Prospects Diversity & Inclusion Strategy 2018 2020
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Prospects Diversity & Inclusion Strategy 2018 – 2020
2018 – 2020 2 Prospects EDI Strategy
2018 – 2020
Contents
Diversity and Inclusion as business strategy p4
Leadership p4
Our leaders’ views p5
Statements from Staff p7
Why is Prospects a leader in diversity? p8
Equalities data and research: No customer left behind p 10
Parental engagement in school – work with ‘harder to reach’ parents p 10
Wellbeing award for schools p 11
Wellbeing and mental health conferences p 11
Themes and Targets p 12
Prospects EDI Strategy 3
2018 – 2020
Diversity and Inclusion as business strategy Leadership
Prospects is a Leader in Diversity and in February 2017 was In order to develop the company and strengthen our market share,
recognised as the UK Large Business of the Year for our work on as well as enter new business sectors, we will make sure D&I is at
Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) by the National Centre for Diversity. the forefront of our executive leadership agenda. Our leaders will
The recognition is important and well deserved, given the impact we continue to align and integrate our common social purpose into all
have on our various customer groups across the company including business development strategies. In line with the Leaders in Diversity
some of the most disadvantaged in our society. We recognise that standard we also recognise that to be a true leader many other staff
our journey as Leaders in Diversity has not ended and there is more across the business can influence the D&I agenda and that Prospects
work to do to retain our status as a Leader but also to create more will continue to encourage and provide opportunities for “distributed
opportunity for our customers and service users to progress and leadership”.
make the most of their lives.
Inclusion is a major factor of our business strategy as we integrate
our values to inspire the people we work with to develop their full
potential into our service delivery. We will continue to do this by
accepting the holistic business case for diversity, accepting there is
no diversity without inclusion and by providing tailored education,
employment, training and care products and services. This is
supported by an ongoing commitment to develop an inclusive
working culture and environment.
Our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy will run from March 2018 to
March 2020. It will be a living document and will adapt to reflect
customer and employee engagement, changes in the political
and business environment and interaction with various partners
and funders.
In 2017 Prospects joined the Shaw Trust Group, a national charity
creating brighter futures for people and communities with a strong
emphasis on supporting those with disabilities. Shaw Trust Group
values the right to inclusion and independence. Prospects will
continue to champion fairness, respect, equality, diversity,
inclusion and engagement within this wider group.
4 Prospects EDI Strategy
2018 – 2020
Our leaders’ views
Nick Bell, CEO – “As well as having a long-standing personal it should be. To my mind we need to continue to strive for a fully
commitment to improved equality and diversity, as CEO of the tolerant, open, inclusive society that embraces and celebrates
Prospects Group I also know that this approach benefits the diversity in all its guises and ensures equality of opportunity for
business. Having a culture of strong D&I and seeking continuous everyone.
improvement in that culture and our practices means that it is easier
to recruit, retain and develop a wider pool of talent for the company. “You can all help with this. Everyone has already done a fantastic
That culture similarly helps us deliver quality services to a wide range job getting us this far on our journey to even stronger EDI, through
of people from a wide range of backgrounds. It’s that constant and Investors in Diversity, then Leaders in Diversity and Best Large
consistent quality that has helped us thrive in the past and which Company 2017 in the country for D&I. Many of the things we
will underpin our future. Without strong D&I helping us to tailor our have already put in place are from your suggestions of how we
approaches to individual customers, we would not be able to deliver could improve things. Please keep those suggestions for further
and demonstrate that quality to everyone. improvement rolling in and please continue to keep your great
focus on D&I. Individually none of us can change the world, but
“To me, all the characteristics covered by D&I legislation are important collectively - pulling together across Prospects and the wider
areas for us to work on and improve. Over my lifetime there have Shaw Trust Group, we can change the worlds of the hundreds of
been significant improvements to D&I in the UK. However, we know thousands of people we work with every year.”
that this is not always the case internationally and, even in the UK,
D&I awareness, culture and practice is nowhere near as strong as
Prospects EDI Strategy 5
2018 – 2020
Victoria Blakeman, Director of Offender Management and Special Judith Denyer, Operations Director, Young People and Family
projects – “Diversity and Inclusion is important because in today’s Services – “Diversity and Inclusion informs everything I do in
society there is so much judgement and stereotyping it’s easy for Prospects, from the use of data to identify emerging disadvantages
people to become marginalised. Having experienced discrimination in to working with my teams and the communities we serve to
a previous ’life’ it’s important to me that others don’t have to have a co-produce programmes and services that help people to
similar experience.” overcome disadvantages.”
