DIVERSITY & INCLUSION IN THE WORKFORCE
was ‘inclusion’. He said: “Certainly in a male dominated culture, ‘inclusion’ is the inclusion of socialising and networking with people similar to you. Colleagues with different backgrounds, beliefs, outlooks, and interests, can feel excluded; this applies both to women in engineering, and equally to other diverse groups.”
Discrimination on religious grounds Kim Shelley put the next comment to Duane Passman: ‘I was discriminated against due to my religion and had nowhere to turn.’ Kim Shelley explained that this experienced female engineer was applying for a job, and ‘it was quite evident they were probing to find out her religious beliefs’. Duane Passman said: “I worked some years ago with a member of staff who was Muslim, who felt that the first Ramadan she worked for me she had to come to me and ask to work different hours, due to the need to fast. I told her that that was fine, and have always told my teams they are free to work flexibly as long as they meet their output. Yet I could see she was anxious about coming to see me. The NHS is supposed to reflect society, so if we can’t make allowance for religious observance, what are we doing?
About 10 per cent of our patients identify from black and minority ethnic groups, and a sub-set of them will have issues around religious observance.”
A focus on ‘disruption’
Trish Marchant responded: “Looking at childcare, the focus seems very much on the potential disruption to workplace activity, rather than the value of the people asking for your help. If somebody requires a change in working hours, and is a valuable staff member with great skills and experience, coupled with it being so difficult these days to recruit good engineers, why make it harder for them? The same applies to women who need to take career breaks. In the case of religious needs such as fasting, I think good practice would be to say proactively: ‘I know it’s currently your fasting period; let’s discuss how we can accommodate different hours.’ People shouldn’t have to come to us with a begging bowl.” Kim Shelley said this was ‘about knowing your staff, and knowing their requirements’.
Duane Passman agreed: “Exactly, and in this instance, the individual had only worked for me for two weeks, so didn’t
know me very well. She worked for me for four years in all, and in subsequent years it was never a discussion.”
Interview question
Kim Shelley suggested that the group move to discuss another comment from a lady delegate at Healthcare Estates 2019, about attending an interview, and being asked what she (Kim) believes is now an ‘illegal’ question: ‘Do you plan on having children?’ Trish Marchant had been asked the same interview question, ‘about 15 years ago’, by the MD at a contractor she went on to work for, but pointed out to him that he should not be asking it. She said: “He went white. I think it was due to his lack of experience with women in engineering. He’d never come across a woman engineer in his organisation, let alone in the wider world.” Kim Shelley hoped this same question wouldn’t be asked of a woman at interview today. She asked Lizzie Gibbons if the question had been put to her. She replied: “The question of any plans I may have for children has never come up at any of my interviews.”
Need for change in thinking Trish Marchant didn’t feel UK business yet had a culture of acceptance that people have to have families, and in the case of staff that choose to, that there would inevitably be some workplace impact. She said: “When the Government introduced the increased maternity, and then paternity leave, many complained about how it would impact on business, but that is reality. To function, you have to move with the times.” Kim Shelley agreed: “If we don’t make career breaks for having children more acceptable, there’ll be a decrease in population, and then we really will have no engineers.”
The next comment addressed was:
Members of the IHEEM Diversity & Inclusion Group, and speakers in a session devoted to the topic at October’s Healthcare Estates 2019 conference, enjoy the IHEEM Awards Dinner at the Manchester show.
A Healthy Ch f hoice for Entrance So
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‘Male colleagues were given training, and I was left out.’ Discussion here extended into a wider debate on fair and unfair treatment in the workplace, and ‘bias’ against women. Trish Marchant said: “My experience is that the NHS is very pleased
c
call: 01922 669341 • email:
info@recorduk.co.uk •
www.recorduk
k.co.uk January 2020 Health Estate Journal 27
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