Our Workforce

Equality Scheme 2018-2022 OBJECTIVE 4: Develop our workforce to deliver our values and embed these in all that we do

Develop a culture of inclusivity where our staff and residents thrive by delivering a programme of training and events that help to raise awareness and knowledge around equality and diversity Utilise our Diversity Action Forum to add value and further embed Equality and Diversity into all roles

During 2019/20 we:

Continued to provide mandatory EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) training, which includes cultural awareness training for new employees: Seven sessions were run, attended by 63 employees. Provided a number of opportunities for employees to engage directly with our customer base in a voluntary capacity, to enable them to build closer links to our customers; Agreed and delivered an action plan for project work to be undertaken by our Diversity Action Forum; and Continued to publish articles / blog posts on the intranet that relate to various equality, diversity and inclusion related awareness days / weeks / months that include positive diversity messages.

Opportunities for employees to engage with our customers as volunteers

A programme of volunteering opportunities for 2019/20 was developed. As part of Swan's Christmas Kindness campaign, in December 2019 19 Swan employees volunteered to support a number of activities and events including Christmas lunches, carol concerts and social events for older people, fundraising for St Luke's Hospice and Christmas parties for older residents in Laindon and at the Exmouth community hub.

Swan’s Diversity Action Forum, SwanProud and Diversity Day

Our Diversity Action Forum consists of representatives from various departments / sections within Swan and our repairs partner Axis who, as Diversity Champions, are responsible for:

Identifying what equality, diversity and inclusion issues matter most to residents, customers and employees; Ensuring that Swan’s approach to equality, diversity and inclusion is understood by all Swan Housing Association employees and that every department is promoting equality, diversity and inclusion; and Proposing and delivering projects and actions that relate to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Each year the Diversity Action Forum agree and deliver a number of projects.

The outcomes achieved through the work of the Diversity Action Forum and SwanProud in 2019/20 include increased awareness about: gender equality and period poverty; LGBT+ equality, race equality; black history; religion, faith and culture; dementia and Alzheimer’s; domestic abuse and the White Ribbon Campaign which aims to end male violence against women by engaging men.

Diversity Action Forum projects delivered in 2019/20 included the following:

We delivered another successful annual Diversity Day (please see next page); We raised over £240 for the Alzheimer’s Society through a Dementia Awareness Day arranged for Forest Gate (London Borough of Newham) residents and Alzheimer’s Cupcake Day activities for Swan staff. We ran a campaign to raise awareness about period poverty and do something to help, which resulted in Swan staff donating 40 packs of pads, 33 boxes of tampons / liners and 17 packs of tights and knickers that were donated to a school in Basildon. We put up ‘Not every disability is visible’ posters on the doors of accessible toilets in Swan’s offices and community hubs. We celebrated Black History Month by sharing a series of Black History Month articles on the intranet, arranging a lunch and learn session with an external speaker to explore the importance of diversity in the workforce and valuing difference, and a trip to see ‘Tina the Musical’, which 36 Swan staff attended. We celebrated World Hijab Day by sharing information on the intranet and arranging two lunch and learn sessions for Swan staff which were run by a member of the Diversity Action Forum and two colleagues who wear the hijab and attended by 14 Swan employees. We celebrated the diversity of the Estate Services Team at a diversity lunch where the Chair of SwanProud gave a presentation about Pride month and SwanProud. The Chair of SwanProud (Swan’s network for LGBT+ staff and allies) and other members of SwanProud delivered the SwanProud action plan. In addition to the presentation given to the Estate Services Team, we:

Raised awareness of the Stonewall Rainbow Laces Campaign by giving out rainbow laces at Swan’s five-a-side football event; Participated in London Pride as part of HouseProud and arranged for Swan and our repairs partner Axis to sponsor and have stalls at Essex Pride where we gave out rainbow wristbands embossed with the words ‘@SwanHousing somewhere to feel at home’ (We were also going to have a stall at the first ever Basildon Pride but unfortunately nobody was available that day); Worked with the Tower Hamlets LGBT Forum to host an LGBT+ History Month event at The Reach Community Hub in Tower Hamlets; and Published intranet articles about various awareness days and months including: Pride month; LGBT+ History Month; Transgender Day of Remembrance; and IDAHOBIT Day – International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

Diversity Day 2020: Celebrating Success

Our Diversity Day 2020 (for Swan employees and involved residents) was held at The Reach Community Hub in Tower Hamlets. The theme was ‘Celebrating Success’ and the day consisted of the following sessions, with awareness raising stalls for attendees to engage with over the lunch break:

As Stonewall Diversity Champions we were joined by two speakers from Stonewall who celebrated Stonewall’s 30th birthday and Swan’s 25th birthday with us by sharing some of Stonewall’s important moments of equality from the past 25 years. A session titled ‘Celebrating Strength and Empowerment: Making a Difference’ was run by Dr Muzvare Hazviperi Betty Makoni, Director, Girls Empowerment Initiative UK – a non-profit voluntary organisation based in Essex which provides specialist services and programmes to empower girls aged 0 to 21 who are at risk of harmful cultural beliefs, practices and attitudes. Swan’s Head of People Development and Engagement presented Swan’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy with a focus on mental health. A session titled ‘Celebrating Ability’ was run by Ryan Raghoo, Chief Executive of Enabled Not Disabled, a young British man who has made it his mission to challenge stereotypes about disability, provide opportunities and educate as many people as possible.

Intranet articles / blog posts about equality, diversity and inclusion awareness days / weeks / months

In addition to the articles / blog posts already mentioned in this report, we published articles / blog posts that related to: International Women’s Day; International Men’s Day; World Cancer Day; World Mental Health Day; World Religion Day and Holocaust Memorial Day.

Representativeness of Swan Housing Group’s workforce as at April 2020

We are passionate about customer service and having the best people to deliver it is crucial. Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion will help us to recruit and retain the best people and to ensure that they are trained to meet the diverse needs of our diverse range of residents and customers.

Representativeness of Swan Housing Group’s workforce as at April 2020:

57% women; 43% men. 8% under 25, 54% 25 to 44, 38% 45 and over. At least 20% are BAME (Black / Asian / Minority Ethnic, including White Minority Ethnic staff): At least 59% White English / Welsh / Sottish / Northern Irish / British; At least 9% White Irish or White Other; At least 6% Black / African / Caribbean / Black British; At least 4% Asian / Asian British; At least 2% Mixed / Multiple ethnic groups; At least 1% Other ethnic groups. Ethnic origin is not known for 20%* At least 34% have no religion; at least 38% are Christian; at least 3% are Muslim; at least 2% state their religion as another religion. Religion is not known for 24%* At least 2% of our total workforce are disabled / have a disability (based on selfclassification). Disability is not known for 25%* At least 3% of our total workforce are lesbian, gay or bisexual. Sexual orientation is not known for 19%*.

* Work will be undertaken during 2020/21 to address the data gaps.

The ethnic and religion profile of the areas in which we work differs significantly: In Essex, where our head office is based, and the London borough of Havering, the majority of the population are White and Christian or have no religion. The populations of the other East London boroughs in which we work are much more diverse and a much higher proportion of the community are Asian / Asian British, Black / African / Caribbean / Black British, and from Mixed / multiple or other ethnic groups. A much higher proportion of people in these London boroughs are Muslim and, to a lesser extent, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, and Buddhist.