Names & Job titles of team members:
Corndel EDI Delivery Team consists of:
- Lindsey Hoskins, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead in EDI
- Jenny Deeks, Director of Level 5 Leadership Curriculum in Curriculum
- Kate Rudd, Head of Data and Reporting in Transformation and Change
- Alice McGeever, Director of Business Associate Curriculum in Curriculum
- Vita Benitez Thomas, Account Manger,
- Andy Chell, Director of Executive Curriculum & Professional Development Expert
- Mark Preston, Reporting Support Analyst in Transformation and Change
- Mark Rossiter, Head of Learner Experience and Improvement in Excellence, Compliance and Learner Experience
- Nicole Walker, Quality Assurance Manager in Excellence, Compliance and Learner Experience
- Karl Millsom, Quality Assurance Manager in Excellence, Compliance and Learner Experience
- Jimi Gill, Senior Data and Reporting Analyst in Transformation and Change
- Elizabeth Olivier-Argyle, Quality Assurance Manager in Excellence, Compliance and Learner Experience
Profile summary (Bio)
The EDI delivery group at Corndel is dedicated to creating a fair and equitable community within the organisation, where communication, collaboration, and mutual understanding are core principles. They focus on informing, educating, inspiring, and provoking action to achieve diversity, representation, and inclusion across various dimensions for all staff and learners.
Please provide an overview of the work your team delivers
Objectives:
- Foster a Positive Corndel Culture: The team aims to promote diversity and representation in staff and learner groups, creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued.
- Increase Psychological Safety and Inclusion: They work to contribute to measurable improvements in psychological safety, inclusion, and a sense of belonging for all staff.
- Facilitate Participation and Involvement: The team encourages staff participation and engagement broadly, with a specific emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives.
- Contribute to Thought Leadership: They strive to be thought leaders in the field of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, both internally within the organisation and externally.
Key Initiatives:
EDI delivery group: People volunteer to be a part of the EDI Delivery Group because they want to contribute to meaningful societal change and ensure everyone at Corndel feels their voice is recognised and represented. Many members have lived experiences of discrimination and are social activists for equity within the workplace. Supported by the EDI Lead, the group meets fortnightly to publish EDI articles and plan education, training and events available for all Corndel employees. Members use this space to be open, upfront, and honest and educate each other and learn.
EDI bulletin and intranet articles: These focus on crucial awareness days, religious festivals or EDI hot topics and sometimes will feature an ‘in memory’ or anniversary where critical historical people and events across the EDI movement are celebrated. These are shared as resources for further education across the business. Everyone is welcome to contribute to topics that are meaningful to them.
All-staff training: The EDI Lead and EDI Delivery Group regularly run all-staff sessions at ops meetings and ‘pop-up’ talks and events, committed to providing safe spaces for brave conversations, including, New starter induction module + Disability Awareness training module.
The EDI team also facilitated a series of company-wide conversations, out of which the Corndel EDI strategy was created, including Anti-racism conversations + Building cultural competence: The effects of labelling and stereotyping.
Corndel panel events: To mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, a panel of Corndel colleagues shared their experiences of identifying and being part of the LGBTQIA+ community and the impact this has had in the workplace. LGBTQI+ staff panel discussion.
Collaboration with clients: Corndel work with our clients to help upskill their teams to promote diversity. For example, we developed and delivered a software engineering apprenticeship in partnership with Zoopla. Zoopla is committed to giving opportunities to women looking to forge a career in technology and innovation. The rigorous recruitment process for this cohort of trainees involved an inclusive approach to recruitment, capitalising on Zoopla’s Tech She Can Charter membership. Seventy per cent of the Zoopla trainees are female, compared with an estimated ten per cent industry average.
Corndel managed the recruitment process for the ten new Software Engineer positions, and the group’s journey began with a 12-week bootcamp. Starting with limited coding experience, they were on a steep learning curve for three months and then joined their new colleagues in Zoopla’s product and tech team at a Junior Developer level.
