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Month: January 2024

Today marks a significant milestone as the Supply Chain Sustainability School extends its footprint to Ireland. Already recognised as a leading learning platform in the UK, the School is now set to provide free industry-supported training, knowledge sharing, and support for best practices in sustainability within the Irish built environment.

The launch event, held at Croke Park, Dublin, was supported by the School’s 15 Founding Partners. These Partners, including the Construction Industry Federation and key players in semi-states, homebuilders, major contractors, manufacturers, and service providers, such as Cairn Homes, ESB, Gas Networks Ireland, Glenveagh, Iarnród Éireann, IPUT Real Estate Dublin, John Sisk & Son, Kingspan, Kirby Group, Murphy Group, Roadstone, Saint-Gobain, Skanstec, and Uisce Eireann, showcased a collective commitment to building skills across their supply chain and the broader workforce. The event brought together a diverse range of industry leaders, highlighting a collaborative effort to advance skills and expertise within the construction and related sectors.

Mark Harmon, Chief Procurement Officer for ESB, commented: “ESB is proud to be a Founding Partner of the School, which we believe will play a key role in supporting our supply chain partners on our collective sustainability journey by providing tools, resources and learning materials.”

The Supply Chain Sustainability School has a well-established reputation in the UK, boasting a community of over 100,000 registered members and 200 Partners since it launched almost 12 years ago. The School team, instrumental in shaping the UK School’s success, now aim to replicate this achievement in Ireland.

Andrew Wilson, Programmes Manager for the Supply Chain Sustainability School, said: “We are delighted to establish a Supply Chain Sustainability School for Ireland. Building on the success experienced since 2012 in the UK, and working closely with our Partners, this initiative will accelerate collaboration to tackle shared industry risks such as climate change, labour shortages and modern slavery.”

The Irish School is steadfast in its commitment to providing free learning, fostering knowledge sharing, and encouraging a collaborative approach to tackle key sustainability challenges in the industry. These challenges encompass energy and carbon, sustainable procurement, waste and circular economy, community and social impact, as well as issues like modern slavery, fairness, inclusion, and respect.

Ellen McKinney, Sustainability Manager for IPUT Real Estate Dublin, said: “The School will support the wider uptake of sustainability training, improving our industry and positively shaping our cities. It will help build on our relationships with our design, construction, and building management teams and create new and lasting partnerships across Irish real estate.”

Membership to the School is free, offering access to hundreds of CPD-accredited online sustainability training sessions and e-learning resources. Interested individuals are encouraged to sign up via https://www.supplychainschool.ie.

Companies wishing to collaborate with industry peers to shape the School’s development for the Irish built environment industry can become a Partner. For more information on becoming a Partner, contact Rick Dunn.

Today, the Sustainability Tool, in collaboration with the Supply Chain Sustainability School’s Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) Programme, has unveiled the outcomes of the largest-ever employee diversity survey in the United Kingdom. This comprehensive survey, encompassing more than 526,000 individuals, has been a crucial annual fixture in the built environment sector’s progress tracking since 2016, offering a detailed record of diversity data and pinpointing areas for improvement.

The 2023 survey results, covering 526,415 employees across 537 supply chains of eight major companies and two membership organisations, highlight a substantial increase in participation, with a 55% surge in employees covered and a remarkable 99% rise in participating companies compared to 2022. The inclusion of contributions from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) played a significant role in this expansion.

This year’s findings reveal a noteworthy surge of women in the industry, rising from 23% in 2022 to 29.1% in 2023. This significant increase, marking the survey’s most significant rise in seven years, is primarily attributed to first-time reporting by several Tier 1 organisations. Sectors leading this positive shift include central government, rail, and facilities management, all surpassing the industry benchmark value of 29.1%.

Key takeaways from the 2023 survey:

  • Ethnicity: Despite constituting 52.5% of industry applicants, the representation of ethnic minority groups in the workforce decreased year-on-year slightly to 13.6%, trailing 5% below the ONS UK population average.
  • Attraction and Recruitment: The application-to-hiring ratio was notably higher for ethnic minority groups (90:1) compared to white applicants (28.4:1), on average making it three times as challenging to secure a job this year. Depending on background, ethnic minority groups found it between 1.2 to 6.4 times harder to be hired than their white counterparts.
  • Disability: Persistent data gaps exist around disability, with 35.2% of respondents’ data not being collected. The ‘prefer not to say’ option increased from 3.2% to 6.5% this year.
  • Sexual orientation: While disclosure is increasing, only 2.04% of employees identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, below the ONS UK population average of 3.14%. The survey now includes pansexual, asexual and queer categories to align with census data.

The survey plays a pivotal role in supporting the built environment sector’s commitment to promoting diversity, equality and inclusion, establishing benchmarks, and highlighting areas requiring action for industry-wide progress.

