Bus and coach operator Stagecoach has signed a diversity and inclusion pledge in support of National Inclusion Week, an annual campaign created by employer membership organisation Inclusive Employers.
The National Inclusion Week campaign, which ran last week between 23 and 29 September 2019, aims to raise awareness of the importance of inclusion in the workplace, as well as highlight the business benefits of having a representative workforce.
The employer pledge associated with the campaign commits signatories to celebrate employees’ differences while working to build an organisational culture that unlocks talent as well as delivering safe and high-quality services for consumers.
Stagecoach, which employs 24,000 staff in the UK, formally signed the diversity pledge on Tuesday 24 September 2019 to align with its goals of building an inclusive workforce and fairly representing all of the customers and communities it serves.
The pledge was signed by the organisation’s chief executive officer, Martin Griffiths, chief operating officer, Mark Threapleton and people director, Clare Burles.
Burles said: “Our transport services are vital for connecting people with jobs, skills and training and helping towns and cities thrive. It’s fundamental that we have a diverse and inclusive workforce to make that happen.
“We celebrate and encourage diversity across our [organisation], and we’ve taken some big steps forward already in improving gender balance. The pledge as part of National Inclusion Week is a commitment right from the top of our business to make this a priority.”
Alongside this commitment, Stagecoach is already working to improve the gender diversity of its workforce by having more women employed in senior positions and greater female representation within its graduate scheme. Stagecoach is additionally looking to improve how it recruits from diverse backgrounds, as well as it tracks data to measure performance.
Richard McKenna, founder and director at Inclusive Employers, added: “National Inclusion Week is about open sourcing inclusion, inspiring businesses across the UK to make inclusion an everyday reality.
“We’re delighted to see Stagecoach taking part in the week again; [it has] been working behind the scenes to build a more inclusive culture, so it’s great to see [the organisation] raising awareness and celebrating the great work going on in [its] businesses.”