The EDI team has continued this diversity work with a series of new initiatives. Following confirmation from the UK Government, Corndel was invited to become members of the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network to share best practices on helping to support people facing disadvantage into apprenticeships.
Corndel also became one of the member organisations and a strategic partner of Tech She Can, which inspires young girls and women to pursue a career in technology. Corndel submitted annual diversity data to the Tech Talent Charter (TTC) – as a signatory of the TTC and supported their mission to ensure the UK tech sector becomes a diverse and truly inclusive community where people from all backgrounds are welcomed.
Corndel plans to expand this work in 2024 and help our client organisations drive equality and inclusion in their leadership development pipelines.
EDI in recruitment: As part of Corndel’s commitment to creating an inclusive workplace where all colleagues can be their true selves, excel in their roles and progress in their careers, we recognise the importance of embracing diversity in the working population and making Corndel a fully accessible employer. We are proud to be Disability Confident Committed (and working towards becoming a Disability Confident Employer) which means we are committed to:
- Making reasonable adjustments as required
- Encouraging our clients, suppliers and partners to be Disability Confident
- Ensuring employees have sufficient disability equality awareness
- Promoting a culture of being Disability Confident
- Supporting employees to manage their disabilities or health conditions
- Ensuring there are no barriers to the development and progression of disabled staff
- Ensuring managers are aware of how they can support staff who are sick or absent from work
- Valuing and listening to feedback from disabled staff
- Regularly reviewing our Disability Confident self-assessment and looking for opportunities to improve
Overall, the Diversity Team’s work revolves around implementing a comprehensive EDI strategy, conducting various educational and training programs, collaborating with clients to drive diversity initiatives, and fostering an inclusive workplace where all employees feel valued and represented. \
Please list any significant achievements made by your team since its inception:
The EDI delivery team worked diligently to ensure Corndel achieved accreditation as a Disability Confident Employer in 2023. Embracing the UK government’s esteemed Disability Confident Employer scheme, the group actively worked to challenge prevailing attitudes towards Disability and unlock the incredible talents disabled individuals bring to the workplace. This movement marks a significant milestone towards fostering a more diverse and inclusive workforce across the UK. The core belief in the strength of diversity drives the organisation forward, ensuring equal opportunities for all and allowing each individual to realise their full potential.
Becoming a Disability Confident Employer reaffirms the unwavering dedication to cultivating a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected for their unique contributions. The EDI team firmly believes that this crucial step brings them closer to achieving their vision of a workplace that celebrates diversity as a strength and ensures that everyone has the opportunity to flourish. The team remains passionate about their role in creating a more inclusive world, continuing to champion diversity and equality in every aspect of their work.
What impact has your team had on the organisation?
The impact of the EDI team at Corndel and Corndel’s partners has been significant. Through facilitated discussions to build cultural competence, including a session on the effects of labelling, staff were encouraged to discuss labelling empathically and the role this plays in different contexts such as the workplace, our relationships with clients, learners and, more generally, with each other. By exploring theories around labelling and prejudice, we applied this to the Protected Characteristics by creating breakout rooms encouraging staff to challenge their unconscious bias.
The EDI team has created staff engagement via non-mandated EDI sessions and education, equipping our educators to perform their duties effectively in learner interactions. Taking an inclusion-first approach, Corndel did not set diversity targets. Instead, the EDI team focused on fostering a culture of inclusion, belonging and psychological safety. The EDI team is developing a precedent of empowerment, agility and excellence across our workforce, measured through a Cordnel staff engagement survey.
The key benefits of being involved include developing people who effectively can work towards changing structures. Inequality persists in people’s minds and is perpetuated by the systems shaped within society. Group members receive mutual support, mentoring and guidance. They are exposed to parts of the business they would not otherwise be exposed to. This develops stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills which support and encourage inclusive practice. The passion and skill of the EDI group have directly or resulted in 50% of the EDI group members receiving promotions and progressing in their roles since its inception in 2021.
