POL00448662
POL00448662
wy
POST OFFICE LIMITED
GE REPORT
ies Equity, Diversity and Inclusion rs . h
Title: Commitments Meeting Date: I 30° November 2022
Author: Juliet Lang Sponsor: Angela Williams
Input Sought: Decision
The GE is requested to:
i. Approve the Post Office commitments to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Executive Summary
To enable Post Office to ‘be there, in person, for those who rely on us’ we need to ensure we
have a workforce that reflects the communities that we serve. Creating a diverse and inclusive
workplace is not only the right thing to do - it’s a strategic business priority that fosters greater
creativity, innovation and connection to the communities we serve.
We must celebrate diversity and inclusion and provide an environment where we all feel valued,
supported and comfortable being 100% ourselves, our E,D&I survey results tell us that disabled
colleagues or those with a mental health condition have a significantly different experience
when asked about equity at Post Office. We must continue to support each other to learn and
grow, investing in our diverse internal talent pipelines to develop our leaders of the future to
ensure we build diverse succession plans. We must challenge all forms of discrimination in the
scope of our work, our E,D&I survey highlights the level of perceived discrimination that our
under-represented communities face. We must improve the diversity of our Senior Leadership
population, specifically our gender balance and black representation, in order to achieve our
representation targets.
The actions outlined in the attached document aim to improve our Inclusion maturity to level
3 on the attached model, with a focus on activity over the next 12-18 months. We have further
work to do to define our strategy to accelerate our maturity to Systemic. The upcoming audit
will provide us with the insight to build the 3 year plan will be defined following this audit.
aa
Tnchasion Culture wor
‘Types of organisations:
4. Emergent 2. Characteristic focused 3. Inclusive 4, Systemic
The organisation is setting out The organisation recognises. The organisation is breaking ‘The organisation is reflecting
on its inclusion journey and is that it needs to provide tailored I down barriers to inclusion for all I their inclusion culture on every
doing what it needs to from a support to under-represented ofits colleagues to enable touchpoint with stakeholders,
regulatory and legal perspective I groups to ‘level the playing psychological safety and to help I suppliers and clients — leading
to enable inclusion for field them bring their whole selves to. I their sector in inclusive
colleagues. work practices,
(Grant Thornton Inclusion Maturity Model)
POL00448662
POL00448662
Report
To ensure we are focused on the actions that will drive change for the D&I agenda, and
ensure we have clarity over our priorities and alignment with prior charters and commitments
made, the following will be our focus for commitments to drive change. These commitments
are supported by the action plan outlined on the following pages. These would reset any prior
commitments made and have been designed to ensure we keep focus on the various charters
that we have committed to as detailed in Appendix 1.
+ CEO will be accountable for Diversity and Inclusion in Post Office, and will appoint an
executive sponsor with ownership for each Network Group * 24
+ We will ensure there is no bias in the recruitment process and will undertake a
transparent process of audit* +3
+ We will take positive action that supports open career opportunity and progression and
will undertake a transparent process of audit* 134
+ We will commit to capturing and publishing diversity data, including tracking our
commitment to our 2024 targets of 14% ethnic minority representation, 50% female
representation, 5% disabled and 5% LGBT+ representation at levels up to SLP. We
also understand the challenges that we face at GE level and will ensure that
representation continues to be a commitment but extend targets to 2025. 123-4
+ We believe that supporting equity in the workplace is the responsibility of all leaders
and line managers, and will commit to introducing EDI objectives for all People
Managers +234
+ We commit to creating a respectful, inclusive work environment within which every
employee has the opportunity to make meaningful contribution to the company’s vision
and values, taking a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and bullying ++
+ We will ensure that all elements of reward and recognition, from performance
development reviews to bonus and pay, are fair and we will report on this, and action
taken to close the gap through our Ethnicity and Gender Pay Gap Reporting 2?
*Whilst we continue to support all minority groups, over the next 18 months we will place a
particular focus on black and female representation, alongside removing barriers for our
disabled colleagues.
Notes
The numbers denote the alignment to previous commitments made.
Commitment in BRC Diversity in Retail Charter
Commitment in Women in Finance Charter
Commitment in our October 2020 Diversity Objectives
Bwne
Commitment in our Race at Work Charte
POL00448662
POL00448662
How _will we _deliver __ these @ commitments?
Whilst there is planned activity that sits behind each of these commitments the key drivers for
change will be:-
e Rigorous EDI audit on recruitment and talent processes
e Leader/Line Manager EDI objectives
e Internal Fast-track development programme for ethnic minority and female talent
e External talent pool engagement programme for future black talent
Each commitment will be delivered with the following activity
1. CEO will be accountable for Diversity and Inclusion in Post Office, and will appoint an
executive sponsor with ownership for each Network Group
+ All network groups have an exec sponsor
* Reverse mentoring in place for those are not sponsoring a network group
+ Bi-annual CEO and Network Chair meetings
+ Bi-annual discussion at GE to check on progress against commitments
2. We will ensure there is no bias in the recruitment process and will undertake a
transparent process of an external independent audit
+ Increase engagement with diverse job boards to increase diversity of talent
pools for female and black applicants
+ Run an RFP to identify an organisation to complete a rigorous audit on our
recruitment process and create action plan based on findings, including defining
accessibility improvements to support disabled applicants
+ Re-launch employer branding with EDI focus
+ Launch external black talent pool programme
3. We will take positive action that supports open career opportunity and progression and
will undertake a transparent process of an external independent audit
+ Run an RFP to identify an organisation to complete a rigorous audit on our talent
process and create action plan based on findings, including defining accessibility
improvements to support disabled colleagues
+ Launch fast track internal development programmes focused on female and
ethnic minority future leaders
+ Define Post Office Career Frameworks
4. We will commit to capturing and publishing diversity data, including tracking our
commitment to our 2024 targets of 14% ethnic minority representation, 50% female
representation, 5% disabled and 5% LGBT+ representation at levels up to SLP. We
also understand the challenges that we face at GE level and will ensure that
representation continues to be a commitment but extend targets to 2025.
