Cindy Morse - HAS LEFT

Said the following about Employee Experience Team GTR:

“I would like to nominate the Employee Experience Team at Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) for this award. Over the last year the team has really led the way and been part of delivering some key initiatives (see below) helping to advance and raise aware of diversity and inclusion at GTR:

Princes Trust Partnership

GTR works hard to ensure that it attracts candidates from different backgrounds and experience. The partnership with Princes Trust has continuously improved and developed over the course of the franchise. The Princes Trust ‘Get Into’ programme involves a 4 week vocation course that develop young people’s skills in the workplace and specifically in the railway sector. It’s aimed at young people aged 18 to 25, who are ‘work ready’ but do not have vocational skills and/or confidence to enter the workplace.

A big focus for GTR, led by Engagement Specialist Paula Hilliard, has been to increase the amount of young people that are given the opportunity to participate through the programme. GTR currently run three programmes in a year (April to March), offering work experience, with 39 young people coming through the programme in the past year. 77% of the young people from the last two programmes have been offered permanent job roles in GTR.

This programme is a strong talent pipeline for young people into customer facing frontline job roles and provide a structured recruitment, on-boarding and work experience programme. Seeing the individual growth and development for the young people who attend is always a proud moment for us and one that everyone involved in the programme cherishes.

The programme that the young people go through is very innovative as it not only offers the work experience but also offers the support that’s required when moving to a working environment. From the very beginning the young people are given an opportunity to ask any questions of what the railway is like. At one of the ‘taster days’ Princes Trust and GTR provide an opportunity to meet managers from GTR who come and talk to the young people about the company, the programme, and what it’s like working in the industry. Following this the young people are given two weeks training around customer service, conflict awareness and first-aid training, which provides them with tools of how to deal with difficult situations whilst out during their placements. They also get useful training such as how to write a CV, as well as interview skills training where they get the opportunity to do mock interviews with GTR managers. The next two weeks see these young people go out onto their work placements where they work side by side with GTR colleagues in customer service roles such as gate line, passenger hosts and shadow dispatching, along with the support of a GTR manager. After their four weeks training is finished those that have been successful in the programme are then offered a job opportunity across the GTR network, and following the on-boarding process go on to become fully fletched members of the GTR family. The support doesn’t end there as they are also given a GTR progression mentor to guide and support them over the next six months.

LGBT+ Network

In 2019 the LGBT+ Network was established and driven by co-creators Stuart Meeks (then Train Services Director for Southern) and Dante Frederick (Internal Comms and Engagement Specialist), the LGBT+ Network quickly grew to over 150 declared members and many more supports, allies and friends across the business. In addition to creating a safe space for everyone interested in participating through topic-driven meetings and social events, the group also galvanised the first GTR float at Brighton Pride, which was a massive success and an important part of showing how proud we are of this network

GTR Diversity & Inclusion Calendar

Every year, the ‘Celebrating Us’ calendar aims at shining a spotlight on just some of the great people who make up GTR, to provide further information about and celebrate all the different beliefs, interests, needs, and experiences they bring to the company. We’re proud to be made up of such a great mix of differences and are passionate about acknowledging and valuing our people throughout the year.

GTR Women’s Network Group

The team, in partnership with Network Rail and Southeastern, also held a Diversity & Inclusion Conference in June 2019 where over 200 people attended. During the day of talks and workshops, we also took the opportunity to formally launch our Women’s Network Group, which focuses on reviewing and improving workplace practices with a gender lens.

Under the Women’s Network Group work has started on a number of core projects including the development of a group to share insight into roles across the business, an outreach programme with schools and colleges, a dedicated portal for career progression and support as well as creating a more open environment to discuss some of the barriers that women face in the workplace.“