DSFS are proud to be striving to achieve a truly diverse and inclusive workforce by valuing and welcoming everyone’s different abilities, uniqueness and individuality. All our colleagues have the right to and should be able to feel 100% themselves at work; we believe that all our people add to and improve our culture and not just fit in with it.
By embracing our diverse backgrounds and differences our culture becomes richer and makes us stronger together.
Our people are our greatest strength and through our people we strive to make continuous improvements for colleagues and our customers.
We encourage all our people to be resourceful and think ‘outside the box’ and continually make suggestions to make working for DSFS better. Everyone brings a unique perspective which we encourage all our people to listen to and respect.
Having a truly diverse workforce brings different ideas and different ways of working enhancing the customer experience and service we can provide; we are determined to be a fully inclusive, diverse and socially equal organisation and by doing so we can be successful with providing true service excellence.
We expect all our DSFS People to treat each other and our customers equally, honestly and with respect. One of our values is Respectful, in which we pledge that ‘ We are respectful, kind and professional - helping and supporting our DSFS and Trust colleagues, our patients and our customers; presenting ourselves positively and meeting the highest quality standards in everything we do’.
We strive to provide a fair and supportive work environment for all our people regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race(including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
For DSFS to be successful in being truly inclusive we will ensure:
- We embed our values into our culture through our day to day behaviour and be an ambassador of our values and with all our people leading by example
- We support any colleague who feels they need support or feels uncomfortable in our environment
- Our leadership development programmes support our inclusive culture ensuring all our leaders demonstrate and instil our values in all our interactions and daily activities
- Our recruitment process has no barriers
- Our colleagues are educated with what it means to be truly inclusive and the benefits of this to all our people and customers
- There are opportunities for development for all those desiring something different in the future
- We listen to all concerns and act on them
- We listen to all ideas and feedback possibilities
- We monitor our progress through workforce metrics and our People Survey ensuring teams that fall short of expectations are supported to improve this
DSFS will adopt a zero tolerance for any behaviours, attitudes or actions that negatively impact an individual due to their differences or simply for who they are. This may include but not limited to:
- Comments about or actions taken against age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation
- Deliberately spreading rumours or comments about an individual that may negatively affect that person
- Being part of inappropriate banter where a joke, comment or behaviour goes too far or makes an individual feel uncomfortable or hurt
- Harassment and bullying
We would expect any of our people or customers to raise any concerns about inappropriate behaviour or actions to HR, their management team or to staff side immediately. It is OK for any of our people to ‘call out’ anyone whose actions or words hurt, cause offence, are simply rude and inappropriate and which goes against our values.
We will create a safe working environment for everyone no matter who you are. Everyone has the right to feel safe, happy and welcomed.
Zero tolerance will mean a number of different actions that DSFS will take dependant on the situation, it could be:
- Educating the individual ensuring they have an understanding of their actions and the negative impact it had
- Educating the team where any incident occurs to ensure the right culture, attitudes and behaviours are demonstrated
- If education has failed the DSFS Disciplinary Policy will be followed
By demonstrating our values daily, treating each other with the respect and kindness we all deserve and welcoming new colleagues warmly will make DSFS truly inclusive.