Working in the public sector is all about making a difference to people’s everyday lives, making the environment in which they live a better place, and giving them the tools they need to improve their own lives and play an active role in the community.
We’ve got huge ambitions for Haringey. As the shape of local government continues to change, we’re determined to rise to the challenge and find new ways to ensure that our residents enjoy the best opportunities in life – through excellent education, training, access to facilities and community empowerment. We’re committed to growth that can benefit all of our residents, by strengthening the borough’s local economy and bringing in new facilities and activities. Working at Haringey gives you the opportunity to play a part in meeting those ambitions on behalf of everyone who calls the borough their home.
Disability Confident Scheme
The Government’s Disability Confident Scheme is an initiative that helps employers commit to attracting, recruiting and retaining people with disabilities, to ensure that they have the opportunities to fulfil their potential. The Disability Confident scheme has three levels designed to support us on our disability confident journey.
- We have achieved level 2 Disability Confident Employer status, this means that we are taking core actions in getting the right people for our organisation and in keeping and developing our people.
Stonewall’s Diversity Champions
We are proud members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme – a world-leading employers’ programme for ensuring all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, queer or questioning (LGBTQ+) staff are accepted without exception in the workplace. The programme provides an excellent framework for creating a workplace that enables LGBTQ+ staff to reach their full potential.
Employee Networks
All employees have a right to equal consideration and should not be discriminated against, harassed or victimised because of their race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, HIV status, marital status or unrelated criminal conviction.
Discrimination, harassment and victimisation are unlawful, and will lead to disciplinary action.
Valuing differences
Our Borough Plan makes a commitment to take positive action to develop a more inclusive workforce that understands and reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. We have been looking at new ways in which we can influence culture change across the organisation, cultivating diversity and inclusion and creating a workforce where difference is respected and valued. The council recognises that a diverse set of experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds is crucial to innovation and the development of new ideas. Valuing differences plays a key role in attracting and retaining top talent and is an important component of a successful organisation.
From Shereen Tennant
“For a long time, I felt alone in dealing with my health needs and found it difficult asking for help or support. However, since being involved in designing and launching the Disability network in July 2018, I have gained a huge amount of confidence in speaking up about my condition and feel valued in the work that I do by my peers and managers. “The network has recognised the need for very serious and extensive conversations on disability and illness at work and has brought people together to feel supported at work. More specifically, the network has successfully developed links with external agencies and charities to provide a range of support for staff and residents. “My vision for the network in the future is to influence new policy and strategies around staff and residents with disabilities and significant illnesses and to raise greater awareness amongst all staff and residents around how they can personally contribute to the successful journeys of people with disabilities.”
Shereen Tennant
We want to…
Develop a corporate recruitment strategy that addresses the main challenges identified in our workforce profile, so that we:
1
Are a good employer and support the local economy by promoting employment opportunities, particularly for under-represented and disadvantaged groups
2
Attract a wider pool of talent by re-evaluating the skill set needed when replacing staff who leave
3
Explore tools that support inclusion and the removal of bias
4
Identify the best options to capitalise on the apprenticeship levy and explore ‘grow our own’ initiatives to improve occupancy of hard-to-fill roles and support longer-term workforce planning.
5
Introduce mandatory recruitment and interviewer training.
6
Improve the quality and quantity of data we hold about our workforce to help make more insightful decisions.
7
Introduce a comprehensive equalities and diversity training programme
8
Review and develop policies to ensure they are inclusive of staff with a protected characteristic.
9
Support our existing staff networks to create a culture of engagement by encouraging employees to have a voice that is listened to.
10
Develop a culture where a range of views is considered to secure the best approach.
11
Increase profile and visibility of equalities by running events and promotions.
12
Take part in external benchmarking audits such as the Equality Framework for Local Government to ensure that we are taking the correct actions to improve inclusivity.