Exertis has announced a new set of diversity and inclusion initiatives, to demonstrate its strong commitment to fostering a diverse culture across the business. “A diverse workforce with equal representation supports the development of an excellent, progressive company culture,” said Nick Foster, Exertis’ HR Director. “The new initiatives have been introduced to ensure we design a working environment that is inclusive and diverse.”
The initiatives are to be driven by a diversity steering group, with representatives from teams and roles in every region the company operates in, aiming to share and learn from best practices across the group. Managers have been provided with a diversity and inclusion toolkit and are committed to delivering a demonstrable contribution towards diversity representation within their area of the business.
Vishal Chhatralia, Exertis’ Global Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, says the business is driven by an understanding that diversity makes an organisation stronger: “Where we have more diversity, we see within our organisation that we have better and more non-linear ideas and innovation driving growth. Organisations, irrespective of industry, perform better with greater diversity.”
Focusing on attracting a diverse and inclusive talent pool is just one of many ways the group aims to help tackle inequality. Exertis believes in fostering and developing talent to ensure underrepresented and marginalised groups are given the tools they need to prosper. It offers career opportunities across a wide range of functions from sales to finance and has over 860 courses available for employees.
“We have made two big strides,” says Chhatralia. “One is recruitment: senior roles have been recruited with a greater focus on bringing in new members from diverse backgrounds, with increases in female talent and talent from ethnic backgrounds. Second is our ‘always on’ education and communication programme focused on the importance of diversity and what we can do as an organisation to better understand and encourage diversity in recruitment, everyday operations and as a leader.”
In recognition of the differing needs of employees, Exertis has increased maternity, paternity and adoption packages as well as offering flexibility in terms of location and hours, which it believes will encourage diversity. This global strategy demands cross-collaboration across the group’s global network, which will aid the new initiatives.
Emergent technologies such as cloud, AI and robotics will further the demand for support from the group in other industries and sectors. As Exertis stands at the forefront of supporting these industries, the necessity of a diverse workforce is critical. Almost everyone uses technology, and consequently, Exertis believes its services and organisation must reflect the diverse plurality of modern society.
“We are in unprecedented times and the pace of change will only continue to get faster,” Chhatralia says. “In these times it will be those that are able to see and empathise with their customers’ needs who will win. We must continue to build a diverse organisation, which matches the diversity of those customers and partners who we serve. We believe we have the opportunity to bring technology and innovation to the market which really helps people, businesses and society to grow and progress.”
