We have an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. It's aim is to break down barriers, eliminate discrimination and make sure we offer equal opportunities. We want to be a place where people are appreciated and valued for their own unique contribution and aren’t constrained by their own identity or circumstances.
Scroll down to see the three themes of our strategy and what we're doing to make this happen...
Our themes
What we're doing...
Culture and learning
Making sure we're always improving on equality
- Equality and diversity awareness training for B3Living colleagues (at least 80%).
By March 2023
- Training for customer-facing colleagues - where they will learn how to respond sensitively to people who have experienced trauma in their lives.
By February 2025
- Training for our managers on how to lead and support diverse teams, appreciating that everyone's experience is unique (at least 80%).
By December 2023
- Raise awareness both inside and outside B3Living on relevant diversity issues - running three celebration campaigns per year.
Ongoing
- EDI Champions to agree the language we use to make sure it's inclusive - and update these guidelines once per year.
Every year
Leadership
Role modelling by our Board, Executive and Leadership
- Leadership team to raise awareness of key events.
Ongoing
- Create an EDI Board Champion. Their role is to look our plans for when board members leave and we get new members. They will also make sure equality, diversity and inclusion is part of all our big decisions and regularly discussed by our Board.
By May 2023
- Gather feedback from colleagues each year on how effective we're being. Review their comments, report on our successes/failures and learn for the next year.
Ongoing
Positive relationships
Community, partnerships and communications between diversity groups
- Develop positive relationships with local schools, job centres, community groups and other housing associations.
Ongoing
- Help more B3Living colleagues to use their volunteering leave to support local causes.
Ongoing
How we work
Making our service strategies, policies & procedures accessible and inclusive
- Train our Champions to support their colleagues with decision making. They'll sit on a panel to check new policies, procedures, decisions, etc.
By December 2022
- Train at least 2 x experts per department on how to assess the impact of our work on equality, diversity and inclusion. Make sure everyone is comfortable with the impact assessment process.
By December 2022
Recruitment
A fair and open process
- Look at the way we recruit people and make changes. This includes changing all our documents to make them more accessible and checking that our language does not discriminate or exclude any groups (unless there is a good reason to).
By October 2022
- Start using "blind applications", where personal information is hidden from the recruiter.
By October 2022
- Review the profile of our team and our Board to make sure they broadly represent the profile of applicants we get / customers we have.
Every year
- Review the process/materials we give out before people apply, to make sure we're offering the right support and guidance.
By October 2022
- Unconscious bias training for those involved in recruitment.
Ongoing
- Get feedback on our recruitment process from those who've been through it (successful and unsuccessful candidates).
Ongoing
- Update our website to make sure it shows our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and represents the community we serve.
By June 2023
Our team profile
Reflecting the community we serve
- Check our data and see if there are any trends around who we recruit and promote. Check if there are any groups who are underrepresented and make an action plan for these.
Once a year
- Increase the proportion of people in our team who...
- Are from a minority ethnic group - by 14%.
- Have a disability - by 7%.
- Identify as LGBT+ - by 1.5%.
- Are under 30 - by 17%.
By February 2024
- Do a gender and ethnicity pay gap and publish the results.
Once a year
- Create opportunities to support new people to get into work - e.g. apprenticeships, volunteering, etc.
By February 2024
Services
Make our actions match our commitments
- Use up-to-date data on our customers to improve our services. Check who is using our services and how, and who is giving us feedback to make sure we're offering equal access.
By February 2024
- Identify issues that matter to our customers and tackle these, measuring using an annual survey.
Once a year
- Sign up for frameworks / accreditations that support our commitments.
By June 2022
- Review our marketing materials to make sure we're being accessible and representative - website, social media and print.
By May 2023
- Check that our suppliers, contractors and consultant follow good practice for equality, diversity and inclusion - and make this a condition of doing business with us.
By December 2022
- Make sure everyone is aware of the options for translations, transcriptions and interpreters and that we are using these services when we need to.
Ongoing
- Review our lettings and our anti-social behaviour services.
By August 2022
Checking
Looking at our actions and decisions
- Review our culture every three years.
By February 2024
- Check our customer feedback (via complaints and surveys) to see if customer feedback on our team's attitude and how well we listen has improved.
Once a year