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EDITORIAL BOARD Social Mobility: Thriving in the Workplace As a sector, we already do so much to ensure that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds have access to exciting and professional careers. Facing a very real talent crisis also brings opportunity for forward thinking employers to reevaluate their talent attraction, retention and development strategies, to make sure that underrepresented groups can really thrive within the workplace. Having the right culture and values, giving employees a voice, offering true flexibility and optimising conditions for career progression are key factors when it comes to supporting employees from all backgrounds. Offering fair, competitive salaries and benefits is a given, as is the availability of personal and professional support in a much stronger way than historically expected. An organisation’s external Employer Brand and internal Employer Value Proposition (EVP) are both crucial to the attraction of candidates - particularly those who may not have had access to traditional employee attraction methods or insightful careers guidance at school. At Carpenters Group, working with local schools and community groups is something that we are continuing to build on. We promote and highlight the benefits of having a diverse perspective, alongside the formation of working environments where people can flourish, regardless of background. Having visible, credible and authentic role models is key at all levels, but particularly within the Senior Leadership Team - all of whom champion Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) within the workplace. This is vital when we consider how to get our industry recognised as one where people can be proud of bringing their whole self to work. At Carpenters Group, DEI has always been high on our agenda. We have a very active and incredibly engaged DEI team, which has continued to expand and become increasingly representative of our organisation. It is employee led, and its main purpose is to work on creating a culture of respect, empathy, understanding, and an awareness of difference. <strong>Modern</strong> apprenticeships are a fantastic way to ensure that those from diverse backgrounds have access to exciting and professional careers. Carpenters Group have an excellent apprenticeship programme across all areas of the business, with a dedicated apprenticeship lead supporting their progression, development and success. Mentoring (and reverse mentoring) are also excellent ways to support and encourage development and progression. Getting to know the real people behind their stories, mentoring them and learning from them about what we can all do better is really important. Our industry has a huge array of knowledge, not to mention experience of being able to offer fantastic career opportunities. We just need to work harder than ever to ensure that these exciting opportunities are seen and believed by audiences who may have struggled to understand or gain access to them in the past. Sarah Pickerill, Head of People, Carpenters Group Vizion Prioritises Engineer Learning and Development Vizion recognises that our people are a critical differentiating factor in our performance and our success. We are investors in people, and attracting great talent to the Vizion family is key to our future. Encouraging personal growth through individual development is critically important to ensure our team keep pace with customer requirements, as well as current and future technologies. Vizion continually invest in business growth and transformation. The development of our engineers is a key part of our focus and strategic priorities. Ensuring the best possible foundation to the repair and authorisation process is critical to the customer journey, our outcomes, and the elimination of risk. Safety and quality management is part of the story, and ensuring our team is able to work closely with repairers and clients in a trusting and respectful way is essential to this process. Developing these skills to the highest standards through correct training and certifications delivers repeatable and predictable quality, accuracy, and consistency. The integration of our training partners, Cornerstone and Bridge Automotive, provides great resources and synergies, a training ecosystem that our whole network can benefit from. As such, we continue to move forward better, together. This announcement follows the recent achievement of Vizion’s engineering team being AQP qualified. The IMI VDA full route and re-accreditation program will be undertaken over the coming months, with the majority of the team already passing the qualification this year. Most insurer engineering teams have undertaken Cornerstone training already, and with more than 350 repairers also qualified, we have never been more joined up on what can and can’t be repaired. Understanding this clearly, and also what is required to undertake these tasks, has been one of the biggest success stories so far this year. Cornerstone is a champion for sustainability and business performance, delivering profitability and environmental benefits with better thinking and processes. Vizion is helping to reshape the future of automotive repair and continues to be centred around innovation, sustainability, and inclusivity. Development through training, and making it easier for young people to enter our sector remains high on our agenda. Ensuring we continue to support our clients, customers, and the industry now and into the future is key. To put it simply… training and standards are critical to the future of not just a successful business, but also a stronger, more sustainable industry. Chris McKie, Managing Director, Vizion Network Limited MODERN INSURANCE | 17
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