GRAHAM is a privately-owned contractor specialising in building, civil engineering, interior fit-out, facilities management and investment projects. With over 2200 employees, GRAHAM achieved Investors in Diversity in October 2022, GRAHAM and is working towards Leaders in Diversity.
With a strong commitment to an open and inclusive culture, GRAHAM has worked with the Construction Industry Training Board, Supply Chain Sustainability School and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association to develop the industry-wide FIR (Fairness, Inclusion and Respect) initiative.
Hollie Cregan, Head of Equality, Diversity and FIR had previously worked with the National Centre for Diversity, and when she took up her role with GRAHAM two years ago, Investors in Diversity was a natural progression to build on the strengths of GRAHAM’s existing work.
“GRAHAM recognised that a formal strategy was required and by appointing myself as Head of Equality, Diversity and FIR, a structured approach could be implemented for consistency across the business and to accelerate the good work already taking place.”
With an established presence within the construction industry and a previous relationship with Hollie, the National Centre for Diversity was a practical choice to move GRAHAM’s journey forward.
“Appointing an external accreditor was one of the first steps towards a more structured approach for insight and guidance. Staff surveys revealed the gaps and helped me identify the priorities.”
GRAHAM’s journey with the National Centre for Diversity has been an opportunity to pull together the historic work they have been doing to create an inclusive culture and ensure that the work they do is well received at every level of the organisation.
“It’s a great benchmark, and an opportunity to reinforce what you think you know. That has been the purpose of the National Centre for Diversity at GRAHAM; it’s reinforced what we already know and provided a cultural audit with bespoke action plans tailored to our needs.”
The diagnostic surveys have proven to be an opportunity to get at the heart of what people at GRAHAM think, and taking full advantage of the data collected, GRAHAM has broken down their diagnostic results by division allowing them to take a bespoke approach to each area’s strengths and recommendations.
“The cultural audit is fundamental to assessing the needs of each division in the GRAHAM business. Each division has differing needs, business models and workforces so the same solution won’t necessarily work across the company. That tailored approach has been part of our success.”
For Hollie, the Investors in Diversity surveys have been key to understanding the feelings of their staff. With a strong return rate and data set, GRAHAM can maintain a dialogue with their colleagues that shows they are listening and acting on their feedback. This feedback loop has created a positive cultural shift where more and more colleagues are comfortable sharing their experiences within GRAHAM, showing that they feel respected and included by the company culture.
“Following each survey, we communicate the gaps identified, lessons learned and steps we’ll take to further our employees’ recommendations. One of the important benefits from this process is the increased engagement from our colleagues because they can see the purpose and validation of these surveys. It builds confidence and trust and gives us a clearer representation of the feelings of our people.”
Moving forward, GRAHAM continues to analyse, benchmark and improve and Hollie is particularly proud of the work the organisation has done on gender equality as they work to close the gap for women in construction and STEM. Their metrics show strong improvement with 80% more females undertaking leadership development, 15% more females in STEM roles, and 20% more females in senior roles.
“We’ve done a lot of work on gender and we’re reaping the rewards from that.”
Looking toward the future, Hollie sees the long-term journey as one of continued progression, development, and improvement.
“It’s great to achieve the accreditation, and even better to get re-accreditation as acknowledgement of our progress. We are constantly looking at ways to improve.”
