Being an inclusive employer
Supporting you as an individual
At Kent County Council (KCC), we want all colleagues to be able to be themselves and feel accepted for who they are and the unique insights, qualities and backgrounds they bring to the work that we do.
As KCC employees, we have a collective responsibility to understand the perspectives of others, so we treat each other and our service users with compassion, understanding and respect.
A diverse workforce gives us with more insight into our service users and residents' requirements - and what successful outcomes look like. Diversity helps us to think differently, understand things better and find new solutions.
Here at KCC, we all have a role to play in delivering positive and fair equality outcomes throughout the county. We’re open to challenge, keen to learn and ready to change.
We welcome applications from candidates from a range of backgrounds and we’re ready to listen. So jump in and take a look at our current job opportunities – whoever you are. During your application, remember to bring all of you - tell us about yourself and how your unique mix of experiences, knowledge and skills will make a difference at Kent County Council.
Staff groups
Our 6 staff groups; Aspire, Rainbow, Staff Ethnic Diversity Forum, Level Playing Field, Mental Health Support Network and Single Parent Staff Group - provide a safe space for staff to share experiences, recognise and support diversity in our workforce and explore positive ways forward.
Our staff groups also have a role in informing our policy and practice, through our Corporate Equalities Group, to support our commitment to promoting equality, valuing diversity and combating unfair treatment.
Our leaders and managers
We operate an inclusive leadership framework that helps recognise and embrace diversity, and commits to develop a culture of equality and a positive working environment for everyone.
Through sharing knowledge and taking time to listen we become stronger as individuals, as teams and as an organisation.
Our managers have a critical role to play in supporting all team members to be safe and supported at work, using regular conversations to build understanding and put the right support in place. Those conversations can sometimes feel challenging but we provide lots of support to managers.
Disability confident
The Disability Confident Employer mark is awarded by the Department of Work and Pensions to recognise employers who have agreed and been assessed to meet 5 commitments regarding the recruitment, employment, retention and career development of disabled people. The Disability Confident scheme is simple and accessible, offering advice and guidance that helps our managers to attract, recruit and retain disabled people, whilst demonstrating commitment, action and progression.
In continuing with our Disability Confident journey, we are supporting disabled people and those with long term health conditions to have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.
Expect respect
We are also actively ensuring we respect every single person within the organisation as well as our service users and customers to help improve not only what we do and how we do it but also to achieve the best possible outcomes.
We expect our employees to be treated with respect at all times by members of the public, service users, clients, customers and each other – anyone we come into contact within the course of our work. Our commitment as an employer is to take steps to promote equality and eliminate discrimination. Staff and customers alike should be treated with respect.
Silver TIDE Award for diversity and inclusion
We recently received a silver TIDE award for our approach and progress on diversity and inclusion from The Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.
The Talent Inclusion and Diversity Evaluation (TIDE) compares our progress on diversity and inclusion to other organisations and this year we were ranked one of the best. We’ll be taking forward their recommendations on areas for improvement and going for gold next time.
