Inclusivity is year-round, not just one month: EMCOR UK’s Head of EDI on Black History Month

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At EMCOR UK, we are proud to support Black History Month as part of our commitment to celebrate the diversity of our people and the policies and practices we have implemented to create a truly inclusive workplace.

To better understand the significance of Black History Month, we spoke to two of our black colleagues to learn what it means to them and why they think it is important. Both felt that Black History Month has significantly helped to raise the profile of historical events from a black perspective. It has also helped to celebrate the achievements of black people and to promote black role models.

However, a shared sentiment was that although a dedicated month shines the spotlight on these issues, this focus should be part of everyday life, starting at school. The Guardian recently reported that GCSE history courses still focus predominantly on European and US history. In 2019, just 11% of GCSE history students were studying modules that made any reference to the contribution of black people in British history.

It is not just history classes that need to spotlight black people, but English and culture courses, too. While there are numerous well-known black musicians, how many people can name more than a couple of black artists or authors?

When discussing why Black History Month is important, both colleagues highlighted that racism still exists in all parts of life – social and professional situations, schools, the media and social media. It is apparent that although progress has been made, there is still much more to be done.

They both felt that organisations need to implement clear anti-racism policies and processes to enable employees to take a stance, both for those experiencing racist behaviour or witnessing it. Anti-discrimination policies are a step towards anti-racism and inclusivity, but ensuring policies do not discriminate against minority groups is a minimum.

Listening to anecdotes about personal experiences or those of colleagues or friends is crucial to fully understanding what inclusive really means and to affecting positive change. Open dialogue to understand others’ lived experiences should be encouraged to help ensure greater understanding and to help overcome prejudices and unconscious bias.

Welcomed by our interviewees was EMCOR UK’s Creating Balance Programme which consists of six focus groups, including a Culture focus group which advocates for and supports individuals from all races and ethnic backgrounds. The focus groups provide forums for employees to share ideas and best practice and to improve the working lives for all colleagues.

Many of the discussions from these focus groups play a key role in assisting the development and support of our ambitious diversity and inclusion strategy. Each group focuses on specific objectives and aims to raise awareness of issues and challenges for under-represented groups and provides a collective voice and two-way communication channel for employees to help inform corporate strategy, policy and practices. 

Open forums such as this are one thing that companies should be doing year-round, not just during Black History Month. Other ideas to support consistent progress include regular features in internal newsletters, promoting and taking part in other relevant calendar dates (such as sharing recipes from various cultures on World Food Day), and ensuring that D&I is a big part of the onboarding process for all new employees.

As one of our interviewees put it using gender-neutral toilets as an example: we need to stop waiting for someone to arrive that requires it. We should be making the workplace inclusive beforehand, as inclusivity like that could be the deciding factor for someone on whether they join the company or not.

EMCOR UK recognises the importance of Black History Month and of corporate programmes such as Creating Balance to help create meaningful change within the workplace. It is critical that we listen carefully to our colleagues’ experiences, take positive action wherever possible, and help create inclusive environments where everyone feels welcome.

The takeaway from should always be to ask your employer, ‘Can we do more?’

Hint: the answer is always, ‘Yes!’

So… what can you do?

 

Emma McLaughlin-Edwards

Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at EMCOR UK