Cultural diversity enriches Stockton family centre

Nov 20 2007

CELEBRATING its recent win in the category for employers of 11-50 staff, Sacha Bedding, managing director at the Stockton International Family Centre talks about how the organisation practices equality and diversity and the benefits of applying this approach within the business.

He says:

“When I sat down to fill in the application form it became very clear, the extent to which the family centre adopts an equal approach to the business. When assessing the last three years’ employment statistics I was delighted to report that more than half of our staff were of ranging ethnic origins, we had placed women in senior roles, we had employed people with different sexual orientation, we have taken on individuals with disabilities and represented the interests of a remarkable age group with the youngest member of staff being 22 and the eldest 63.

"All of these individuals were employed on merit and I am confident of the abilities in each and every one of them.

“These facts speak volumes and illustrate exactly why we were successful at the awards. We are clearly doing something right, having achieved a highly diverse workforce which, without doubt, has created a strong working community which delivers the highest quality service to our customers.

“I recognise the importance of my staff and work with them to create a positive environment for both employees and customers. Each member of staff is entitled, on top of their annual leave, to take one cultural day; this was designed to respect the cultural variation within the organisation and has proved to be a great success.

“By employing such a diverse workforce we have enriched the community centre and developed a culturally safe environment for all. With 17 languages combined being spoken by my staff we are able to communicate with an immense spectrum of people and so support a vast number of individuals in need.

“Equality is at the core of this organisation and we aim to filter this attitude to the service we deliver and our ethos, ‘whoever you are, wherever you are from we are here to support you’ is always at the top of the agenda. We are here to unite communities by providing support in various forms such as, food parcels, english lessons, training, a drop in centre and internet access.

“Being acknowledged at the awards was fantastic, as it reflected the importance that the region is now placing on businesses to develop a diverse workplace. I believe equality is a vital aspect for businesses and hope that more and more organisations will soon realise its benefits.”