SEGRO: Engaging with the diverse range of the workforce in our business in order to broaden our perspective

SEGRO: Engaging with the diverse range of the workforce in our business in order to broaden our perspective

14 December 2021

The CEO Commitments on Diversity are the start of an important journey, one that Real Estate Balance wants to invite you on. 101 senior industry leaders, including SEGRO CEO David Sleath, have signed up to ensure that property is an inclusive, diverse industry where women are supported and encouraged to aim for the top.

Check out how SEGRO is delivering against Commitment 9: Personally engage with the diverse range of the workforce in your business in order to broaden your perspective

How did your organisation implement this Commitment?

In February 2021, we launched Responsible SEGRO, a framework designed to build on existing work about doing the right thing and making a positive impact wherever we operate. Nurturing Talent is one of three priorities within this framework, and its ambition is to have an inclusive and supportive culture with a motivated workforce of talented people that reflects the make-up of the countries that we operate in.

During 2021, we implemented five initiatives, which were also used to engage with colleagues for a wider perspective on this topic:

• Employee focus groups and interviews as part of the National Equality Standard accreditation process. The findings and recommendations from these workshops enabled us to understand where we are today, and what is important for the future, with our diversity D&I agenda. 20% of colleagues across the Group engaged in the sessions.

• For the first time, our employee engagement survey sought views and opinions on diversity and inclusion via an updated question set. 94% responded to our survey.

• Social mobility insights were gained by inviting UK colleagues to participate in a survey organised by the Social Mobility Index. 50% responded with their views on social mobility at SEGRO.

• Two 'Sofa Series' seminars took place where colleagues joined a live broadcast to understand more about our Nurturing Talent programme from our CEO, Group HR Director and external speakers. The events also included a live Q&A.

• An online mandatory training course was designed to help colleagues understand the fundamentals of diversity and inclusion. Additional training was arranged for our Senior Manager and Leadership Teams.

What changes did you see in your organisation as a result? What were the outcomes?

Through our Nurturing Talent initiatives, colleagues have been able to engage and feel connected to our D&I programme. Their views and opinions have contributed to our plans, and via our internal communication channels, we have supported the understanding of our priorities, had meaningful conversations about D&I and enabled colleagues to get involved with our initiatives. Some of our successes range from appointing sponsors to lead initiatives such as graduate recruitment, or the 10,000 Black Interns programme, through to appointing steering and working groups on key focus areas such as wellbeing, early careers development, and internships. Other outcomes include:

• Achieving positive engagement and a good understanding across SEGRO of our Nurturing Talent programme.

• Enabling real 'on the ground' change through engagement, enthusiasm, and participation of colleagues in our programme's initiatives.

How did you measure this?

D&I, as part of Nurturing Talent in our Responsible SEGRO framework, is a key strategic priority for SEGRO, and our Leadership teams regularly review progress.

Our initiatives have taken place during 2021 and we are in the process of setting up relevant metrics to monitor our progress, alongside a plan to define how this will be achieved. Metrics will include better understanding of our own D&I data to identify issues or priorities; measures to track the success of our early careers' initiatives, and other recruitment activity; as well as continuing to provide engagement and feedback opportunities for colleagues.

We're proud of all the progress made this year and look forward to continuing our journey to see more outcomes come to life during 2022 and beyond.

Back to 2021