EDF Energy and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) were awarded for their equality and inclusion policies at the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) Awards on 17 July.
The two organisations were awarded top honours for the private sector and public sector, respectively, while housing association Amicus Horizon was named small employer of the year.
Accolades were granted in 21 categories, including ‘Wellbeing at work’, ‘Working families’ and ‘Managing an ageing workforce’, with winners demonstrating a clear response to a specific challenge, definitive and measurable outcomes and evidence of significant impact.
Amicus Horizon was recognised for the wide range of activities it offers to staff, including the Three Peaks Challenge and half-marathons, which have raised £34,000 for local and national charities.
Midcounties Co-operative, which won the award for employee engagement, trained its diversity network employees as ‘diversity champions’, held half-yearly strategy update meetings with senior management and undertook challenges in the local community.
The winner in the ‘Wellbeing at work’ category, Croydon Council, was recognised for its robust sickness absence management policy with departmental sickness panels, a health and wellbeing focus group, a dedicated health co-ordinator and the promotion of national health initiatives.
HMRC was awarded in the category ‘Managing an ageing workforce’ for initiatives such as the appointment of an age champion at executive committee level, the creation of an age network, and research it is conducting around the perception of different generations.
The ‘Flexible/agile working’ award went to the Metropolitan Police Service. The organisation put in a new approach to flexible working after closing 31 of its sites that includes 131 flexible-working patterns.
The Bank of England was recognised with the ‘Working families award’ because it has created a diversity and flexible-working strategy.
The winner’s list included:
- Overall winner 2013 – private sector: EDF Energy
- Overall winner 2013 – public sector: HMRC
- Small employer of the year: Amicus Horizon
- Employee engagement award: Midcounties Co-operative
- Excellence in training award: AmicusHorizon
- Employee network group of the year: Department for Transport and HSBC (joint winners)
- Wellbeing at work: Croydon Council
- Managing an ageing workforce: HMRC
- Flexible/agile working: Metropolitan Police Service
- Working families award: Bank of England
Denise Keating, chief executive of the ENEI, said: “These awards recognise the commitment of organisations to achieving diverse and inclusive workplaces, celebrating the teams and individuals who really are making a difference.
“We have been encouraged and moved by the steps these organisations have taken to promote equality and diversity and hope this will encourage other employers to follow their lead.
“We doubled the number of award categories this year, because so many employers have made a conscious effort to step up in the last 12 months and focus on addressing the inclusion agenda.
“More than 90 organisations entered the awards and we wanted to provide a suitable opportunity for as many as possible to show they are demonstrating innovation.”
