PageGroup, the international recruitment consultancy, was awarded the Best Diversity Initiative at the 2014 CIPD People Management Awards in London on Tuesday 30 September.
The company received special recognition for its global gender diversity initiative, Women@Page, which aims to improve gender balance and inclusion at all levels at PageGroup. It also received recognition for its Global Engagement and Diversity Survey which was utilised to better inform senior management of the actual and perceived barriers which women and mothers face within the organisation.
Since its introduction in 2012, Women@Page has notably decreased turnover rates, increased the numbers of female employees holding management positions and escalated maternity return rates in its UK operations.
A panel of industry leading judges praised the rigour behind the programme, including the company’s follow-up initiative in 2014, OpenPage, which spans five more diversity inclusion and equality characteristics: age, disability, sexual orientation, families and carers and race.
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A CIPD judge stated: “At PageGroup, diversity couldn’t be further from a box-ticking exercise. The company believes support and development is a right to be enjoyed by all and it has the numbers to prove its success.
“The number of female managers grew 4%, whilst 80 female staff, many of whom are working mothers, receive mentoring and organisational support for working times outside the traditional working day.”
Early stages of Women@Page saw the introduction of a Global Mentoring Programme and a global internal website to underpin progress. A pre/post Maternity Coaching programme was also introduced to improve the retention of women returning from maternity leave.
Sarah Kirk, regional director for Diversity & Inclusion, attended the CIPD awards ceremony and was delighted to receive the prestigious honour.
“I am absolutely thrilled that PageGroup has been acknowledged for Women@Page, an initiative which has been a great achievement for both its people and the company. It is fantastic to see a significant increase in PageGroup’s home-grown management pool and keep talented people we otherwise would’ve lost.
“Despite only being implemented two years ago. Women@Page has shifted our internal stats in the right direction and created a more inclusive working environment,” Mrs Kirk said.
Women@Page has also achieved several other industry accolades, including:
- Won the Global Diversity Award from Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion
- Highly commended for Working Families Award from Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion
- Commendation from Top Employers for Working Families in the Best for all Stages of Motherhood category
