June marks Pride Month – the time marked out in our calendar to both recognise the challenges still faced by the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as come together to celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
With Pride Month drawing to a close, we want to highlight how Aro will continue to pursue its DEI initiatives throughout the year – not just in June. As an organisation that works hard to make sure everyone feels comfortable, respected and heard, here are a few ways in which we create a working environment where everyone can thrive.
Our active inclusion policies
Our active policies, including a Dignity at Work Policy, ensures that discrimination has no place in our organisation. The Dignity at Work Policy educates our employees about direct and indirect discrimination based on characteristics outlined in the Equality Act. We’ve ingrained our active inclusion policies in all our processes, from recruitment to reward, ensuring equal opportunities for everyone.
This year, we also introduced new policies on pregnancy loss, menopause, and domestic abuse, as well as enhancing our maternity, paternity, and adoption pay and leave. At Aro, we recognise that everyone has different needs, and our new policies reflect a greater understanding of the challenges faced by team members going through significant life events.
Our commitment to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community goes beyond just ticking boxes or adding a rainbow to our logo.
Being your authentic self
As well as ensuring equal opportunities through our policies, we also work hard to create an inclusive workplace culture.
Aro embraces a gender-neutral dress code that allows everyone to express themselves freely, enabling everyone to be their authentic selves. Our business has also recently invested in a new HR system that allows us to track voluntary diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) information, such as preferred pronouns. By tracking this data, we can continuously adapt and drive necessary change where it matters most.
Education is key
Yes, we know what you’re probably thinking – you have these policies in place, but do you actually put them into practice? Well, the answer is yes, we do.
We’re aware that we need to keep diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives front of mind for all our colleagues to ensure that they’re put into practice. That’s why we have DEI training that all staff need to undertake to ensure that the needs of our employees are met.
We also regularly remind our colleagues of our policies throughout the year. This helps to ensure that we maintain a supportive and inclusive culture here at Aro all year round.
Finally, we also recognise that while we’re committed to our DEI initiatives, there’s always more we can do. Everyone here at Aro is encouraged to reach out to our HR team to suggest new ways we can improve our culture and working environment. Our HR department is dedicated to driving positive change here at Aro – and they’re setting a high standard for the industry as a whole.
So, as we come to the end of pride month, let’s continue to keep championing equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do.
Warren Cashman, Head of HR