Thinking about the importance to the business, she added:
“Prospects is an organisation which works, in the main, with people Andrew Coates, Director of Integration, Shaw Trust Group –
who for whatever reason are socially disadvantaged it would be “The Prospects Group inspires a very diverse range of young people
hypocritical if as an employer we didn’t set our own bar high. How and adults to develop their potential. As an organisation our mission
then would we be able to try and influence change both in the person, is to transform people’s lives and treat everyone as an individual. We
and other organisations if we didn’t practice what we preach? It’s what are passionate about ensuring that we find the right support for each
makes us credible! person that we work with and that no one should be excluded for any
reason and it is for this reason that I work for Prospects, part of the
“I think as an organisation whilst we have many strengths around Shaw Trust Group.”
D&I, there is so much more we can do. I would like to develop
opportunities for offenders within the organisation. This covers the
whole EDI spectrum potentially.” Andrew Thraves, Director of Education – “I am very pleased that the
work we do in the education units at the Prospects Group, is directly
instrumental in helping schools successfully deliver equality, diversity
Brenda Cabras, Director of Employment and Skills – “Diversity and and inclusion in their teaching and learning strategies. For example,
Inclusion is central to our daily lives and work in Prospects. Through Optimus Education’s Knowledge Centre, a digital resource library for
careers guidance and employability support, we can help the most schools, has a section dedicated to equality, diversity and inclusion
disadvantaged and often excluded to improve their life chances. (EDI), consisting of many policy templates, advice and guidance
Diversity is fundamental to our service delivery in: worksheets, and school-led training courses. Over the past few years
hundreds of schools have downloaded these materials, and used
• reaching out to our customers
them to inform the development of their EDI strategies.
• delivering in the heart of our communities
• helping people to overcome barriers. “In this way we have directly and positively influenced the delivery of
EDI policies in schools, enabling them to more than meet their Ofsted
“For me, D&I is about recognising the dignity of the individual, the requirements for this important area, as well as help senior leaders
value of inclusion and the richness that diversity adds to our lives, and teachers ensure their young people stay safe.”
today and for the future. Through recruitment and training practice
I ensure our staff reflect the communities we serve.”
6 Prospects EDI Strategy2018 – 2020
Statements from Staff
Lisa Robson, Team Leader, Employment and Training
South West – “Diversity and inclusion is good for our workforce.
As a recruiting manager, I can see first-hand how recruiting from
a diverse pool of candidates means a more qualified workforce.
The more diverse the mix of people in our business, the greater the
mix of skills, experiences, perspectives and ideas we can draw on, and
diversity fosters a more creative and innovative team / workplace. D&I
means maintaining an inclusive environment, recognising individual as
well as group differences, treating people (employees and customers)
as individuals, and placing positive value on those differences.
Promoting workplace inclusion ensures that no one feels left out.
It’s important we consider not only how we work together as team
members on a daily basis, but also how we engage with customers,
and in return how they engage with us and with each other.”
Nicola MacFarlane, Business Development Team Leader,
Weymouth – “EDI is important in ensuring we treat our customers
and staff fairly and equally, and that everyone has the same
opportunities and support to develop their own potential. We
have run local initiatives to target specific groups, including
opportunities for our 18-24 year olds, which proved very successful
in enabling more to gain employment. We’re currently running
digital inclusion courses in Dorset for those with learning difficulties
and I.T related barriers. We are also running group sessions for
the over 50’s in job search, and interventions for single parents.
All of the initiatives have already resulted in customers moving
forward closer to employment. Seeing a customer overcome barriers
related to a protected characteristic is very rewarding. We helped a
female service user who had just hit 60 and felt that she had been
labelled as too old to be employed; she was very emotional and
terrified of what the future held. We worked on her confidence,
and anxiety management and found her positions starting from
voluntary and developing into permanent part-time employment.”
