shoulders with people who share my passion on EDI, my aim is to both learn and take away some good initiatives, but also play a part in creating some positive EDI initiatives,” she said.
It is all about creating an environment in which people feel they can speak up
get with the programme and punish them if they don’t. The message I want to spread is about giving people a voice and allowing them to let us know what they honestly think about EDI topics, ways of promoting inclusion, and how we can create opportunity for growth.
The only way this will work is if we all work collaboratively together as an industry, sharing ideas” Melissa says that collaboration is the key to creating long-lasting change and although many organisations have their own initiatives and working groups, it is about bringing those together. But beyond that she also wants to see a wider focus on STEM and early careers as well as removing stereotypes around certain roles. “There needs to be a cultural shift and a change in understanding of what EDI is within organisations because I think when you mention EDI some people think it is all about changing policy. It is not only about policy changes, it is also about educating people, building capabilities to create inclusion and having an overarching industry-wide meaning for how EDI feeds into safety,” she said. “EDI can be a sensitive topic and what we don’t want to do is force people to
Psychological safety Melissa added: “EDI and safety have a clear link and it is key that this is widely communicated, and that people are educated on the role of psychological safety and how this underpins EDI so that everyone feels that they can be their authentic selves and speak up freely with ideas, questions, as well as mistakes. “People being able to feel that they do have a voice and that their voice is heard leads to psychological safety, leads to them being able to speak up about maybe where they see something that isn’t safe or isn’t right. That can only be a good thing for the industry. I think more people are starting to see the importance of EDI both for the individuals and the business and we need to ensure we continue to make improvements. Bringing a diverse workforce into the organisation creates diverse outcomes. The EDI Charter is helping on that journey.”
Mike SURVEY CONSULTANCY LTD Chartered Land and Engineering Surveyors
railbusinessdaily.com
May 2022 | 41