Walking With The Wounded’s core values of Respect and Integrity drive our efforts to seek to promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion both within our organisation and in our community.
We understand the importance of building a diverse workforce to bring different experiences to our table helping us become more creative, challenge our thinking, and widen our reach. We aspire for people of all backgrounds to see Walking With The Wounded as an organisation where they feel welcome.
Our commitment to this vision will ensure veterans and their families are supported by accessible and inclusive programmes, and our external partnerships are with like-minded organisations.
Our areas of focus for the next 3 years, which sit alongside
our overall aims and will help bring this pledge to life, fall into 4
categories.
Education
Seeking out information
that will help us understand, support & promote diversity, including;
·
Analysis of our current EDI picture
to understand where/if WWTW is under-represented in any area.
·
Learning from others through
conversations, adopting a curious mindset, and listening without judgement.
·
Further (and continued) training for
line managers on topics such as unconscious bias, equal opportunity,
inadvertent discrimination, protected characteristics, and fair recruitment
practices.
Workforce
Employees share
responsibility for promoting an inclusive workplace, stronger because of its
diversity, including;
·
Proactive
recruitment in under-represented areas to increase diversity in our workforce
and especially within our leadership team and Board of Trustees, recognising
that these groups have the widest influence on others in our organisation.
·
Removing
possible unconscious bias from our processes e.g. blind sifting, group sifting,
diverse interview panels.
·
Recruitment
campaigns which reach minority audiences.
·
Straightforward
and easily accessible application, selection and recruitment processes.
Culture
All employees feel valued, supported, and enjoy a culture of mutual respect, including;
·
Being
honest with our staff about where we are now, where we want to get to, and how
we will do it.
·
Ensuring
policies are regularly reviewed, non-discriminatory, and reflect our EDI
commitment, and that they are applied consistently and fairly.
·
Diversity and inclusion will be
priorities, discussed at high level meetings, and incorporated in all aspects of
our work and operations.
·
Encouraging
people to bring their full selves to work, without judgement, through team
building activities and honest conversations.
·
Forming
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) from groups of employees with commonality where
people can come together to support, learn and create.
·
Taking
a robust stance against any behaviour or action which contradicts our values
and EDI pledge.
WWTW community
Through
careful programme development and working with like-minded organisations WWTW
fosters a sense of community where any person who has served, and their family,
feels welcome. This includes;
·
Website
& Social Media will ensure inclusive language and imagery is used and that
we are open about our EDI journey.
·
Ongoing
analysis of our performance against EDI themes will enable us to adjust our
approach a required.
·
Ensuring
WWTW events and staff leave a positive impression in the locations they take
place in terms of how we present ourselves and the impact we have on the local
environment.