Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
SMG are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We are fully committed to providing equality in the workplace and ensure all opportunities for, and during employment, will be afforded to individuals fairly and irrespective of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race including colour, ethnic or national origins and nationality, religion or belief or sexual orientation ("the protected characteristics"). We want our organisation to reflect the diversity of our communities and we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds.
What does DE&I mean to SMG?
At SMG we are fully committed to ensuring that everyone feels welcome, appreciated, supported and accepted no matter what their background or identify may be.
We have an inclusive social workplace culture where we celebrate our different backgrounds and the variety in perspectives that we all bring.
We recognise that this is an area that needs continuous focus and as such we have a passionate working group in place that builds our strategy and works together to implement change. The working group is made up of representatives from across the business, supported by the people team.
Hear from our CEO on the importance of DE&I
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I believe that the most creative and high-performing teams are those that have diversity at their core. As Matthew Syed puts it in his book Rebel Ideas ‘When people from a singular background are placed in a decision-making group, they are liable to become collectively blind”. In other words, having diversity is not only morally the right thing to do, it is critical to our business success. As a business we want to remain brave and honest as we continue on this journey, we know we’re not perfect, but we’re committed to making progress.
Sam Knights
CEO
Employee Resource Groups
We sat down with some of our Employee Resource Groups to give some insight into the work they do and the reason they exist.
Hear from Rosie Woods, Senior Client Manager, about the Parents & Carers group.
Can you define the Parents & Carers resource group?
The Parents & Carers resource group provides a social circle for employees with caring responsibilities to come together to share their experiences and ultimately help shape the way SMG can support making our workplace more carer-friendly. Whether that is suggesting changes to policies and support available or sharing our experiences on what is the fantastic juggle of a lifetime!
Why did you want to form this group?
Whilst informal and relatively unstructured, it's such an important and easily accessible way to be able to listen to employees and add value to this area of the business, ultimately having a tangible impact on others' caring journeys. Combining children with a career is such a tricky path to navigate and, having trodden that path a couple of times, anything I can do to make that easier for others I'd gladly do. I've found it's the simple things that have the biggest impact when it comes to what carers value from SMG - understanding from both their colleagues and SMG as a business, flexibility with their time around caring needs which our hybrid working enables, and financial support for which we have recently enhanced our parental benefits - and I seek to put the stepping stones in place to build actions in these areas where I can.
Our DE&I Commitments
Anonymous CV Screening
As part of our recruitment process, you'll enter our system as an anonymous CV, with a newly created hidden name, so that all we have to review is the important stuff! Your application will then be reviewed initially by our Talent team, followed by the hiring manager. Please keep an eye on your emails, as well as your junk or spam folders - you should always receive an email from us following your application, so if you haven't, please reach out to us.
Disability Committed Employer
We are pleased to confirm that SMG is recognised as a Disability Confident Committed employer. This is a government supported scheme that supports organisations like ours to make the most of the talents that people with disabilities can bring to our workplace.