Our local Diversity and Inclusion council has been running for a couple of months now at Halewood, which is playing a part in the wider company initiative on diversity and inclusion, helping us to give you all a voice.
As we approach the end of the year we wanted to catch-up with our co-chair’s Nasser Saleh and Huijie Ma to find out more about the work the council has done so far and their plans for the coming year.
Both Nasser and Huijie are extremely proud to be part of the Halewood Diversity and Inclusion council and feel extremely passionately about the roles that they play.
Nasser told us, “The plant is such a big place, it’s important that people from different backgrounds and cultures have a place they can get together and share their experiences and support each other. That’s why the council is so important, that we lead on engagement, sharing events across different cultures, and celebrating differences.”
The committee meet monthly to discuss progress and feedback, agree priorities, and to discuss comms and events around the plant to raise awareness about all aspects of diversity. They are working with Estates to be part of the facility review upgrade, with a keen eye on diversity and inclusion, they are looking at toilet facilities, making sure the right facilities are in the right place for everyone to use.
Huijie shared with us, “it’s important that everyone feels comfortable in the workplace, the facilities are a basic requirement that we all need to be right. Whether that’s more female toilets, gender neutral toilets, this is something that as a committee we are looking at and working hard to improve for everyone in Halewood. We are currently looking at introducing Mother Nature cupboards to female toilets, to hold essential supplies.”
The council has also highlighted a number of celebrations across different cultures in the plant, such as Diwali, Hannukah and Christmas, raising awareness and helping us to celebrate with our colleagues from all backgrounds and cultures. There will be many more of these celebrations in 2022, so please keep an eye out to find out how you can get involved!
The council are also really proud of the work they’ve done to raise awareness of the different networks at Halewood, and this is something that they want to continue into the new year. The networks want to represent the people that work in Jaguar Land Rover, their differences and how we can all work together towards one goal. In 2022 you’ll hear much more about the different networks and the work they do.
Remember, you do not have to share the characteristics of that group to join the network. You can join as an Ally – it is all of our responsibility to create and promote an inclusive culture.
