We are pleased to announce that the Improvement Service is participating in the Equally Safe at Work accreditation programme. The Improvement Service is committed to progressing gender equality in the workplace, and this programme provides the tools to take this forward to help deliver meaningful change within our organisation.
We will be undertaking a number of activities to progress gender equality and better support victims and survivors of violence against women. This includes reviewing our flexible working practice, looking at recruitment and progression practice, and holding awareness-raising sessions.
We recognise that there is an integral link between addressing gender inequality and preventing violence against women. Making progress on gender equality means starting with addressing women’s workplace inequality. Gender equality is a priority for the Improvement Service. It benefits everyone and it’s important that all employees in the workplace feel safe and supported. It’s also important that we take an approach that recognises that women have different experiences of employment, and this is shaped by multiple, intersecting inequalities and discriminations that overlap to create different levels of inequality.
Equally Safe at Work will enable the Improvement Service to develop initiatives and practice that better reflect the needs of all employees in the organisation. The accreditation will support the Improvement Service to put our shared values into practice:
- Equality and Diversity - We believe that by embedding equality, diversity, fairness and respect in all that we do we will help create more successful communities.
- Leadership and Collaboration - We adopt a collective leadership approach at all levels and collaborate with others to do meaningful work that drives change and improvement.
- Wellbeing and Growth - We care about increasing wellbeing and supporting the growth and learning of everyone, and of organisations. We are respectful, supportive and kind and encourage flexibility and a healthy work-life balance.
We will ensure that the changes we make are sustainable. We will be working collaboratively with staff to embed this work throughout the organisation. We will consistently review the changes to ensure they still reflect the needs of the Improvement Service and its employees.