Diversity and inclusion have never been more important in business, so we are proud to support IBEC’s National Diversity and Inclusion Day 2022.
At SL Controls, diversity and inclusion aren’t just for the 14th of June, however, as they are a central priority for our company and the growth strategy we are pursuing.
Norma Mulligan, HR Generalist at SL Controls, said: “Our employees come from a diverse range of backgrounds. For example, while we are an Irish company, there are multiple nationalities on our team.
“We celebrate and support this diversity as often as we can, including using the popular Inclusion Calendar from CIPD. This calendar highlights important dates each month as well as themes on the topic of inclusion.
“We try to do something each month based on the calendar. The Chinese New Year is an example, where we provided staff with information on the annual celebration as well as details on how to greet colleagues and others in Mandarin and Cantonese.
“These types of activities and initiatives are not directly related to the day-to-day services that we provide to customers, but they are important as we want to be as inclusive, welcoming, and supportive as possible to people from all backgrounds.”
Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at SL Controls
Other diversity and inclusion initiatives that have taken place at SL Controls so far in 2022 include:
- International Women’s Day – celebrating International Women’s Day in March and encouraging employees to show support for this year’s International Women’s Day theme, “break the bias”. As part of this, we updated the company’s Teams background to an International Women’s Day background, and we ran a coloring-in competition, where the children of employees colored in pictures of powerful and inspirational women.
- SL Controls Women’s Group – one of our female engineers set up a women’s group that meets up each month to provide a space for women to connect in what is a male-dominated sector. The group is only in its early stages, but there is strong enthusiasm and support for it so far.
- Sustainable Development Goals – we published our Sustainable Development Goals at SL Controls earlier this year. One of the five goals is gender equality. Speaking at the time our Sustainable Development Goals were announced, SL Controls CEO Keith Moran said: “This is an area that all of us here at SL Controls are very passionate about. It is also important that a company like SL Controls steps up to the plate, especially in the sector we are in – engineering.”
- Ramadan – ahead of Ramadan earlier this year, we published an informational article that was distributed to all staff. We also offered support for any SL Controls employees observing Ramadan.
- Pride – our activities in June center on the fact it is Pride month. Again, we have published an internal article covering the history of Pride and creating awareness. We have also updated the background we use in Teams, and we changed our logos on all social media channels with Pride colors to show our support for Pride month.
- Women in Engineering Day – later this month, we will mark Women in Engineering day, celebrating the female engineers who work for SL Controls and further committing the company to continue the effort to encourage more women into the industry.
The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion
Shauna Ryan, HR Manager at SL Controls, said: “The senior management at SL Controls support diversity and inclusion on two fronts. First and foremost, it is the right thing to do. We want everyone on our team, regardless of background, gender, beliefs, nationality, race, age, or sexual orientation to achieve their full potential.
“Diversity and inclusion are also important to our business. SL Controls is a people business, where the collective knowledge of our staff enables the delivery of transformational and cutting-edge solutions to our clients. So, we need the best people to come and work for us at SL Controls, whoever they are and wherever they come from.
“Take gender equality, one of our Sustainable Development Goals, as an example. The engineering sector is heavily male-dominated, but we have managed to grow our female headcount in the past year, and we are fully committed to achieving a more gender-balanced workforce.
“At SL Controls, we wholeheartedly support IBEC’s National Diversity and Inclusion Day. We are on a journey ourselves with diversity and inclusion, and we would encourage all employers to do the same.”