Credera wins ‘Outstanding Diversity Network of the Year Award’ at the Women in IT Awards 2022.

Credera’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Wellbeing network was recognised last night at The Women in IT Awards 2022.

This award recognises “an employee network that strives to ensure the views of its community are heard and acted on to change the system. This network has influence and inspires and motivates its stakeholders to improve the work environment and ways of working for its members. It must be able to demonstrate a change in a way or working, process, or outcomes for an impacted group.”

The Women in IT Awards series aims to tackle this issue and redress the gender imbalance by showcasing the achievements of women in the sector and identifying new role models.

Read next: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Wellbeing Annual Report

Since its launch in 2015, the Women in IT Awards have showcased women in technology in London, New York, Ireland, and Silicon Valley.

Here’s a snippet from our network’s application to demonstrate why we were voted the winners of this year’s awards:

“The network’s priority is to amplify the thoughts and experiences of the individuals they represent, improving core areas of culture and policy where blind spots may appear. The team discovered areas for improvement around Parental Leave, Fertility, and Menopause, and realised Credera’s support for Transitioning at Work was not yet documented despite being a strong and vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ people.

Similarly, the BAME network (CredColour) found that those from certain cultures and backgrounds were struggling to put themselves forward for a promotion due to personal leanings towards ‘humility’ as a strongly celebrated characteristic in their cultures.

The team sought to put “Gender on the Agenda” and ensure those from a BAME background were being supported in their career progression journey.

The objectives can be summarised as:

1. Create market-leading policies around topics impacted by gender.

2. Level the playing field for career progression for employees with a proclivity towards humility.

3. Share best practice far and wide to ensure others in industry can learn from DEIW’s progress.

To meet the objectives, the teams created and introduced the following policies:

1. Enhanced maternity leave: Improve our support by offering 6 months paid maternity leave for those with 2 years' service or more.

2. Fertility: This sets out the rights of employees undertaking fertility treatment or those supporting a partner undergoing this treatment. It outlines the process employees and appraisers should follow, detailing the additional paid time off people undergoing fertility treatment are entitled to.

3. Menopause: This policy sets out the guidelines for Credera to provide the right support for those managing menopausal symptoms at work. This includes options for flexible working, mental health support, and leave. Most importantly, the policy provides information and guidance for everyone - in particular, those with management responsibilities - on how they can best support people going through a common but not often talked about transition.

4. Transitioning at work: This provides information and guidance for everyone - especially those with management responsibilities - on how they can best support trans colleagues. It outlines the information and assistance available to trans colleagues to support them in coming out or transitioning in the workplace.

In addition, the team reviewed all policies and processes to ensure gender neutral language is used throughout. Credera ensured these new policies were folded into appraiser training so that the change was felt across the organisation.

The CredColour network supported a critical review of the promotions cycle to make it more inclusive for those with a leaning towards humility, particularly for those from a BAME background. CredColour introduced early review meetings in which sponsors for each grade would “nudge” appraisers to see which of employees were potentially ready for promotion but not holding their hand up. The DEIW network then worked with individuals to support their promotion application.

DEIW has had a direct impact on recruitment, with candidates citing their work and commitment as a top reason for selecting Credera as an employer of choice.

Crucially, over the last two years, we have increased the number of colleagues that identify as female or from BAME backgrounds in the business.

Emily Markey, Diversity Lead, was also shortlisted for ‘Diversity Lead of the Year’ award, further showing the recognition we received as a diverse and inclusive place to work.

At Credera, our focus has always been on nurturing our culture to “embrace the individual, change the environment.” This will continue as we grow and we look forward to welcoming candidates from a diverse background.