At NIE Networks, our people are our greatest asset. It is the knowledge and experience, skills, expertise and talent of our 1500 employees that enable us to deliver a safe and reliable service to over 910,000 customers across Northern Ireland each year.
We are committed to nurturing a strong people-focused culture, where our people are celebrated both as individuals and as teams and are encouraged and empowered to be the very best they can be.
This is underpinned by a safe and nurturing environment where every single employee feels valued – regardless of their age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion or background.
At the very core of our people culture is our commitment to diversity and inclusion – the principles of which we are focused on embedding across every aspect of our business.
Our employees benefit from a diverse programme of policies aimed at promoting and safeguarding a fair and inclusive workplace - including Dignity in the Workplace; Maternity, Paternity and Shared Parental Leave; Flexible Working and Agile Home Working. We are also proactively progressing guidance documents in areas such as menopause, fertility, breast feeding and post-partum depression.
Alongside this, a key focus for NIE Networks is the area of gender diversity, for which we have been reaccredited with the Silver Diversity Charter Mark by Diversity Mark NI.
Diversity Mark NI has commended us for a range of “innovative initiatives” in this space – including our Female Circuit networks to support, help and encourage females across our organisation, and our Mentor Programme, delivered by a panel of 16 internal female mentors in senior leadership roles.
Diversity Mark NI has also recognised “real improvements in the female representation at Senior Manager, Line Manager and Graduated/Apprentice levels” – with a notable 46% increase in female representation within our Senior Leadership Team recorded in recent years in particular.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is enhanced further through a range of valued external partnerships - including Women in Business NI, Business in the Community NI, Skills NI and the Sisters In programme. We also undertake a programme of careers outreach events and communications in primary, secondary and grammar schools across Northern Ireland, aimed at showcasing the diverse range of career opportunities for all within NIE Networks.
We're proud to have made great strides in diversity and inclusion and we continue to make progress every day, but we're on a journey. We see this as a continuous process of enrichment, development and improvement.
NIE Networks was proud to be the Winner of the Special Award for Diversity and Inclusion at the Department for Economy (DfE) Apprenticeship Awards 2023 and a previous winner of the Women in Business NI Company Award for 'Advancing Diversity in the Workplace'.
Advancing Diversity Award
In the coming years, we remain committed to listening and observing, to telling our stories and sharing our experiences, and to learning from best practice and the experiences of others in this important space.
For more information on our diversity and inclusion strategy, please contact Paula Leathem, Head of Human Resources.
View our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Charter and Gender Statement below.
Charter
Gender Statement
