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Veolia signs up to Elevate: the Inclusive Workplace Pledge

Elevate is BITC Ireland’s new pledge to support businesses which are committed to improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Elevate Inclusive Workplace Pledge graphics and logo
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We are delighted to announce that we have signed up to the Elevate: the Inclusive Workplace Pledge. Elevate has been developed by Business in the Community Ireland to help create a workforce that is representative of all members of Irish society.

Logo for Elevate Inclusive Workplace Pledge

Business has a responsibility to improve inclusion in society and Veolia, through our new Inclusion Strategy and by signing up to Elevate we are proud to play our part. It is only through collective actions such as these that we can drive the responsible and sustainable business agenda.

Elevate is led by the Leaders’ Group on Sustainability Social Inclusion Sub-Group, chaired by Sinéad Patton, Veolia Ireland’s Chief Financial and Commercial Officer and Ken Scully, Head of Trading & Commercial Operations – Ireland, Marks & Spencer.

"Investors, consumers, employees, and society have increased their attention on how businesses respond to the diversity, equality and inclusion challenges we face. We are delighted to have already doubled our target of signed up companies and now it's vital to build on this momentum. We can learn from each other on how to authentically move the dial in a meaningful way which will benefit us all."
Sinéad Patton
Chief Financial and Commercial Officer, Veolia Ireland and Co-chair of BITCI's Leaders' Group on Sustainability which developed the Pledge

Tomás Sercovich, CEO, Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), said “The global pandemic and movements such as #BlackLivesMatter have shone a spotlight on the major inequality in our society. Companies have a fundamental role to play and know that they have to do more. We are at the foothills of realising truly inclusive workplaces, but the power of a collective response from BITCI members and learning from each other will lead to continuous improvement as we have seen previously with our Low Carbon Pledge.”

What we are committing to

To ‘elevate’ something means to place it high up on the agenda. It also speaks of aspiration and hope. In ‘elevating’ inclusion in the workplace, we in Veolia are showing that we take inclusion seriously, and that we see it as important. By signing this pledge we are committing to:

  • Document the diversity profile of the workforce, starting with the senior management team
  • Participate in an annual BITCI report which will publish the diversity profile of the collective workforce of all signatory companies
  • Annually develop one tangible action that ensures the recruitment or retention of diverse talent
  • Annually report on the impact of this action
  • Increase ambition on the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda
  • Collaborate with fellow signatories to learn and create solutions for social impact

This is not a change that will happen overnight, but rather the start of a necessary and rewarding journey toward real inclusion, recognition and belonging.

 

Inclusivity in practice