Annual review 2007/08
Our future
A diverse world
Making a difference
Upholding equality and diversity is a key priority for Rethink. We are naturally keen to offer employment to people who have experienced mental illness. We also have an ongoing commitment to support BME staff and have an established BME network to assist with this.
Making it happen
- As part of the Rethink Plan we have set ourselves priorities in relation to:
- Employing people with direct experience of mental illness, therefore delivering on our commitment to the principles of recovery.
- Having an ethnically diverse workforce to reflect the communities we serve.
- Employing people with direct experience of mental illness, therefore delivering on our commitment to the principles of recovery.
- We've become the first mental health charity to sign-up as a ‘MINDFUL Employer’, promoting best practice in recruiting and retaining staff with experience of mental illness and we also retained our ‘positive about disability’ and ‘two ticks’ accreditation.
- We have also introduced an e-recruitment strategy which explicitly targets BME websites as a means of reaching a wider range of candidates.
- 2007 saw the update and revision of the Equal Opportunities Policy to reflect new legislation and best practice.
- All staff now have a specific core competency required in relation to equality and diversity.
- A survey was carried out in 2007 to ascertain the view of all BME staff in relation to the support provided by the BME Network. 75% of Network members reported that the BME Network was achieving its aims and 70% believed such a group was necessary.
- More work is planned in 08/09 to review the impact of our interventions on the retention of staff who have declared a mental illness. We are ahead of target for staff from BME communities. Three of our regions have made significant increases. We are two percentage points above the profile for the population as a whole.
- The survey of BME staff highlighted the need for better linkage with Rethink’s objectives, attendance by decision-makers and the requirement to influence policy. This has led to the BME Network being made a sub-group of the Staff Consultative Council (SCC) to ensure influence on policies, and the attendance of a Director and a Deputy Director at meetings to ensure influence around direction and decision making.
Moving forward
An Equality and Diversity Taskforce is to be established in 08/09 to review the current situation and build on existing practice where appropriate. We also want to engage and communicate with all parts of the organisation in the development and implementation of this strategy. There will be established a framework to seek and receive action plans from all functions of the organisation which set out how they’ll deliver the strategy in ways that the organisation can demonstrate and celebrate its progress. Rethink intends to extend the range of its reporting on diversity in future reports.
Moving you forward
If you’re a Rethink employee or member then we would welcome feedback on how we can better achieve our ambition. If you are a member of staff from a BME background then you could join the BME Network at a time when it’s role will be reviewed as part of the Equality & Diversity Taskforce. Please visit: www.rethink.org/inthink.
