Milton Keynes Council believes it is becoming one of the first UK councils to add tackling workplace discrimination to a formal corporate risk register, as part of its ongoing commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
A risk register is how an organisation checks and makes plans to avoid what might otherwise stand in the way of it achieving its priorities.
The Council believe that by adding discrimination to its formal risks highlight how seriously they view the issue, as well as their mission to promote a positive, more inclusive workplace culture.
Among other activity, the Council has recently completed the search for ‘diversity champions’ who will champion change from within, help colleagues speak up, and challenge stereotypes.
It wants all employees to recognise the realities and experiences of people with different backgrounds and characteristics than them.
The Council hope that this movie will allow the right workplace culture that is free from discrimination to flourish, allowing them to keep talented people on and make any new staff feel welcome and valued.
They are also encouraging managers recruiting new roles to understand and act on the need for positive action to help the council become more representative of the MK community it serves.
For instance, the Council employs fewer people with disabilities compared to the wider population, although this is reported to be slowly improving.
Going forward, there will be a stronger emphasis on looking at other protected characteristics such as ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation so that the Council’s workforce will become more representative or above average.
Milton Keynes Council Chief Executive Michael Bracey said: "I am pleased to be putting forward this addition to our risk register as it reflects our determination to be a good, inclusive place to work for our 2,300 colleagues."
The new anti-discrimination risk will be considered by the council’s Audit Committee on 30 June.
