Stagecoach has launched six new employee networks to give a voice to employees from underrepresented backgrounds.
The operator, which signed a diversity pledge as part of National Inclusion Week in 2019, has committed to building a more inclusive workforce. The new networks follow six themes that include carers, those who identify as LGBTQ+, ex-forces, multicultural, parents and women at stagecoach. Each is a volunteer-led community within the company.
As well as supporting colleagues, the communities are designed to “push boundaries, encourage change and be a collective voice to continue to make Stagecoach a great place to work”. Stagecoach reveals it has had an “overwhelming response” from its 24,000 strong workforce to lead and be involved in the new networks.
The LGBTQ+ network is one of the first communities to launch. It is to be led by driver Jamie-Lee Harley-Thornton (pictured). Jamie is transgender, and says her aim as leader of the new network is to ensure everyone working at the company can be themselves while receiving support and encouragement.
“The voice of the LGBTQ+ community is definitely under-represented across the business and it’s nice to be able to encourage it and promote it,” Jamie says. “There are always issues that need to be ironed out.
“I want to build a community within a community, where people are valued and supported for who they are. Not only does this help with our own productivity and create a happier workforce, it also helps us to better identify with our diverse range of customers.”
Leading the ex-forces network, launched to coincide with Armed Forces Week, are driver Kathryn Dawson and Operations Manager at Merseyside and South Lancashire Simon Tramalloni. The new community builds on the work that Stagecoach has done supporting the armed forces with charity works and events, ex-forces applications and making courses for veterans more accessible. It is not exclusively for ex-forces personnel, but unites like-minded people aiming to make the community inclusive.
“This is the very start of something new and exciting for Stagecoach that will help to drive real change,” says Simon. “Over many years, our business has provided support for ex-forces personnel in many different ways, but we now want to take that one step further and identify how else we can help those veterans already working for us and those that may want to come and join Stagecoach.”
Adds Clare Burles, People Director for Stagecoach: “We’re an inclusive company that welcomes talented people, helping them develop and to be the best they can be, whoever they are and wherever they’re from.
“Our new employee-led networks are the next step in our journey and we want to go a lot further and give everybody a bigger voice in the future of our business.
“We are all individuals and it’s important we all feel we can be ourselves at work and are supported every day. The more we understand each other, our different perspectives and the challenges we face, the quicker we can make positive changes that will benefit our colleagues and the customers we are proud to serve.”