+ Introduce a new applicant tracking system to provide better recruitment data
POL00448662
POL00448662
+ Publish quarterly @ updates on progress against
+ Share monthly diversity data, including identifying a transparent audit process
+ Ensure all vacancies, including Group Executive vacancies, have a diverse
shortlist, with female and ethnic minority representation
5. We believe that supporting equity in the workplace is the responsibility of all leaders
and line managers, and will commit to introducing EDI objectives for all People
Managers
* Mandatory workshops for senior leaders to increase understanding and
awareness
+ Launch mandatory E,D&I objective for all people managers, with support
provided to define individual areas of focus
+ Attend leadership team meetings to educate on playbook
6. We commit to creating a respectful, inclusive work environment within which every
employee has the opportunity to make meaningful contribution to the company’s vision
and values, taking a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and bullying
* Complete a rigorous audit on our policies and review these with unions/network
groups
+ Share feedback from E,D&I survey to highlight areas of concern and implement
action plans
+ Review DAW cases with ER Manager bi-annual to understand trends/concerns
+ Ongoing inclusion and awareness training to drive behavioural change
7. We will ensure that all elements of reward and recognition, from performance
development reviews to bonus and pay, are fair and we will report on this, and action
taken to close the gap through our Ethnicity and Gender Pay Gap Reporting
+ Publish Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting annually
+ Launch a committee to focus on action planning and monitor progress
+ Review performance and bonus data to provide diversity breakdowns
What do we need from GE/SLG?
To drive true cultural change with EDI, symbols and rituals need to be led from the top. To
assist the ask would be for the following individual commitments to be made: -
GE
+ Attend all E,D&I events — with exec sponsors visibly leading network group activity
+ Sponsorship of a Female or Black, Asian or Ethnic Minority Colleague or development
programme, by providing mentoring and identifying opportunity for progression
POL00448662
POL00448662
* Communicating personal @ objective regarding D&I, when sharing
+ Challenging all recruitment shortlists to be at least 50% female and 14% ethnically
diverse
+ 6 monthly review of E,D&I progress and commitments at GE meetings
+ Attend all E,D&I events - encouraging attendance with team members
* Challenging all recruitment shortlists to be at least 50% female and 14% ethnically
diverse
+ Regular talent discussions focusing on lower levels of the organisation where some
diversity is greater and sponsorship of diverse talent for developing future leaders
+ Develop an understanding of the impact of our services on colleagues, Postmaster or
Customers and identify opportunity to promote equality and best practice through their
EDI objective
POL00448662
POL00448662
Appendix 1
Post Office Charters and previous commitments.
1. BRC Diversity in Retail Charter
(Our CEO will be accountable for Diversity and Inclusion in our business and will appoint an Executive with ownership for D&l
We will ensure there is no bias in the recruitment process and will undertake a transparent process of audit
We will tke postive ation that supports open career opportunity and progression and will undertake a transparent process of audit
We commit to Contributing data on our diversity in the workplace which will feed into the BRC Better Jobs dashboard
We commit to create a respectful, inclusive work environment within which every employee has the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the company's vision and values
We believe supporting equity in the workplace is the responsibilty of all ine managers
2 Women in Finance Charter
Fs aS OHSS SSG BT TSS LT
ae a a a oT
Publishing progress annually against these targets in reports on our website
ESS ESOS pe AS CSRS STE Se oS SET
Say
So Tx is oc
careers aire bana
CANT HSN SASS a
Change our processes to encourage diversity through ensuring fairness in reward, recognition and being open about our career pathways
Appoint an executive sponsor for race.
aT SL aT RNS
a a RS YS SP
Appendix 2
Number of hires required at each level of the organisation to achieve
targets (assuming total headcount remains the same and minority group leavers are also replaced)
Headcount I Ethnic Female I Disability I LGBT+
Minority
ce 10 +1 +2 +1 °
SP 59 +2 ell 3 °
Band4 206 +2 +24 +2 [)
Band3A 316 o +7 +3 [)
Middle 818 o +28 o +15
Manager
PO 1994 o ° +20 +50
(0 indicates that target is currently being achieved)
Current Headcount Current Black I Current Asien I Current Mined
Etheie Representation I Representation I and Other
Minority Represertaton
Brealadown
GE 10 ° ° oO
SLP 59 ° 5 2
Bend 4 206 2 v7 9
Band 3A 316 12 29 2
Middle 18 32 107 18
Manager
PO 1994 110 359 56