Railway organisation HS2 and recruitment business PageGroup (pictured) were among the organisations recognised for inclusive and equal workplace practices at the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) Awards 2017.
The awards ceremony, which was held at The Law Society in London on 11 July 2017, celebrates organisations with a commitment to good practice above and beyond legal compliance, and which use innovative approaches to inspire other employers.
Winning employers had to demonstrate how they responded to specific challenges, showing definitive and measurable outcomes, and evidence of a significant impact within the workplace.
PageGroup won three awards, including the Overall Winner 2017 – Private Sector prize, the Inclusive Culture Award - Private Sector, and the Team of the Year Award.
HS2 also won multiple awards, including Overall Winner 2017 – Public Sector, and the Impact through Innovation Award. IBM UK was recognised with the Global Diversity Award, and the Southbank Centre won the Representative Workforce Award and the Small Employer of the Year Award.
Nationwide Building Society and legal organisation DWF achieved the Gold Standard Award for Equality, ENEI’s online benchmark, for the first time this year. Santander and South East Coast Ambulance Service received this award for the fourth consecutive year, and Zurich Insurance has was awarded the Gold Standard for the second year running.
The full list of winners is:
- Overall Winner 2017 – Private Sector: PageGroup
- Overall Winner 2017 – Public Sector: HS2
- Small Employer of the Year: Southbank Centre
- Personal Achievement: Shomari Burford, Ministry of Justice
- Gold Standard Award for Equality: DWF, Nationwide Building Society, Santander UK, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, and Zurich Insurance UK
- Global Diversity Award: IBM UK
- Inclusive Culture Award - Private Sector: PageGroup
- Inclusive Culture Award - Public Sector: Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
- Disability Confident Award: Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Service
- Representative Workforce Award: Southbank Centre
- Equality and Inclusion Senior Champion of the Year: Seema Bains, senior partner at DWF
- Community Impact Award: Anchor
- Impact through Innovation Award: HS2
- Advancing Social Mobility in the Workplace: DWF
- Inclusive Procurement Award: HS2
- Team of the Year Award: PageGroup
- Employee Network Group of the Year - Private Sector: Standard Life
- Employee Network Group of the Year - Public Sector: NELFT NHS Foundation Trust
Denise Keating, chief executive officer at ENEI, said: “The ENEI annual 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 by the steps organisations have taken to promote equality and diversity and hope this will encourage other [organisations] to follow their lead. We are delighted that so many organisations are prepared to publicly share best practice and are delighted to be able to recognise the innovative work they are doing.”
Sarah Kirk, global diversity and inclusion director at PageGroup, said: "We are delighted to have been recognised three times at the ENEI Awards. This is a fantastic achievement for PageGroup and confirms to us and to so many other employers that sharing best practice in equality and inclusion is definitely the way forward."
