Diversity
We are an equal opportunity employer committed to ensuring equal treatment and equal opportunities for all employees and customers. A copy of our Diversity Policy can be found at http://www.firstgroup.com/corporate/csr/csr_policy/employment.php
We retain a diverse workforce supplemented by our overseas recruitment programme and relationship with Jobcentre Plus. We do not yet hold central statistics on the diversity of our workforce but have over the past year developed a new human resource data management system for UK Bus that will be used for this purpose. Data population will start with new recruits in the coming year.
Encouraging greater diversity
We continue to look at ways to promote ourselves as employers to broader sectors of the community. For example we know that our workforce, particularly the bus driving population, is heavily male dominated.
Attracting more female drivers is therefore an important challenge for us. In partnership with Transport for London we are seeking to achieve this. We are looking at advertising, working patterns, support systems and vehicle and depot design to maximise their attraction to women. Our target is to increase the number of women bus drivers to 10% by the end of 2009.
In Bath we ran a driver’s challenge. Women were encouraged to take the wheel of large vehicles including lorries, buses and tanks as part of a campaign to encourage more women to think about becoming bus drivers.
We have also developed a national relationship with Remploy who provide support to disabled people, and those with complex barriers to finding work. Earlier this year a driver recruited through Remploy started work in Cymru. We are seeking to expand this relationship.
We have established a Diversity Working Group to provide the focus for addressing diversity issues in relation to both customers and employees, focusing in particular on the needs of those with disabilities.
This year we were the first private sector organisation to achieve the New Investors in Diversity standard which was attained by our Hampshire and Dorset operation.
English as a second language
Through the overseas recruitment programme we have a growing number of employees for whom English is a second language. This year we have enhanced our language development programme by introducing a specialist language qualification developed with West Nottingham College for our Polish employees.
This is supported by a podcast that can be accessed in a variety of ways, giving people flexible access to training. The podcast focuses on developing listening and speaking skills through real-life examples that our drivers are likely to encounter on a day-to-day basis.