Amanda Hasler, Head of Employee Engagement & Reward, and Lisa Govier, the Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Dimensions, a charity supporting individuals with learning disabilities and autistic people.
It’s well documented that recruitment and retention issues persist across the social care sector. Against this backdrop, we have to ensure we’re prioritising our colleagues and fostering an environment where they’re able to flourish and thrive in their roles.
At Dimensions, this is something we have an unwavering commitment to and have worked hard to get right. In doing so, we have placed particular focus on three areas: championing inclusivity, prioritising career development, and listening to colleagues and acting on feedback.
Like many other sectors, inequalities persist across the industry, with recent research from Skills for Care[1] finding that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) social care staff less likely to be appointed to jobs.
As an organisation, we have taken proactive action to increase diversity, including within our management positions. The first data analysis we conducted in 2013 showed that only 1.3% of managers were from a BAME background, which we knew wasn’t good enough. Following this, we created a dashboard to make it easier for our colleagues to share their diversity information, which would produce a more accurate picture of our ongoing statistics. We introduced key performance indicators and practices, including reverse mentoring for senior leaders to be mentored by colleagues from a BAME background as well as a critical friend role in senior management interviews to ensure there was diversity of thought, awareness of cultural differences and to consider any unconscious bias.
Since making these changes, we have exceeded our measure of having 6.9% of our senior management team come from a BAME background and have continued to set ambitious targets. Currently 12% of managers are from a BAME background and we have set a new measure of 14% for 2024-25.
These positive statistics encourage us and provide concrete proof that having the correct policies and procedures in place can make a massive difference to the diversity and inclusivity of a workforce.
Another great source of pride for us as an organisation is Aspire, our progressive, award-winning career development programme, which ensures colleagues are treated as individuals rather than numbers and recognises their specific needs and interests.
There are two routes to accessing the programme – nomination and application – and we have a range of methods of applying to ensure it is accessible to all. While the programme is not solely used a stepping stone to vertical career progression, we have seen so many people gain incredible professional and personal benefits from being involved.
Sinead McHugh-Hicks, who joined Dimensions as a relief support worker in 2002, has since worked her way up to Manager, then Operations Director, and now Managing Director. By seeing the potential of every individual, we ensure that no one is overlooked and that talented colleagues aren’t missed.
Sinead says: “I’m so glad that I’ve been able to stay and build my career with Dimensions after falling in love with the job and the fact that the organisation has such strong and clear values which are baked into everything they do. I’ve been involved with projects and initiatives since the beginning and have learnt so much through it. Dimensions has supported me every step of the way, and I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.”
Our work has led to us being accredited as a UK’s Best Workplace for the 6th year in a row and as the highest-ranked social care organisation in the list. We have also been recognised as a Best Workplace for Women and currently have no median hourly gender pay gap, compared to a national median gap of 14.3%.
It’s clear that listening to colleagues and recognising their needs every step of the way is helping us to build the kind of organisation that people want to be a part of. We know we haven’t got it all right and are eagerly looking out for great ideas from others too.
@DimensionsUK
[1] https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/news-and-events/news/latest-findings-from-sc-wres-published-in-new-skills-for-care-report
