Diverse thinking for future generations

Anyone who knows me will know that I am passionate about diversity and inclusion. As a gay man myself it’s something that strikes a real chord with me. Just recently I was interviewed for a piece in The Times (published today, 26 March) looking at this very topic. And I thought it may be useful to explore some of the areas addressed here on VERCIDA.

Our difference is also what binds us and ultimately it’s what makes us successful. I’ve been lucky. I work for a progressive and supportive organisation and as CEO of our UK business I’m keen to extend that same support to others. We’ve had a real challenge over the last 12 months in the form of a global pandemic, but this hasn’t affected the progress of our culture and D&I journey. We’ve run virtual and wellbeing events and completed training – to benefit our disabilities, LGBTQ+, women’s and our BAME networks.

I’m well aware of the issues that many have experienced in recent months. Job losses and business closures make headlines every day. Siemens Mobility operates in the transport sector and as such we are a provider and maintainer of critical national infrastructure. This means our employees are deemed to be essential workers and we’ve continued to work throughout – whether that’s from home or within our manufacturing and maintenance sites.

Whilst lack of work hasn’t been our issue, gender diversity is an ongoing issue within our industry, as is an aging work population and skill shortages. We’ve now completed several years of “Women in leadership” programmes and this has been scaled up even further this year. We also run an annual returners programme for mid-level management roles which has been particularly successful in attracting women and others who have been out of the workforce for several years. Similarly, we do a lot of work with Careers Transition partnership to encourage military leavers to take leadership and engineering roles within our business.

But it’s not only recruitment where we can address the requirement for a diverse talent pool. We measure the diversity of our succession plans and have done for some time and we’re also undertaking a review that will oversee the employee journey, from onboarding and induction right the way through to skills and training throughout the career path. This feeds into a robust dashboard to track the impact our initiatives are having on people’s careers. Along with regular employee surveys this allows us to monitor progress.

For me there is a need to prioritise getting underrepresented people into more senior roles. Different approaches and ideas make organisations richer and more successful. My advice to others? Invest in people and give them a voice to express their views and suggest new ideas. This is the real opportunity for the future and sets businesses on the path to success. Something we all want to achieve.

 

William Wilson

CEO at Siemens Mobility Limited