Prospects EDI Strategy 7Why Prospects is
2018 – 2020
Prospects has achieved We share
a Leader in Diversity? Disability Confident Status good D&I
practice
corporately
via our
internal
e-magazines,
ProspectUs
and Voice
50% of our Board and 74% of our Employee Council is female,
reflecting the colleague gender ratio at Prospects
Diversity and Inclusion
is one of Prospects’
core values, alongside Our focus on wellbeing
valuing colleagues for staff includes:
a. Staff wellbeing conferences
b. Health Assured, our Employee Assistance
Programme which includes Psychological
Prospects
Services and is free for all staff to use has a zero
Prospects c. articles in ProspectUs supporting
colleague wellbeing tolerance
d. events supporting Mental Health Awareness Week
is a mindful e. walking meetings
approach to
f. on-site yoga
8 Prospects EDI Strategy
employer g. the Cycle to Work scheme
harassment2018 – 2020
Marketing materials
supporting D&I, including
raising awareness via:
a. posters
b. screensavers
c. our pocket guide to
Protected Characteristics
d. Annual Report
e. The Prospects website
Inclusive working
environments are
assured via:
a. adjustments to workspaces
b. flexible working
c. support for diversity events
d. support for religious events
e.
f.
respecting dietary requirements
addressing inappropriate language or
Strategic and operational Diversity and
behaviour in disciplinary procedures
Inclusion meetings have been established
Equality Impact We have a high
Assessments are completion rate for
D&I is a standing item undertaken on all Investors and Leaders
raised in training new policy/ in Diversity staff
activities including: procedural decisions surveys.
a. Corporate Induction
b. Interview Skills training Prospects EDI Strategy 92018 – 2020
Equalities data and research: No customer Parental engagement in school – work with ‘harder
left behind to reach’ parents
We are committed to improving our performance, service relevance We will continue to develop our parental engagement work using
and the customer experience through regular collection and detailed Prospects’ Leading Parent Partnership Award which provides a
analysis of equality data. Equality and Diversity Impact Measurement framework for educational organisations to deliver effective parental
(EDIM) is vital in supporting performance improvement, enables us to engagement. We are using our extensive experience of working in
tailor customer journey relevance, and can strongly influence strategic schools to add a new offering to the LPPA range of services, with the
delivery decisions. development of ‘LPPA Engage’, a new award specifically designed
to engage harder to reach parents and carers who, for a variety of
As well as using performance data we analyse a range of additional reasons, find it difficult to engage with schools and support their
quantitative input incorporating surveys (of staff, customers and children’s learning outcomes and social development. LPPA Engage
stakeholders), demographic data and public research and polling. will support schools to identify and work effectively with parents and
This provides a very rich picture of the factors that contribute to our carers who need additional help, maximising the reach of this work.
customers’ situations, identifies areas of further interest and provides We help harder to reach parents and carers with
a strong statistical argument to underpin improvement and address
• transition, working with them as their children
inequality. We also analyse qualitative data including customer and
transition through or between schools
colleague feedback, fora and discussion. Using this type of descriptive
• participation, ensuring that all groups of parents are
data provides vital context to data analysis and is especially effective
included in supporting their children’s
when used in conjunction with numerical data to analyse equality and
learning, and in developing their own learning
diversity impact. Analysing both types of data is effective in its breadth
• communication, including supporting schools to become
of scope, accuracy and reliability, meaning that we can map trends and
welcoming, communicative and friendly places for all parents
identify need, to inform service development and improve customer
• guidance, making sure that all guidance provided is clear
engagement and satisfaction.
and accessible, to help parents support
their children’s learning and development
• home-school links, producing parent-friendly
policies to establish effective links.
Working towards our award demonstrably helps harder to reach
parents to participate in their children’s learning. Presently over 1,000
schools and educational settings have been through the award, or are
currently involved.
10 Prospects EDI Strategy2018 – 2020
Wellbeing award for schools Wellbeing and mental health conferences
We have developed a schools’ wellbeing award in partnership with Our inclusive wellbeing and mental health work also includes
The National Children’s Bureau. The whole-school approach is national conferences. Our Annual Mental Health & Wellbeing
focussed on establishing an inclusive culture that regards mental in Schools conference, which is in its 11th year, helps education
health and wellbeing as the responsibility of all, and seeks to ensure practitioners do develop the confidence, skills and resources to
that effective practice and provision is in place to promote the provide their pupils with meaningful support. Key areas include
emotional wellbeing and mental health of both pupils and staff. tackling mental health stigma and exploring the impact of social
media on mental wellbeing, presented by leading mental health
Working towards our award helps to experts and practitioners; activities include case studies and practical
tailored workshops, offering practical guidance and skills to make a
• promote positive social and emotional wellbeing,
real difference to students affected by mental health difficulties.
mental health and wellness in the school
• recognise signs and symptoms of emotional and
mental health problems in both pupils and staff
• involve pupils and staff to develop good practice and
take positive steps to improve their own wellbeing
• link with families and other services to prevent and reduce
mental health problems and intervene early when they arise
• help staff identify and address the rapidly
changing and demanding pressure they face.
