It’s National Inclusion Week and this year’s theme is ‘Take Action Make Impact’. Inclusion is incorporated in everything we do at Locale. To us, it’s about fostering an environment where everyone can thrive and comfortably bringing their authentic selves to work. It's also important to me that staff can also build valuable and authentic relationships that enables them to do their best work and feel valued and listened to at the same time.
When we look at measuring our impact, we must take a holistic approach and acknowledge that is it an ever-continuing process. When an action is taken, it is not a case of ticking that off our to-do list and forgetting about it. We must see it through to ensure that the result of a change or adaptation is tangible and makes an individual feel safe and empowered to use and develop their skills and abilities.
But what does that all look like at Locale and how do we know we’re making a genuine impact? To start, we redefined our core values to ensure that, as we evolved and grew as a business to meet client needs, we were also keeping up with the times with caring for our staff. For example, one core value is “We Care” which means that we highly value conversations so people can feel heard and, most of all, safe - safe to be able to honestly discuss what impacts their day-to-day, knowing it will be actively listened to.
When "We Behave with Integrity", we reinforce trust and strength in relationships, therefore creating long-term partnerships based on respect and fairness. Relationships take time to develop so it needs to be spent consistently delivering on promises and ensuring decisions are enacted equitably and fairly. Ultimately, this is where trust can grow and relationships will come mutually beneficial.
Additionally, we devised the Locale Citizen initiative, based on the philosophy that employees work best when united by a common mission. I developed a series of behavioural expectations, encouraging employees to be collaborative, inclusive and respectful. This is used across the entire employee journey, from recruitment and induction to retention, and with clarity and transparency at its heart.
As a result, we have seen:
At Locale, our goal is to blend an individual’s needs with those of their job and team so that everyone feels they can deliver at their best in both worlds. We recognise that sitting the heart of Locale are the people who make that business happen – not the other way around. While I enjoy putting a spotlight on inclusion during this special week, I most look forward to continuing this important work in empowering each and every one of our staff, now and in the future.