DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT
Making the telecoms & IT industry a more inclusive place.
A photo of Kyle Byron-Morgan, an IT specialist at our head office. © BDR Group 2023
iversity, Equity and Inclusion, also known as DEI are very important elements of our business here at BDR Group. If we take our time machine, and go back 32 years to 1991, you'll see that BDR Group was founded by our CEO, Bahman Rahimi, a 31 year old immigrant. We're proud of our heritage at BDR Group and it has helped us become the modern and forward-thinking company that we are today.
Creating an environment that is diverse, promotes equity and that is inclusive, benefits wider society and the telecoms & IT industry as a whole.
This statement / letter is to show the steps that we are taking as a business to promote these British values in our society and in our business practices.
What is Diversity?
Diversity – noun / daɪˈvɜː.sə.ti /
As defined by Oxford: ‘the practice of quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.‘
But what does Diversity mean to BDR Group? When people from different backgrounds come together, they bring with them a wealth of different experiences and perspectives; this leads to more innovative solutions to problems and a more productive workforce.
What is Equity?
Equity – noun / ek.wɪ.ti /
As defined by Oxford: ‘the quality of being fair and impartial .‘
We’re not talking stocks & shares here – what does equity mean to BDR Group? We think it means that everyone has an equal opportunity to success, regardless of their background. This means that we are committed to providing everyone with the same opportunities for advancement and pay, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, or other protected characteristics.
For a business to be successful, it is essential that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.
What is Inclusion?
Inclusion – noun / ɪnˈkluː.ʒən /
As defined by Oxford: ‘the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised, such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups .‘
To BDR, inclusion means that everyone feels welcome, respected and valued. We are committed to creating a workplace environment where everyone feels like they belong. When everyone feels like they belong, it creates a more positive, productive and safer workplace culture – it also helps us to attract and retain top talent from a diverse pool of candidates.
A photo of Danielle Fairless, our Head of Telecoms, helping a telecoms engineer at our head office. © BDR Group 2023
Our Goals
As a socially responsible business, we have many different goals and targets for DEI. Some of our general goals are as follows:
- Increase the representation of women and minorities in leadership positions by 20% by 2025.
- Create a more inclusive workplace for employees from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Provide unconscious bias and diversity training for all employees.
- Develop a mentorship program for employees from underrepresented groups.
- Create an internal monthly/quarterly survey to advise on DEI matters.
- Representation of women and minorities in leadership positions.
- Employee satisfaction with the level of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
- Number of employees who have completed unconscious bias and diversity training.
- Number of employees who have participated in mentorship programs for employees from underrepresented groups.
- Number of diversity and inclusion initiatives that have been implemented.
Evaluation
BDR Group will evaluate its DEI plan on a quarterly basis. The evaluation will include a review of the metrics listed above, as well as feedback from employees, customers, and community leaders. The evaluation will be used to make improvements to the plan and to ensure that BDR Group is making progress towards its goals for diversity and inclusion.
Further to this, the evaluations will be reported on publicly on our website, every quarter from the Diversity & ESG Officer. The report will be able to be downloaded from this page.
Why is DEI important in today's world.
At BDR, we understand that although we’ve come a long way since 1991, but there’s a lot more to do in society and in our industry.
For example, according to DCF, gender diversity is still lacking in the UK telecoms industry, with 67% of those in our industry being older than 35 and male and 1 in 6 having a disability, compared to 1 in 4 against the rest of the UK workforce.
Not only do underrepresented groups face difficulties finding equal opportunities because of their background – including their skin colour, religion, sexual orientation or even just their name; but they also face daily challenges in wider society.
Discrimination is a sad reality for some, you may think, but unfortunately millions of people face this reality every single day.
That’s why we’re a strong advocate and believer in equity – choosing people off of their merit, not their background, race, religion or their skin colour.
Whilst BDR has never really had any issues with inclusion in our hiring practices, we can still make improvements to help people from underrepresented and minority backgrounds obtain experience in the telecoms & IT industry and contribute to our business.
We’re proud to support diversity at BDR, we’re proud to support a vision of a society where people are judged off of who they are, not what they are.
WRITTEN BY
Tyrese Garvie
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