Every year, TELCA brings together the cream of the energy industry to celebrate excellence. This year the ceremony was held remotely, with nominees tuning in from all over the UK. But the buzz was not diminished by the new format, as spectators excitedly awaited the results via live stream.
There was much cause for celebration here at Tritility, as we became the official Diversity Pioneers of 2020.
When our business was founded nearly two years ago, we made it our mission to embed diversity and inclusion deeply within our culture. From our policies to our management training, recruitment processes and wellbeing initiatives, this commitment to inclusion permeates everything we do. This extends not only to how we treat our staff but to the way we interact with customers and the community.
Promoting social mobility in our community is of huge importance to us, and this was a key factor in our nomination. We were the first North East Energy Consultancy to gain Living Wage accreditation, and we remain committed to this vital initiative.
According to a 2019 Government report, apprenticeships “have the potential be a powerful vehicle for social mobility”. However, the number of candidates entering at Levels 2 and 3, which are more likely to be taken up by those from disadvantaged backgrounds, has decreased in the past four years.
We want to buck that trend. We currently have five apprentices working across our marketing, IT development, finance and administration teams. One team member, Ellen, has recently been nominated for Apprentice of the Year by Sunderland College.
We’re signed up to the Department for Work and Pension’s Disability Confident programme. This will help us to fulfil one of our key company values: Putting people first.
We’re an accredited Mindful Employer, and we believe that mental health problems should not act as a barrier to career success. We therefore have two fully trained Mental Health First Aiders, one of whom is dedicated solely to supporting employees with wellbeing-related concerns. We also have an external counselling service.
We couldn’t be happier to have received our award, but we won’t be stopping here. We want to go even further in identifying and removing barriers to work for our existing and future employees. We have plans to build a training academy that will enable us to recruit from an even broader pool of candidates. They will receive several months of intensive training, with personalised, one to one support from our expert coaches.
Announcing the award, Geoff Curran of Energy News Live highlighted our commitment to diversity from day one. He said: “[Tritility] embedded all of this from the start, with external accreditations, how they want to lead in this area, and to make sure they get the best talent.”
Accepting the award, David Hillam said: “Diversity is a core value of ours and has been since we started. For directors Jonathan Gould and Jamie Wyatt, it’s at the core of what they believe in. We treat people as individuals. Hopefully we can build upon that.”
To watch the TELCA ceremony in full, click here.