At The Management Recruitment group, we wish to display our support for International Women’s Day – authentically. We are conscious there is a growing and deserved backlash towards corporations who treat the day as a one-day social media tick-box.
Inclusivity is one of MRG’s four core values. This value is at the heart of how we do business, and it is extended internally and externally to all, not just on International Women’s Day, 365 days a year.
The recruitment industry has seen significant changes in recent years in terms of gender equality and diversity. While women have always been an essential part of the recruitment industry, they have traditionally been underrepresented in leadership roles and faced challenges such as unequal pay, limited opportunities for advancement, and bias in the hiring process.
At MRG our numbers speak for themselves. We are proud that 54% of our UK and 52% of our global employees identify as women.
We support women back into the workplace after children with flexible working locations and hours. This is why 15% of our workforce are part-time working parents. “MRG were very accommodating when I opted to return to work, after maternity leave, part-time. The flexible working at MRG lets me work from home when childcare is a challenge, and the technology enables me to do my job well wherever my location. The autonomy of managing my workload ensures that this flexible working approach succeeds.” Charlotte Turedi, Associate Director, UK, University People (an MRG Brand).
Having female voices heard is essential at all levels of an organisation. MRG Board Member Charlotte Rush says “from the moment I started working with MRG, I knew the outlook of the business was different having worked in the staffing industry for almost 20 years. The key to why the company has gone from strength to strength over the past 15 years has everything to do with the right people leading the business and being part of the team. It’s about the right person to do the job, with the right mindset and experience.”
We offer anonymous survey feedback on topics such as our value of inclusivity, whether we are meeting or exceeding expectations, does everyone feel included and who in the business embodies these values best. We are determined to understand and uphold our value of inclusivity by ensuring all have a voice.
Externally MRG has implemented policies and programs to promote gender diversity and reduce bias in the hiring process. Firstly, all recruiters have undergone and passed unconscious bias training. We also use a unique and methodical combination of third-party assessment tools and our own MRG Matching Matrix to ensure candidates short-listed have the right experience for our clients’ opportunities – irrespective of gender.
Overall, while there is still work to be done to achieve complete gender equality in the recruitment industry, we believe MRG is part of the progress made in recent years and will continue to work towards reducing gender bias and promoting diversity and inclusion.
Simon Cheshire, our CEO says that “at the heart of MRG we have always followed a people-focused culture – the people within the MRG team and people the MRG team come into contact with – I believe they are the key to MRGs success”. This focus on all people being treated fairly, combined with our core values, mainly inclusivity, will hold us to the highest standard – not just on 8th March, but all year around!