serving Britain's armed forces
|
|
serving Britain's armed forces |
|
| informing, supporting and sustaining the men and women of Britain's Armed Forces who are unashamedly proud2serve | |
| home :: sitemap :: news :: key
documents :: civil
partnership :: contact :: forum ::
chat :: links :: shopping :: finance :: search ::
guestbook |
|
| new |
THE RAF is joining forces with a leading gay campaign group to help ensure that the Service's policies mark it out as an equal opportunity employer. After lead-in disussions, the RAF formally applied to join the Stonewall 'Diversity Champions' programme last month. Stonewall is one of the leading organisations addressing the needs of lesbians, homosexual men and bisexuals and 'Diversity Champions' provides a forum for employers to share best practice in promoting diversity in the workplace. The scheme has more than 250 members from the public and private sectors including the Royal Navy and the MOD Civil Service. The RAF's move attracted coverage in the national media with claims that it was planning to spend tens of thousands of pounds on advertising for recruits in the gay media. So why did the RAF join? The Armed Forces have, frankly, a chequered history in addressing sexual orientation isues. While the RAF, in conjunction with MOD generally, has now fully met its statutory obligations, we still know relatively little about how our personnel policies, and underpinning culture, are directly or indirectly affecting lesbian, gay and bisexual members. Indeed, it could well be argued that the lesbian, gay and bisexual community has been under-represented when considering wider RAF diversity issues, partly since sexual orientation is neither as overt as skin colour or gender nor as identifiable via symbols of religious affiliation. By joining the Stonewall 'Diversity Champions' programme we will be in a better position to ensure that the policies we have in place are not inadvertently working against RAF personnel of any sexual orientation. We will also be able to take advantage of advice to ensure that our policies mark the RAF out as an equal opportunity employer, thus promoting recruitment and retention. The cost of joining the 'Diversity Champions' programme is £1,700 a year, not the "tens of thousands" that was alluded to in the media. Is this good value for money? If it helps to recruit or retain a single person this year, then yes, it is. The RAF seeks to promote equality and diversity for all and has, for many years, proactively engaged with organisations and groups that can assist in meeting them. RAF News readers will certainly be aware that in recent months we have worked closely with the Equal Opportunities Commission on issues relating to sexual harassment and the RAF will continue to work in partnership with other such groups as Race for Opportunity and Opportunity Now. These liaisons have paid dividends in recent times as these groups have provided advice on updating our diversity policies in terms of legal and workplace obligations. They have also acknowledged our commitment to promoting diversity by awarding us Gold Star status. All very nice, but what does that acutally mean in real terms? Most importantly, a completely revised JSP 763 will hit the streets at the end of this month that will make dealing with harassment issues easier and quicker. Training for unit equal opportunities officers, now re-badged as equality and diversity advisers, is now being revised accordingly. However, again contrary to reports in the national media, no bespoke lesbian, gay and bisexual awareness training has been organised for RAF personnel as a consequence of joining Stonewall. The most effective method for raising awareness of diversity issues is simply getting to know all the people in your team, finding out what makes them tick and being aware of what issues may offend. Not only does it cost nothing but you can find out some very interesting things about the people you work with! Finally, any lesbian, gay or bisexual individuals who wish to know more about the RAF's engagement within the Stonewall 'Diversity Champions' programme, or who would like to bring any observations or suggestions to the policy table, are invited to contact the RAF Equality and Diversity Team (Sqn Ldr Dee Taylor and WO Neil Bailey) at High Wycombe, exts 5046/5462. This article originally appeared in the RAF News 19 Jan 07 edition. page: news ::
20070119-RAFJoinsDiversityChampions.htm |
||
|
|||
Proud2Serve.net - serving Britain's armed forces |
|||