Our wellbeing and mental health work helps schools to
• identify and act on signs of emotional or mental distress
• establish a positive culture where it is normal
and acceptable to talk about mental health
• improve pupil mental health and wellbeing, which we
know leads to better behaviour and academic outcomes
• improve staff mental health and wellbeing,
leading to reduced staff illness and absence.
Prospects EDI Strategy 112018 – 2020
Themes and Targets
Service Development
race, 2020 sexual orientation/parents/family life
• Continued focus on customer access – accessible • Achieving Disability Confident Level 3 and raising
premises and effective digital services awareness of the award across the group
• Supporting customers to overcome barriers making • Celebrating success – Prospects’ own internal award
adjustments for customers where appropriate scheme was in place by December 2017; the Pride of
• Increased customer engagement particularly with Prospects award recognises staff who go the extra mile
disadvantaged groups and those with protected characteristics • Identifying role models across the business to
• Better reports and analysis of those we work enable distributed leadership and increase
with and those we do not. We will undertake three the visibility and normalcy of minority groups
research reports sampling our contracts per year • Increasing activities linked to Corporate
• Improved understanding of customer Social Responsibility strategy so we can
needs through better initial assessment demonstrate our added value to communities
• Delivery approaches for particular groups – • Creating and promoting access to learning
eg community outreach from mosques opportunities on D&I, unconscious bias, and
• Ensure digital developments do not disenfranchise work with specific groups on Prospects Learning
• Clear links to Corporate Social Responsibility – • Ensuring there is a clear link to talent management
making things happen – community impact plans working closely with HR and Organisational Development
• Work experience and job opportunities within the company – • Increasing the effectiveness of workforce data reporting
targeted schemes eg offenders and apprenticeship opportunities to inform strategy and business development
• Better outcomes for young people • HR will produce regular and timely reports
within and leaving the care system on recruitment, make up of workforce, starters and
• Relationship development with key partners agencies leavers and undertake gender pay gap analysis
and specific lobby groups eg National centre • We are committed to improved declaration of characteristics on
for Diversity, Stonewall, Women into Engineering, etc. PeopleSpace – we have set a target for annual increase of 10%
• Undertaking workforce analysis to measure how our
staff mix reflects the make-up of local populations.
Workforce
• Promoting individual accountability for Diversity and Inclusion
• Increased staff participation in the rollout of our D&I Strategy
through service delivery, events and creative working groups
• Widening the conversation – increased consultation
on strategy, roadshow events for Leaders in Diversity,
workshops on specific themes: 2018 – disability, 2019 –
12 Prospects EDI Strategy2018 – 2020
Procurement Infrastructure and Governance
• Developing a more overt ‘When I hire, buy and design’ • Board development and D&I governance
D&I approach, so that inclusion is at forefront is kept under constant review and naturally
• We are aligning our procurement activity occurring vacancies are used to widen representation
more clearly with our company values • We will establish Leadership Champions
• We make clear statements in contracts, brochures for protected characteristics
and literature about Prospects, spelling • We are working on closer links between strategic groups,
out our values and expectations for suppliers/sub Quality and Programme Management and the Employee Council
-contractors on EDI, Modern Slavery and Safeguarding • Formal D&I links are being developed with our trade unions
• We give our suppliers access to our D&I training • We are developing premises standards
opportunities; in addition we expect all suppliers, • We will establish a data hub by April 2018, with national data
as a minimum, to have an EDI policy consistent sets plus archive for HR reports. The data hub will support the
with ours and our core values and be working whole organisation with benchmarking and information sharing
towards a recognised EDI certification over a defined period • A dedicated D&I section of our SharePoint site will
• We encourage our partners to be Disability Confident. be relaunched by December 2018 as part of increasing the
conversation, and will act as a staff resource for D&I
information. This will be developed once migration is completed
and the redesign of look and feel is underway
• We will commit to gender pay reporting
• We will undertake regular benchmarking.
