The importance of Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are central to our core values and bring many benefits to our organisation. Having a diverse and inclusive workforce improves team performance, communication, innovation and wellbeing. An inclusive workforce results in individuals who feel confident, valued and able to deliver the best service to our communities and each other.

WYFRS promotes equality of opportunity for all by fostering good relations. We work under the Public Sector Equality Duty to eliminate illegal behaviour such as discrimination, harassment and victimisation. We have an organisational and moral responsibility to promote diversity and inclusion across all protected characteristics: race, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnerships and pregnancy and maternity. Our approach to diversity and inclusion is to ensure everyone is invested and included in our journey. We promote dignity and respect, kindness, allyship and appreciate the value that any individual can bring to the workplace. We respect each and everybody’s individual journey and we hope to provide staff with the knowledge, skills, and awareness of why and how we do this.

Statement of Commitment

“WYFRS are committed to promoting a diverse workforce and ensuring inclusion of all staff. The Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) and People Strategy both incorporate diversity and inclusion as priorities for the organisation and I am personally committed to ensuring that we embed the principles of D&I into all areas of our work.

This Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and framework will support the organisation to progress with our priorities through structured actions that all staff will be responsible for. Delivering this against the organisational values will give a clear direction on what we hope to achieve and align it with the behaviours we expect from our workforce and communities”.

- John Roberts, Chief Fire Officer.
 

The strategy will:

Be structured to fit our organisational priorities and include all districts, departments and teams in a collaborative approach. Embed Diversity and Inclusion as standard practice into all areas of WYFRS processes, policy, and strategy. Provide a unified approach to the positive implementation of Diversity and Inclusion principles and actions, with staff investment and understanding of our goals. Be a time measured framework using actions that are SMART and for which responsibility is clearly identified and shared. 

Our Approach

At WYFRS we are proud to support the NFCC Core Code of Ethics, which underpins our vision and our values. Through this strategy we will lead by our ethics, achieve our vision and ensure everyone demonstrates our values and behaviours every day.

WYFRS OneTeam Vision is to promote, celebrate and elevate our diverse workforce and demonstrate our passion and commitment to providing a truly inclusive organisation. This will be delivered through our organisational values; Communication, Teamwork, Integrity, Learning and Responsibility, which are aligned to the Core Code of Ethics. A D&I objective for each value, and subsequent priorities, will determine the framework. Progress will be reported at Diversity& Inclusion Board (DIB) and every 6 months at HR Committee.

Ethics Principles
Our ethical principles: Putting our communities first, Integrity, Dignity and respect, Leadership, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

 

Our Communication: how we share the D&I message and embrace our workforce diversity.

Objective: Promote WYFRS, internally and externally, as a diverse and inclusive employer by delivering appropriate and positive communications. To role model and celebrate colleagues and communities and share this with all audiences. To ensure we are using appropriate terminology and inclusive language across all departments and teams. 

Aim

Priorities
Ensure our messages are appropriate, easy to understand and inclusive.
  • Devise and introduce a screening tool that determines if communications are positively or adversely impacting on inclusivity.
  • Develop guidance for Districts on how to monitor their external messaging to ensure D&I is considered.
  • Develop guidance on inclusive language and terminology.
  • Provide templates and guidance for staff that ensure accessibility of content.
  • Develop Plain English guidelines and promote the use throughout all teams.
  • Organisational review of the use of acronyms and how they are used and promoted.
Celebrate our diverse workforce and the communities in which we work.
  • Devise a process which ensures Corporate Comms and staff have access to an annual (financial year) calendar of important national dates in the D&I calendar.
  • Create an annual plan template for delivery of organisational events to be led by a steering group of staff network chairs and members.
  • Continue to develop the internal D&I awards into an annual, high profile event recognising staff contributions.
  • Deliver a monthly staff network update profiling the work being carried out and highlight our workplace role models.
Be a gender inclusive organisation.
  • Deliver a programme of gender inclusion webinars and workshops that will educate staff on terminology of evolving gender identities.
  • Incorporate gender free language into our external and internal messaging.
  • Review of all policy and procedure to ensure inclusion of gender identities.
  • Assess property facilities to ensure gender inclusion.

 

Teamwork: how we work together to create a positive and inclusive organisation.

Objective: To continue our commitment to improving the diversity of our workforce, both operational and support staff, through positive action, onboarding and policy development.

Aims Priorities
Work together as one team to promote and encourage opportunities to hear all employee voices.
  • Ensure a direct link between staff network chairs and members of Management Board.
  • Devise a robust consultation process which incorporates staff network members and underrepresented staff.
  • Create a process to measure the impact of diverse staff involvement in decision making.
  • Implement reverse mentoring to enable senior colleagues to connect with people from underrepresented groups. To hear and understand issues from their perspective and to identify solutions.
Work together as one team to deliver positive action.
  • Write and deliver a Positive Action Strategy and Guidance that incorporates the new processes and initiatives.
  • Deliver Positive Action training for staff to improve awareness and understanding.
  • Analyse and report on barriers to progression and retention of underrepresented staff.
  • Review HR processes to include Positive Action initiatives in progression and retention.
Connect our people with services, systems and colleagues at the earliest opportunity.

Review the onboarding process to ensure:

  • D&I induction is thorough.
  • Equality data is recorded and retained.
  • Quickscan is completed.
  • Reasonable Adjustment plan completed.
  • Neurodiversity tools demonstrated.
  • Access to Work application highlighted.
To put workforce diversity at the heart of everything we do.
  • Devise a process which supports inclusion of D&I principles in all departmental strategy or roadmaps.
  • Create a toolkit to support the promotion of embedding and measuring D&I outcomes.
  • Report on positive outcomes to all staff and highlight areas of improvement.

