National Inclusion Week 2023 is here, and it serves as a powerful reminder of the essential role inclusivity plays in the workplace. Under the theme of ‘Take Action Make Impact,’ this week encourages employers to actively embrace diversity and create inclusive workspaces for everyone. At PRG, we understand the significance of this message and have taken continuous steps to create an inclusive work environment. In this blog post, we’ll delve into some of the actions we’ve undertaken to make an impact, not just during this week but throughout the last few years.

Partnership with ENEI (The Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion)

PRG is proud to partner with ENEI (The Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion), a not-for-profit equality organisation dedicated to providing valuable resources for building diverse and inclusive workforces. Through this partnership, PRG employees have access to a wealth of resources, including free webinars, blog posts, infographics, and a religious festivals calendar. These resources empower us to stay informed, learn, and actively contribute to creating a more inclusive workplace.

Inclusive Recruitment Webinar 

In our commitment to encouraging inclusivity, our HR team rolled out a comprehensive webinar on Inclusive Recruitment – The Candidate Experience. This webinar was made available to all PRG employees, equipping them with valuable insights and tools to ensure a fair and inclusive hiring process. We believe that every step of the recruitment journey should be inclusive, ensuring that talented individuals from all backgrounds have an equal opportunity to thrive within our organisation.

Disability Level 2 Accreditation

PRG has achieved The Disability Level 2 Accreditation, following our successful attainment of Level 1. This accreditation underscores our dedication to attracting and recruiting disabled individuals while providing the necessary support to ensure their success in the workplace. Accessibility and inclusivity are fundamental values at PRG, and this accreditation reflects our commitment to these principles.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Survey

Our People Team understands that to continually improve; we must gather insights into our current workplace environment. To achieve this, they rolled out an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion survey across the company. This survey aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of our workplace’s inclusivity levels, identifying areas for improvement and implementing effective strategies to enhance inclusivity across the business. This survey will be conducted biannually, ensuring that we maintain our commitment to improvement.

Programme One Partnership

PRG is proud to be a member of Programme One, an initiative dedicated to challenging bias, improving equality of opportunity, and enhancing equity. Our goal is to remove barriers to hiring Black recruiters, aligning our workforce’s representation with our local community’s diversity. While we have made strides in matching this representation within our company, we are dedicated to further enhancing this percentage and increasing the presence of Black recruiters within PRG.

National Inclusion Week 2023 is a testament to the importance of inclusivity in the workplace. At PRG, we are taking action to make a lasting impact by partnering with ENEI, offering inclusive recruitment webinars, achieving disability accreditation, conducting regular surveys, and partnering with Programme One. We are committed to adopting a workplace where individuals from all backgrounds can thrive and contribute to our collective success.

If you would like to apply to any of our current vacancies, please click here.

A topic which has been recently highlighted more in the last few years than ever before but stills needs more recognition in and around the workplace, is mental health.

There are many preconceptions of what mental health is and in which form it presents itself The World Health Organization defines mental health as “the foundation for the well-being and effective functioning of individuals. It is more than the absence of a mental disorder; it is the ability to think, learn, and understand one’s emotions and the reactions of others. Mental health is a state of balance, both within and with the environment.’

Everyone can be affected differently when it comes to their own personal mental health and when an individual experiences poor mental health, they may also display their selves in a number of different ways including:

• Feeling constantly tired;
• Showing signs of stress and anxiety;
• Being distracted or confused;
• Working excessive hours;
• Increased smoking or drinking;
• Impaired or inconsistent performance (or uncharacteristic errors);
• Misusing prescription drugs or using recreational drugs;
• Appetite and weight changes;
• Changes in sleep patterns;
• Loss of motivation;
• Over excitement or euphoria;
• Lapses in memory or illogical or irrational thought processes;
• Tearfulness and experiencing low mood;
• Physical symptoms including an upset stomach, headaches, or joint and back pain;
• Displaying irritable, angry, or obsessive behaviour;
• Increased sickness absence; or
• Reference to suicidal thoughts.

These are some of the early signs which can present when someone is struggling and so as an employer it is important to recognise these signs and act accordingly. Mental health can be affected by external problems and workplace occurrences, which is why supporting mental health in the workplace can be paramount to not only allowing employees to perform to their best potential, but it can also ensure everyone feels supported and has the best chance at at managing their mental health to a good level.

Some of the steps PRG have taken to support employee’s mental health in the workplace include the following:

• People Power Hour sessions led by HR, giving employees an opportunity to talk about any home or work-related problems they are having
• Free counselling sessions, massages and alternative therapies from the companies free Medicash plan
• Office dogs allowed to create a fun and relaxing environment
• Flexible working and work from home arrangements with your manager
• A people first approach ensuring hard work in rewarded through incentive abroad trips and club lunches
• Ensuring all employees have the opportunity to grow their learning and individual development through the Learning Locker programme which funds external learning such as getting a CIPD qualification
• Monthly meetings where individual employees are recognised for their hard work and PRG communicate the plans and goals for the year, so everyone feels included and has direction and purpose.

It is extremely important at PRG for everyone to know the door is always open and any problems or concerns can be communicated with direct managers or Human Resources. If you are interested in learning more about what PRG have to offer, contact Shivani Patel today at S.Pavel@precisionresourcegroup.co.uk!

April is Autism Awareness Month and Precision Resource Group (PRG) would like to highlight the importance of Autism awareness in the workplace and talk about how inclusive practices allow everyone including neurodivergent employees to feel comfortable and perform to the best of their ability.

Autism awareness month is an opportunity to raise awareness about autism and the misconceptions surrounding autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Many Neurodivergent individuals can experience exclusion and a lack of understanding when facing everyday scenarios and in the workplace. Precision Resource Group aim to challenge those misconceptions.

Joining the ENEI (Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion) allows PRG to be kept up to date with ongoing work-related causes and promote inclusive practices through employer guides, policy briefings, case studies, and further tools. It also presents an opportunity for our people to grow their knowledge outside of their everyday tasks and network during webinars.

One of the most recent webinars held with the ENEI was ‘Thinking Differently About Autism in the Workplace’ hosted by Aidan Healy, Business Psychologist, Neurodiversity Celebration Week Campaign Director, and Chair of Lexxic, Alex Manners, Neurodiversity and Autism Speaker and Abigail Tennant who has had experience with coaching and completing assessments with neurodivergent individuals.

The webinar was informative and shared knowledge on the challenges individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face in the workplace and in their everyday lives. As an employer, there were also important facts to take away including the point that not everyone who has been diagnosed with ASD will communicate in the same way and so should be individually assessed and spoken to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace.

During the webinar, Aidan said, “There is a saying in the Autistic community that if you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with Autism”.

To continue to support everyone at PRG, here are a couple of examples of how we can help support individuals with ASD in the workplace –

– Ask how the person would like to be referred? i.e. An Autistic person, a person with Autism on the spectrum.

– Providing a mentor or a person they trust and feel comfortable around to share any concerns or adaptations they may need.

At Precision Resource Group, inclusivity is key and for this reason, everyone is provided with a mentor when starting the business to create another open space where they can be heard outside of their team. Team managers and HR are always available to talk about working-from-home options and other solutions to accommodate the individual.

There are also alternative Club Lunches each month such as Spa days, Sky diving and Theme parks to include everyone and provide an alternative to the restaurant incentives. Well-being and inclusion are paramount in creating a positive and thriving work culture for all employees.

If you are looking to join a company that is inclusive and supportive of everyone, contact Shivani Patel today or click here to apply.