Embedding diversity

The things which make us different are accepted, valued and celebrated. And it’s not only our people who recognise this: we are featured in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women four times in the last five years, we are recognised as a Disability Confident Employer and recently awarded Diversity Team of the year by the European Diversity Awards in 2022.

Everyone working for Post Office has a responsibility to:

• Always promote a professional and positive work environment and be a role model
• Promote a culture of inclusivity where differences are accepted, valued and celebrated
• Inform their line manager of any instances of apparent discrimination or any perceived problem in relation to employment or to the provision of products and services
• Comply with, and promote, Post Office Ltd policy and procedures with regard to diversity and inclusion

We want to celebrate the diversity of our workforce and the communities we serve. That means embracing diversity and creating policies which actively promote working without discrimination.

EDI in action at Post Office

We celebrate the diversity of our workforce and the communities we serve. We are also committed to regularly reviewing how we do things at Post Office to ensure that our policies and processes are inclusive. Here are some of the ways we support colleagues and live and breathe EDI at Post Office

1. Our employee network groups

Supporting our people through the continued growth of our employee network groups who represent the different diverse characteristics. They work to raise awareness, celebrate important days in the calendar, such as International Women’s Day, Pride month, Black History Month, International Day for People with Disabilities, religious holidays and more. The network groups support the People team at Post Office with creating and updating policies which are inclusive for all races, ethnicities, religions, sexual identities, people living with a disability and genders.

At Post Office, we are committed to gender balance at all levels of our business. The Affinity group focus on women empowerment, equity and women in leadership.	The complexions Network is a peer network within Post Office established to support and celebrate the religious and cultural diversity of our workforce and the communities we serve.
Prism is the Post Office network for colleagues in the LGBTQ+ community and its allies who want to show their support and be involved with the network.	Be You (Disability Confidence) is a group at Post Office which aims to improve the way the business supports disability, mental health and wellbeing.

Here are our Network Chairs:

2. EDI champion network

The Diversity and Inclusion champion network is for individuals in the business who are passionate about EDI and are proactively involved in our EDI initiatives. They receive early-bird invites to events held by the EDI team and are frequently involved in the planning process. This network is open to all Post Office employees.

3. EDI bi-monthly newsletter

We publish a bi-monthly EDI newsletter to keep colleagues informed about what’s going on and help drive awareness and understanding of various EDI topics. The newsletter includes business updates, monthly focuses, network group updates, a segment on ‘brining the outside in’, upcoming events and signposts useful materials such as podcasts, videos and websites.

4. EDI calendar

At Post Office we have created a bespoke calendar with some of the important EDI days for Post Office to celebrate, including religious holidays. We utilise our regular internal communication channels to educate and remind colleagues of the significance of the these days. International Women’s Day, Post Office Diversity Day, Black History month, LGBTQ+ History month, Pride month, International Day for People with Disabilities and Menopause Awareness Day are examples of some of the events we celebrate.

5. EDI training

We offer several online and face-to-face EDI training courses which are open to all employees including: unconscious bias, LGBT awareness, the uncomfortable truth, uncomfortable conversations, health and safety – healthy lifestyle, dignity at work and learning disability awareness.

In 2021 & 2022 all colleagues participated in ‘Let’s Talk About Race’ face-to-face training sessions. We now continue the conversation with recorded sessions and Let’s Talk About Race digital training, we and also regularly host ‘Let’s Talk About…’ conversations on different topics.   

6. EDI policies

We are working to create inclusive policies and update our current policies in order to make Post Office an inclusive and diverse place to work ,as well as protect our employees. Some of the policies we have created include pregnancy loss, menopause, transitioning in the workplace, adoption, domestic violence, flexible working, career break, dignity at work and equity, diversity and inclusion. We want colleagues to bring their whole selves to work and have created policies and support guides to equip our managers to provide practical and emotional support.

7. EDI events

Here at Post Office we understand the importance of lived experience. Twice a year we hold full-day diversity events. During these events we run activities and hear from internal colleagues, senior managers and external speakers. We hold these days to give a platform for our employees to listen to, learn from and share stories from a variety of personal experiences.

8. Let’s talk about…

After conducting virtual face-to-face ‘Let’s Talk About Race’ conversations with our employees, we now continue this great initiative with by holding ‘Let’s Talk About…’ conversations very two months, where we invite all colleagues to attend an open and informal discussion about a range of diverse topics. Our schedule includes a wide variety of subjects including Ramadan, LGBTQ+ awareness, race, menopause, mental health awareness, women’s health, age and many others. We use both internal and external speakers to provide a safe and informative conversation with the aim of encouraging growth and learning about subjects which are sometimes avoided due to a lack of exposure or understanding.