LIFE AT HOWDENS

Diversity And Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion is a fundamental part of our hiring and working practices, ensuring there are opportunities and fairness for everyone. Our ambition is to be worthwhile for all. We want our business to feel like home, a place where everyone can be themselves, do their best work, and achieve their potential. Everyone is encouraged to succeed and is welcomed irrespective of background.

"We pride ourselves on doing the right things well. The gender working group continue to make great progress with real practical improvements in policy, process, and practices - making a difference to improve people’s lives."

- Julian Lee, Operations Director

Where We Stand

Worthwhile For All Concerned

Worthwhile For All Concerned is our commitment to making Howdens a diverse and inclusive place to work, from local activities to working groups.

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Worthwhile For All Concerned

We want everyone who works here to see and experience ‘worthwhile for ALL’ in action, feel nurtured, and encouraged to succeed with us. We recognise there is progress to be made. And, we’re committed to making Howdens an even more diverse and inclusive workplace.

We do this through local activities that support and advance our diversity agenda, our employee working groups, partnerships with external charities, expert partnerships, and by sharing inspiring, engaging stories.

Our Focus

We currently have three priorities – gender, ethnicity, and disability – each with an employee working group headed by an Executive sponsor. These groups are made up of passionate people who want to drive local actions, ignite conversations, and shape our D and I action plans.
Employee Working Groups

We have many employees across the business who are passionate about diversity. They are working with an Executive sponsor on topics important to us.

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Employee Working Groups

Our Employee Working Groups have been doing great work in their local area to increase the diversity of people who work for us. So far, local outreach activity and listening sessions in our Birmingham depots have led to better representation of local communities, as well as greater cultural awareness.

Our Gender Working Group has helped us achieve Menopause Friendly Accreditation. On this journey we have also delivered training webinars and toolkits for our people, in addition to wellbeing baskets now found in our female toilets.

Our employees have also helped us achieve Disability Committed status and we are actively pursuing the next level of accreditation. We’re raising awareness of neurodiversity, as well as partnering with suicide prevention charities, like Andy’s Man Club, to raise mental health awareness.

Support For All

We understand the positive impact of exceptional leadership. We also appreciate getting there can mean developing new skills.

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Support For All

Approachable, empathetic, constructive – a good manager can really make a difference. Our people leaders are key to creating a welcoming environment and it’s crucial they are confident and knowledgeable about doing so. We provide ongoing support through training and toolkits, enabling them to get the best from their teams.

Among these are packs about diversity, menopause, and mental health. In addition, we have dedicated areas on our intranet that include employee stories, so others can learn about those different to them and gain a deeper understanding of their lives.

We also offer development opportunities via our extensive learning academy for all our colleagues.
Accessible For All

Our approach ensures everyone knows about the opportunities with us. We want our people to feel welcome and enabled to succeed.

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Accessible For All

We’re always looking to broaden our reach and attract new talent in order to diversify our workforce. Our apprenticeships provide a great entry point for starting a fulfilling career with us. In fact, 1 in 10 of our people started as an apprentice – some are now senior managers.

In addition to training programmes, we also use our apprentice levy funds to back small businesses, providing money to fund training that they otherwise would have struggled to pay. This creative approach to the trade skills gap was recognised in 2022 when we won a Social Mobility Award for Innovation.

We want everyone to feel our workplaces are open to them. We support a Women in Manufacturing and Engineering (WIME) scheme with a school close to our Howden factory, which has enabled us to meet female students and inspire them to pursue a career in those industries.