 

Integrity: how we treat people and challenge inequality.

Objective: Demonstrate our commitment to the Public Sector Equality Duty by eliminating discrimination, fostering good relations and advancing equality of opportunity through analysis of our provision and taking a zero-tolerance approach to inappropriate or unacceptable conduct.

Aim Priorities
Make sure that we treat everyone with dignity and respect, calling out and tackling behaviour which falls short.
  • Deliver manager training on the Dignity Respect and Integrity Policy and the skills they need to implement it.
  • Deliver Dignity and Respect training to teams and crews.
  • Publish policy / guidance externally for attention of contractors, visitors and community.
  • Contracts to include agreement from providers that they will acknowledge and abide by Policy.
  • Introduce anonymous reporting tool for staff which provides feedback on the improvements we need to make to improve culture and staff welfare.
Be proactive, transparent and fair.
  • Continue to analyse and report on the gender pay gap and support further pay gap reporting in accordance with guidance from government and best practice.
  • Continue to analyse and report on Equality Data Monitoring.
Get to know and understand our communities.
  • Improve mechanisms for tracking community engagement, outcomes and satisfaction by protected characteristic.
  • Elevate our interaction with communities and attend a diverse mix of community events.
Make sure we act ethically and in a way which promotes equality of access for the diverse workforce.
  • Streamline and continue to use Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) methodology to ensure processes, procedures and changes do not adversely impact on underrepresented staff.
  • Use EIA findings to improve policies and practices and measure the effectiveness of the outcomes.

 

Learning: how we improve knowledge and embed new skills.

Objective: To develop a ‘OneTeam’ approach that encourages allyship and accountability. To improve learning, awareness and celebration of Diversity and Inclusion through providing a training programme, events and campaigns that educate staff, provide tools and dispel misconceptions.

Aim Priorities
Help our people learn and understand more about the diversity within and beyond our organisation.
  • Develop, organise and oversee an overarching programme of learning on diversity and inclusion for all staff and managers.
  • Drive completion of Diversity for Everyone roll out and additional content for managers.
  • Ensure attendance at training and events covers all staff, watches and teams.
Increase the knowledge and understanding of D&I within the workforce.
  • D&I team to visit stations and watches to increase awareness of the work, projects and initiatives conducted by the team.
  • Implement D&I champions in all areas of work and provide specific D&I qualification and training.
  • Staff network quarterly newsletters to teams and stations.
  • Bi-annual staff network roadshows to visit stations and watches to increase staff engagement and awareness.
Help everyone to understand the diverse communities within WY and act to fulfil our duties.
  • Create and deliver an effective monitoring process which uses equality data effectively.
  • Analyse equality data of our communities and use this to inform engagement activities.
  • Provide specific awareness training and guidance on the diversity of our communities.
  • Engage with WYP and YAS to identify cross working opportunities in community working groups, such as interfaith.
Provide tools to help our people learn more, understand more and do more to promote D&I.
  • Develop toolkit and guidance library to support staff on all aspects of D&I.
  • Publish available webinar learning and monitor attendance, assess the impact of the learning.
  • Review the D&I e-learning modules and ensure they are engaging and fit for purpose.
  • Create a library of Skillbooster courses and monitor engagement.
  • Implement D&I essential skills as part of the leadership and promotion programme.

 

Responsibility: how we share accountability for D&I and measure success.

Objective: To elevate Diversity and Inclusion in the decision-making process and increase visibility of the D&I priorities across the leadership team, managers and staff. To demonstrate the commitment to D&I externally and internally and the value we place on being a diverse organisation.

Aims Priorities
Hold the senior team and fire authority to account for decisions made, championing diversity and inclusion always.
  • Introduce a bi-annual meeting between Management Board, D&I Team and staff network chairs.
  • Provide regular updates on progress of the D&I work to the HR Committee Chair and DIB Authority member.
  • Improve mechanisms to ensure completion of consultation and EIA is carried out for organisational decisions.
Harness the knowledge and experiences of our diverse workforce.
  • Staff network chairs to be formally consulted on key decisions that affect the workforce.
  • Role model and celebrate our diverse workforce and the impact of effective inclusion through Corporate Comms, reward and recognition.
  • Use data from the anonymous reporting tool, acknowledge the difficulties and implement actions to address.
  • Improve transparency of how we address and target issues that affect the wider workforce.
Evaluate our commitments and actions against external measures to continually challenge and push us forward.
  • Complete Inclusion Standard every 2 years and promote outcome, successes and areas for improvement.
  • Elevate our Inclusion Standard award from bronze to Silver by 2028.
  • Elevate our Disability Confident rating to ‘Leader’ by 2028.
  • Achieve ‘Outstanding’ for our D&I offer within the HMICFRS inspection by 2028.

 

Roles, Responsibilities and Deadlines

Following approval of the strategy and framework, an action plan will be developed that defines roles, responsibilities and deadlines. The actions from this will be connected with departmental and district action plans. The action plan will be agreed and monitored at Diversity and Inclusion Board (DIB) with 6 monthly updates to HR Committee.

 

Evaluation

The action plan will be overseen by the D&I team with support from the Staff Network Chairs Forum and staff network members. The D&I Manager will meet with departments quarterly who have responsibilities within the action plan and provide a report which evaluates the impact using data, staff feedback and benchmarking tools and share with members of the Diversity and Inclusion Board (DIB). The Action Plan will be a standing item on the DIB agenda where the progress of actions will be scrutinised and discussed.