Train manufacturer recognised for inclusive approach

Train manufacturer Alstom is celebrating after scooping a brace of national awards recognising its approach to inclusivity.

At the recent Women in Rail Awards, the firm, which has its UK base at Litchurch Lane, in Derby, was presented with the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team Award, and the Social Value Award.

The awards celebrate companies who have made a significant contribution to improving gender balance, diversity and inclusion within the UK rail industry.

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team Award credited Alstom with the tangible and positive effects its efforts have had among its workforce – and beyond.

During the last year, Alstom has implemented widespread equality, diversity and inclusion training that was attended by more than 2,100 employees across the UK and Ireland; taken its ‘Be the U in inclUsive’ roadshow to the majority of the company’s 37 sites across the two countries; and has demonstrated improvements in increasing the number of female employees.

The judges said: “Alstom’s leadership recognised its culture wasn’t creating the desired diverse and representative-balanced workforce.

“They listened, learned from, nurtured, and empowered Alstom’s ‘quiet voices’ to create and embed an inclusive and flexible culture; creating four employee networks with voices of Women, Disability, Cultural Diversity and Pride+.”

The company was recognised with the Social Value Award for “creating and embedding an agile, inclusive and responsible culture committed to delivering social and environmental value for communities, employees, and customers”.

Recently, the firm announced 10 charities and community-led projects in the UK and Ireland, which are now benefitting from its 2023 Community Project Fund.

Alstom employees are also being encouraged to use their annual volunteering day to offer additional support to the beneficiaries.

At the same awards, Alstom was also highly commended in the Best Training or Development Programme category for its ‘Springboard’ initiative – a bespoke development programme that encourages and supports women to compete for senior-level positions across Alstom UK and Ireland.

Charlotte Briers, rolling stock performance lead, and Voices of Women chair at Alstom, said: “The recognition from Women in Rail is a testament to the hard work and dedication of teams across our three businesses in the UK and Ireland – rolling stock, train services, and digital and integrated systems.

“For example, our bespoke development programme, Springboard, has been completed by more than 40% of women at Alstom, with recruitment and retention rates increasing across the board.”