New era of culture and diversity at Com Laude

This month’s blog post takes a slightly different direction than my usual industry-related chatter as I wanted to mark a significant event in our ESG calendar, welcoming a new era of culture and diversity at Com Laude. And highlight two of my excellent colleagues stepping forward to lead a major element of our wider purpose and societal contribution, as an ethical business run by real people who truly care about the things that matter.

Com Laude has always been committed to the principals of an inclusive work environment where all individuals are treated equally regardless of gender, age or ethnicity. This is how we work and is how it has always been, right from inception way back in 2004. And this commitment was formalised in 2018 with the company establishing the RISE committee (responsibility, inclusivity, sustainability and equality).

Over the past 5 years, RISE has delivered very positive outcomes with benefits felt across the organisation and in areas of the world where the committee’s work has truly made a difference. But now we wanted to take a fresh look at our goals: and my learned colleague, Tim Brown, in his voluntary role as board liaison to RISE, has been working with the committee and our excellent HR team on a more clearly defined set of goals. And together, the board and committee agreed that now was a good time for a refresh, so along with revised objectives came a rebrand – so please join me in heralding the formation of Com Laude DEI – our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

I am delighted that DEI will be co-chaired by Natalie Howatson (Domain Strategist) and Caitlin McLintock (Brand Protection Manager) – two exceptional colleagues separated by a mere 7,300 miles (or a Microsoft Teams call between Edinburgh and Santiago, Chile) and each with language skills I would love to have.

DEI’s mission: to foster a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at Com Laude.

The committee remains a transparent, staff-led team with representation from across our business. They seek to promote a harmonious working environment and to address the challenges of imbalance while enhancing the workplace experience and ethos.

By continuing to harness diverse perspectives and fostering an inclusive culture, we believe we will unlock new avenues of growth, drive innovation and create lasting positive impacts for all members of our staff, our clients and the communities we serve.

And to supplement our HR initiatives, DEI will also conduct employee feedback programmes, influence our policy development, encourage diversity in our recruitment and organise and facilitate educational inclusivity events to deepen our awareness.

The team will also create project specific taskforces, the first two covering Sustainability and Volunteering – with each task force open to all Com Laude staff to express their passion and help guide us to make positive change.

We are excited to see where DE&I will take the company’s commitment to these values with Caitlin and Natalie at the helm. We welcome them and wish them every success.