Industry News Exertis Group’s new diversity initiatives


Exertis has announced a new set of diversity and inclusion initiatives, to demonstrate its strong commitment to fostering a diverse culture across the business. “A diverse workforce with equal representation supports the de- velopment of an excellent, progressive company culture,” said Nick Foster, Exertis’ HR Director. “The new initia- tives have been introduced to ensure we design a working environment that is inclusive and diverse.”


The initiatives are to be driven by a diversity steering group, with repre- sentatives from teams and roles in every region the company operates in, aiming to share and learn from best practices across the group. Managers have been provided with a diversity and inclusion toolkit and are commit- ted to delivering a demonstrable con- tribution towards diversity representa- tion within their area of the business. Vishal Chhatralia, Exertis’ Global Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, says the business is driven by an understand- ing that diversity makes an organisa- tion stronger: “Where we have more diversity, we see within our organi- sation that we have better and more non-linear ideas and innovation driv- ing growth. Organisations, irrespective of industry, perform better with great- er diversity.”


Focusing on attracting a diverse and inclusive talent pool is just one of many ways the group aims to help tackle inequality. Exertis believes in fostering and developing talent to ensure underrepresented and mar- ginalised groups are given the tools they need to prosper. It offers career opportunities across a wide range of functions from sales to finance and has over 860 courses available for employees. “We have made two big strides,” says Chhatralia. “One is recruitment: se-


nior roles have been recruited with a greater focus on bringing in new mem- bers from diverse backgrounds, with increases in female talent and talent from ethnic backgrounds. Second is our ‘always on’ education and com- munication programme focused


on


the importance of diversity and what we can do as an organisation to better understand and encourage diversity in recruitment, everyday operations and as a leader.”


In recognition of the differing needs of employees, Exertis has increased ma- ternity, paternity and adoption pack- ages as well as offering flexibility in terms of location and hours, which it believes will encourage diversity. This global strategy demands cross-col- laboration across the group’s global network, which will aid the new initia- tives.


Emergent technologies such as cloud, AI and robotics will further the de- mand for support from the group in other industries and sectors. As Exer- tis stands at the forefront of support- ing these industries, the necessity of a diverse workforce is critical. Almost


Vishal Chhatralia, Exertis’ Global Chief Digital & Marketing Officer,


everyone uses technology, and conse- quently, Exertis believes its services and organisation must reflect the di- verse plurality of modern society. “We are in unprecedented times and the pace of change will only contin- ue to get faster,” Chhatralia says. “In these times it will be those that are able to see and empathise with their customers’ needs who will win. We


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