Belinda Blake, Senior Policy Advisor – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at National Highways, said: “National Highways recognises the indispensable role of comprehensive sector data to help drive meaningful change. This annual data capture exercise is instrumental in reinforcing the built environment sector’s dedication to diversity, equality, and inclusion. The report offers essential data, serving as a foundation for setting benchmarks and driving progress across the industry. The success stories within the supply chain stand as a testament to the transformative power of a comprehensive, data-driven approach to ED&I, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and diverse industry.”

Findings from the survey were initially shared at the Supply Chain Sustainability School’s ‘Diversity Data Benchmarking Conference’ in Birmingham last month. The conference emphasised the importance of organisations contributing to the survey to enhance the transparency of the sector and improve diversity and inclusion in key areas such as gender and ethnic diversity. Along with plugging gaps in data capture around disability, pay gaps were also highlighted as areas for attention to achieve a more transparent industry view.

Cathryn Greville, Head of Fairness, Inclusion and Respect at Supply Chain Sustainability School, said: “The survey demonstrates the critical importance of quality data in addressing equity, diversity and inclusion issues across the built environment sector. Without relevant data, organisations simply cannot identify, understand and address the real issues they face in their businesses and supply chains, and they cannot track the success of any initiatives put in place to make the workplace more inclusive and successful.”

The Diversity Survey is set to reopen in March 2024, allowing anyone in the built environment to participate anonymously for free.

Organisations also have the unique opportunity to enhance their understanding of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and identify pathways for improvement. Valuable insights can be collected by assessing employee and/or supplier bases against sector benchmarks and ONS UK population statistics. This tailored analysis not only empowers organisations to assess their EDI status but also provides a roadmap for targeted improvements, fostering a more inclusive and diverse workplace. For details on participation, please contact Max Lajtha.

Access the complete Diversity Survey 2023 results here.

 

As we reflect another successful year, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our partners and all our attendees for their active participation and meaningful contributions during the annual Diversity Data Benchmarking Conference for the Built Environment Sector, held in December 2023 in Birmingham. Hosted by the Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) Programme, the conference showcased the sector’s largest Diversity Survey, aligning with industry-approved and CLC-endorsed diversity metrics.

In its third year, the 2023 Diversity Survey, which garnered insights from over half a million employees across 537 companies, provided valuable data on diversity and equity across protected characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, disability, age along with other diversity and equity metrics. The conference itself offered an unparalleled opportunity for engaging discussions, gaining and sharing practical tools, and exploring ideas on enhancing diversity within workforces and supply chains, thereby contributing to the overall capability, sustainability, and organisational performance for the whole industry.

We had the chance to hear from sustainability and supply chain specialists, as well as industry leaders, on crucial topics such as attraction and recruitment, retention, ethnic diversity improvement, site-based operations, and supporting SMEs in fostering fairness, inclusion and respect.

The keynote address by Dame Judith Hackitt DBE, FREng, FIChemE, FCGI, Non-executive Director of HS2, Chair of Enginuity and Chair of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety further emphasised the significance of diversity in the built environment, offering personal insights and examples that underscored the importance of creating inclusive environments that cater to all individuals utilising it. Dame Judith emphasised the vital role of diversity and inclusion in attracting talent and improving sector outcomes. We extend our gratitude to Dame Judith for her impactful message on the significance of FIR in shaping a better-built environment and understanding community needs.

By bringing together industry experts and supply chain partners, the conference served as a catalyst for meaningful transformation, fostering collaboration to build a more inclusive and equitable future. As the annual Diversity Survey continues to grow, our partners play a pivotal role in expanding the dataset, drawing insights from various market segments, roles, and specialties within the sector. This collective effort allows for further analysis, measurement of progress, and identification of areas for targeted initiatives.

The discussions during our Q&A sessions and roundtables were remarkably insightful. The diverse views and experiences shared by participants made the conversations rich with ideas, best practices, and innovative solutions. These interactions not only made the event better but also gave us valuable insights for the FIR Programme moving forward. We look forward to building on these conversations as we continue to grow and expand the impact of FIR across the sector.

The Diversity Survey is open to, and we encourage, participation by all organisations working in the sector – the broader the reach, the more accurate picture can be obtained. Funded by partners of the Supply Chain Sustainability School, participating in the survey is free for all organisations operating in the built environment sector (from the smallest micro/sole trader businesses to the largest companies). Those that participate in the Diversity Survey receive a tailored report benchmarking their organisation’s diversity data against the sector, industry and ONS data sets.

The Diversity Survey is supported by industry partners including the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) which has set the target of achieving one million workers represented in the survey data by 2025.

Organisations may also choose to purchase the full Diversity Tool to capture diversity data right down into their whole supply chain. The Diversity Tool provides access to detailed reporting and interactive dashboards where organisations can interrogate the data, with analysis remaining confidential to them.