Sopra Steria: Proud of our Pride Month

Amanda and Dean are co-chairs of our Pride, Love, Unity and Support (PLUS) Network. Here, they share how Sopra Steria celebrated Pride Month and their plans for the rest of the year.

At Sopra Steria, we have five employee-led inclusion networks, one of which is our PLUS Network –dedicated to supporting colleagues who identify as LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and more) and their allies.

As Co-Chairs of the network, we’ve had a busy few months! With our internal community growing, we knew there was an appetite to do even more this year, to celebrate and honour the month of Pride… so we kicked things off with an inspiring talk from the amazing Dame Kelly Holmes.

Dame Kelly visited our London office to share her incredible story, with the event live streamed to colleagues across the UK and Europe.

We heard about her career successes (such as winning two gold medals at the 2004 Olympics!) and her journey to coming out and embracing her authentic self.

It was an extremely heartwarming, thought-provoking and inspiring session. It meant a lot to those who attended, with many saying it had a profound impact. It was also a privilege to hear Dame Kelly’s encouraging and positive feedback on all the work we’ve been doing within the PLUS Network over the past five years.

And that was just for starters! We went on to host a number of events to educate, celebrate and inspire our colleagues. People shared their personal stories and experiences, and it was amazing to see the amount of support they received. Having a psychologically safe environment is so important for people’s wellbeing.

Why stop at June?

This year, we’ve continued our celebrations into July by sponsoring, attending and marching at Bristol Pride! Pride was, and still is a protest. Following our involvement in Manchester Pride last year, we rallied together again to be loud and proud of our community.

It was another incredible Pride march that we were extremely honoured to be a part of. We’ll only achieve true inclusion through our actions, and marching at Pride for another year demonstrates intention.

So, what happens aside from Pride events?

This year, we launched our internal podcast ‘The PLUS Lounge’. The podcast has been a roaring success with people from across the organisation tuning in. We’ve had some fantastic guests and have so far covered topics like ‘Trans Day of Visibility’, ‘What it means to be an inclusive leader and active ally’ and ‘Religion and the LGBTQIA+ Community’.

We’ve also held competitions and polls, as well as people getting involved in focus groups, surveys, and volunteering opportunities. We’re seeing high levels of engagement in our network and the community from across the organisation, which is really positive.

We’re supported at the leadership level too. The PLUS Network, like all our employee inclusion networks, has an executive sponsor. This means that important decisions relating to our network and community are brought to the highest level of our organisation – like shaping our Trans Inclusion policy.

Workplace culture

Having robust HR processes in place is important, but what really makes Sopra Steria feel like an inclusive place to work is the day-to-day culture. Our company values are Respect, Excellence, Empathy and Community, and it’s great to see people actively bringing these to life on a daily basis.

This is demonstrated in how our people feel, and the feedback we receive from PLUS Network members, for example:

“The inclusive culture across the entire Sopra Steria family allows me to be myself at work. I’m fully able to express who I am here, free from judgement or bias.” – Brent Boxley, Executive Account Director.

“To work in an organisation that actually lives up to its values, instead of just writing a set of values for a webpage that means nothing when you get in the door, is extraordinary!” – Tracey Stevenson, Cash Management Team Leader.

​Known for its collaborative approach, Sopra Steria provides consulting, digital services and software development, creating innovative solutions that make life better.

You can find their profile/vacancies here.