Prospects EDI Strategy 132018 – 2020
Themes and Targets
Whilst we are proud of Prospects’ D&I work and our achievements, we will continue to develop and strengthen our approach. Our targets
for this period will develop organically as we achieve milestones and will flex in response to structural and organisational development.
Target Timescale
Service Development
Customer access: Ongoing
• accessible premises/making adjustment
• effective digital services
Engagement with disadvantaged groups: Ongoing, with three sampling activities
• Analysis/reports on groups we work with and those we do not and research reports per year
• Improved understanding of customer needs through better initial assessment
• Delivery approaches for particular groups – eg community outreach from mosques
• Better outcomes for young people within and leaving the care system
Development of Corporate Social Responsibility: Ongoing, with three sampling activities
• Measuring community impact/demonstrating added value and research reports per year
Offering activity within Prospects: March 2019
• Work experience and job opportunities within the
company for specific groups e.g. offenders
• apprenticeship opportunities
Relationship development with key partner agencies/lobby groups: Ongoing
• National Centre for Diversity
• Stonewall
• Women into Engineering
14 Prospects EDI Strategy2018 – 2020
Target Timescale
Workforce
Participation: Consult with staff, Employee Council
• Increased consultation on strategy and trade unions by Aug 2018
• Roadshow events for Leaders in Diversity Roadshow events and workshops
• Workshops on annual themes: rolled out by end of April 2018
-- 2018 – Disability
-- 2019 – Race Events and creative working
-- 2020 – Sexual orientation/parents/family life groups planned for Aug 2018
• Promoting individual accountability for D&I D&I role models by end of Dec 2018
• Increased staff participation in the rollout of our D&I Strategy
• Identify role models across the business
External recognition: April 2018
• Maintaining Leaders in Diversity status Sept 2018
• Achieving Disability Confident Level 3 Ongoing
• Raising awareness of Disability Confident Level 3 award across the group
Learning and Development: Modules available on Prospects Learning:
• Learning opportunities on D&I, unconscious bias and specific groups • D&I – already available
• Talent management plans; links with Human Resources and Organisational development • Unconscious bias – already available
• Work with specific groups
– available by Dec 2018
Workforce analysis: Increase of 10% in declaration of
• Increased effectiveness of workforce data reporting characteristics on PeopleSpace by Aug 2018
• Improved self-declaration of characteristics HR reports due for release quarterly
• HR reports on
-- recruitment
-- make up of workforce
-- starters and leavers
-- gender pay gap
-- Measurement of how our staff mix reflects the make-up of local populations
Prospects EDI Strategy 152018 – 2020
Target Timescale
Procurement
Communication: July 2018
• Including clear D&I statements in contracts, brochures, literature
• spelling out our values and expectations for suppliers/sub
-contractors on EDI, Modern Slavery, Safeguarding
Supply chain development: Ongoing audit of take-up of LMS
• Allow suppliers access to our D&I training opportunities modules by supply chain
• Formally require all suppliers to Review policy to formalise supplier
-- have an EDI policy consistent with Prospects’ obligations annually
-- be working towards a recognised EDI certification Supplier requirements in place April 2019
• Encourage our partners to become Disability Confident
16 Prospects EDI Strategy2018 – 2020
Target Timescale
Infrastructure and Governance
Representation: Ongoing
• Board development and D&I governance under continual review Ongoing
• Naturally occurring Board vacancies used to widen Ongoing
representation of underrepresented groups
• Leadership Champions for protected characteristics established
• Links: April 2018
• Communication established between strategic groups, Quality Sept 2018
and Programme Management and the Employee Council Ongoing
• Formal D&I links developed with trade unions
Learning and Development: Links with QPMO and Employee Council
• Learning opportunities on D&I, unconscious bias and specific groups established by Aug 2018
• Talent management plans; links with HR and Organisational Development D&I links with trade unions established
by Aug 2018
Data: Data hub established by March 2018
• Data hub established – national data sets/archived HR reports HR reports archived by Aug 2018
to support benchmarking and information sharing Benchmarking and data sharing
• Dedicated D&I section launched in SharePoint to act as a D&I staff resource under way by Oct 2018
D&I section launched in
SharePoint by Dec 2018
Prospects EDI Strategy 172018 – 2020 18 Prospects EDI Strategy
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