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Black History Month: How our diversity and inclusion journey has made us stronger
This October, as part of Black History Month 2024 we have re-affirmed our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive culture. Mercury’s diversity and inclusion team organised a special internal initiative for Black colleagues to share reflections on elements of Black culture as an opportunity for community, connection, and education.
We understand the importance of building a culture that works for every member of our global workforce who hail from over 50 different countries. A key factor in building this winning culture has been prioritising diversity and inclusion across our operations. We strive to create a work environment where each individual feels supported to deliver their best every day, and central to achieving this is fostering a culture of belonging and applying this global perspective to our work.
We continue to embrace diversity and inclusion in our recruitment processes, recently engaging in recruitment initiatives in South Africa and collaborating with the African Professional Network of Ireland on career fair events. While we know there is still work to be done, the progress achieved so far on our diversity and inclusion journey showcases Mercury’s ongoing commitment to making our industry more accessible and inclusive.
Recently, we have made significant progress through our dedicated Black History Month reflections initiative and across other key areas to drive a culture of belonging. Read more about some key initiatives below.
Training and Education
A central element of our approach to diversity and inclusion is facilitating important training and education opportunities for our employees. Last year, all Mercury people took part in a series of trainings to become more knowledgeable around topics including the importance of equity, LGBTQ+ representation, cultural awareness, and allyship. Focused on quarterly initiatives which teams across Europe celebrated together, these training programmes educated our workforce on the importance of inclusive workplaces, understanding different cultural perspectives, and standing in solidarity with those who face discrimination in society.
In June this year Mercury hosted a special Pride event with Donal Og Cusack. Donal Óg became one of the first openly gay elite Irish sportsman when he came out in 2009, breaking perceptions around men in sport. He delivered a fascinating talk on the power of diversity and inclusion and showing up as your authentic self.
Women in Construction
Over the past few years, increasing the number of women in our workforce has been central to our ongoing success. While the construction industry has long been dominated by men, we are making significant changes to shape the structure of our operations to increase female visibility throughout our business and provide more opportunities for women to establish careers and develop in the construction industry.
Through our development programmes, we aim to nurture the careers of women in our industry and enable them to become the leaders of tomorrow. Women make up 24 percent of our apprentice group this year. We are proud to be working towards bridging the gender gap in our industry and our progress thus far has led to enhanced teamwork, effective decision making, and increased productivity.
An inclusive approach
A key result of embracing diversity and inclusion has been the wide range of innovative global perspectives our workforce brings to the table. To deliver leading edge projects for our clients, we embrace change and are constantly on the lookout for new approaches to how we work. To achieve this, we prioritise knowledge sharing and an open culture where everyone’s voice is valued.
One such recent example has been our Safety Mentorship Programme, which connects experienced safety professionals with younger members of our EHS teams each week. The sessions provide an arena for collaboration and continuous improvement with opportunities to share advice, learn from colleagues, and develop new ideas. By cultivating an inclusive culture of collaboration, our junior safety professionals can learn from Mercury’s leading safety experts, while our more experienced team members can develop new ways of thinking and learn from their peers, ensuring we maintain our industry leading safety standards.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
At Mercury, our drive towards diversity & inclusion is one of the key driving factors behind our winning culture.
We have put in place a Diversity & Inclusion Policy that is driven by our Executive Management Team. Diversity & Inclusion is woven into the fabric of the vision and values of Mercury, not only through our culture, but through the entire life cycle of the employee experience.
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