Utilising the Diversity Development Standard to advance diversity and inclusion at Thales
Thales Transport in the UK got in touch with us to help them assess their progress and working practices in equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). After working through EW Group’s Diversity Development Standard (DDS), we were proud to accredit Thales and issue a Silver Award in January 2024.
EW Group worked with Thales in 2022 when they first undertook the DDS to help them assess their current position in EDI and identify areas for improvement. EW Group DEI Consultants, Teresa Norman and Nina Mayler reviewed policies, procedures and documentation, and conducted focus groups with staff. We subsequently issued a detailed report with our findings and recommendations. This led to Thales putting in place a plan based on those recommendations to gain accreditation through EW Group’s DDS scheme in the future, and further improve its workplace culture.
Since then, Thales has driven forward much good practice and innovation in DEI, using EW’s recommendations as a framework to drive change. They wanted to undertake the DDS again to audit the progress they had made against the recommendations of the 2022 audit and understand the areas they could focus on and improve further. As per the 18-month re-accreditation schedule, Thales invited EW Group back in the winter of 2023 to re-assess its progress and to formally accredit its work on EDI against the clear benchmarked standards set out in the DDS.
Thales supports transport operators across the UK with solutions in signalling, communications, and cyber security. With about 750 members of staff, they have a keen focus on ensuring they are inclusive and creating a culture where everyone can bring their full selves to work.
“The Silver DDS status demonstrates the progress Thales Transport in the UK has made, from creating Employee Resource Groups to enhancing our EDI policies. In addition, combining our EDI efforts with Social Value has enabled us to understand and break down potential barriers both internally, and within the local communities we work in. I look forward to taking what we’ve started to the next level in 2024.”
Eleanor Wase, Social Value and EDI Lead, Thales Transport in the UK
The Diversity Development Standard (DDS)
The DDS is a recognised accreditation in diversity and inclusion. Following an in-depth audit, organisations are awarded a Working Towards, Bronze, Silver or Gold Award. The process assesses five key elements:
- Diversity & Wellbeing Foundations
- Recruitment
- External Relations
- Career Development, Pay and Other Awards
- Inclusive Culture
The resulting report details the findings of the audit and sets out an action plan with recommended actions, owners, and timescales. The report findings and recommendations are independently reviewed and validated by another EDI specialist before being awarded the appropriate level of accreditation.
Understanding Thales’ current DEI practices
EW Group Diversity and Inclusion Consultant, Teresa Norman, led the project with the support of EW Group Content and Product Lead, Nathan Salmon.
The EW team reviewed Thales’ employment policies and procedures, including recruitment, performance management, disability policy, approach to procurement, diversity data and engagement surveys and their draft Equality Statement.
Teresa Norman then facilitated six focus groups with employees and numerous one-to-one interviews with senior managers and leads to gather in-depth insights into the culture at Thales. There were high levels of engagement from the teams and feedback commenting on what a positive experience it was and that they felt heard and empowered by the process.
“It was an absolute privilege to work with Thales and witness the great progress they had made on EDI. I was particularly struck by how effective their progressive policies were in supporting staff. I was given several examples in the focus groups of how they enabled staff to manage life’s challenges and to do great work for the company.”
Teresa Norman, Diversity Consultant, EW Group
The report was compiled, and the findings were interrogated and validated by Amanda Ariss.
The audit findings
The audit found that Thales had made significant progress against their DDS Accreditation Development Plan which came out of the 2022 review. With clear leadership of EDI from the Executive, excellent governance, and more management engagement with the night staff, the report commended the development and improvements made over the past 18 months.
Thales has put in place some positive innovations and developed an impactful programme for every aspect of its work. It has introduced some excellent training for staff: Inclusive Leadership training for the Senior Leadership Community, EDI training for all staff, and further developed its approach to Inclusive Recruitment.
It also has excellent diversity communications, a brilliant well-being offering to staff, and an innovative social value programme. It was also found that Thales adopts a proactive and creative approach to reasonable adjustments and is actively working to support and encourage diversity in the transport industry.
Thales also created a new role within its Social Value team to expand its focus on EDI specifically. The Social Value Team focuses on supporting Thales’ valuable community and volunteer projects, providing life-changing experiences for children and young adults. This change has helped further position EDI as a priority within the business and as everyone’s responsibility, much the same as health and safety and sustainability.
Thales awarded the DDS Silver accreditation
In January 2024, we were delighted to award Thales the Silver DDS Award. The audit findings were supported by Thales’ internal KPIs tracking Health, Safety, and Wellbeing, and Diversity and Inclusion through its Staff Engagement Index.
“As a leader of an increasingly diverse workforce, I have always believed that diversity is a necessity. Earning the EW Group’s Silver DDS accreditation is not just an achievement, it’s a starting point for building an inclusive organisation that empowers everyone to succeed.
I am proud of our Social Value team who have demonstrated a meaningful, long-term commitment to fostering diversity through equity and inclusion across the board. I would also like to thank the EW Group who have helped us make phenomenal strides towards EDI excellence.”
Andy Bell, VP, Thales Transport
The report also found that Thales has an impressive response rate around diversity data collection – 85% of staff disclosed their ethnicity (70% is considered great), signifying trust between the team and leadership.
Thales prides itself on a culture that enables learning and continuous improvement. This report has empowered the team to bring this practice into the EDI space.
Continuing to embed diversity and inclusion at Thales
The Thales team commented the report was very useful in providing an objective view of the progress made and a good opportunity to reflect on their journey so far and plan the way forward.
A key recommendation was for Thales to work on better documenting the workstreams and initiatives they have in place, and using the data and evidence they are collecting to actively feed into and inform their strategies and action plans.
With EDI now embedded as a core pillar in its social value strategy, the Thales team is focusing their 2024 EDI strategy on 4 key objectives developed from the recommendations of the report:
- Creating pathways for all (talent and performance management)
- Fostering inclusive culture (ERGs and foundations element of report)
- Accessibility to policies processes and tools (longer term goal – reviewing data capture and making sure using that to best of their ability and business processes are inclusive – inclusive meetings and comms)
- Inclusive leaders – the report highlighted the importance of leaders being seen to model inclusive behaviours. This finding has helped create the foundation of an Inclusive Leadership programme within the business, educating and empowering leadership to foster a more inclusive culture.
The report recommendations will also feed into the focus areas for Thales Transformation programme, a group-wide initiative that focuses on transforming different areas of the business over the course of the calendar year. The Transformation team plan to develop a diversity dashboard which strengthens the use of data across the organisation to aid in better strategic planning and decision-making.
It has been a pleasure to see Thales advance diversity and inclusion and the team’s commitment to implementing the recommendations and action plans provided from the DDS accreditation programme. We are proud to work with Thales and look forward to continuing our partnership and revisiting its progress in 18 months’ time.