Building resilience and capability: Shaping the future of Morgan Sindall Construction

A lot of the time, ED&I comes down to social mobility, and I don’t think anybody has got that right, otherwise we wouldn’t still be talking about it. But what we need is to ensure that it stays on the agenda for businesses like Morgan Sindall. Because the whole make-up of our society is changing and, alongside that, so is what people value in the companies they work for. By keeping ED&I on the agenda, we ensure that the change we want to see is possible. Before I joined Morgan Sindall, I was told by a few people I knew that worked here that, as a company, it was different – in a good way. I think that is definitely true. I feel that people listen here. There isn’t that hierarchy whereby you tell people something but they don’t really hear you. Having different people from across the business, at all levels, involved in Shaping our Future was really good, and it was great to see people from the Board and senior management there showing their commitment to it. They weren’t just speaking to us in a video – they were actually attending and really bought into what we were trying to achieve. I think the vibe is right at Morgan Sindall to make the changes needed to allow people from all backgrounds – including those with protected characteristics – to thrive at the company. The business just needs to remember that, alongside the changes and improvements that are taking place in the work that the business is doing, it is also evolving and growing itself, as are the people that work for it. I think Morgan Sindall is in a really good place. It has a very good ethos, without having too many structured processes that you have to go through to get anything done. If you have an idea, you can roll it out and try it. There’s less talking and more doing – and that’s exactly what we need to improve ED&I.

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