EO&D at the British Council

Our approach to EO&D
How we manage EO&D
Articles & Publications
Contact the Diversity team

We are members of Stonewall's Diversity Champions programme

We belong to the Employers' Forum on Disability

We belong to the Employers' Forum on Belief

Our approach to EO&D

Equal opportunity is focused on legislating against unjustified discrimination and the fair treatment of specific groups. It’s about treating people fairly, identifying and removing barriers that get in the way of this and redressing existing imbalances, so that groups which continue to be disadvantaged gain access to opportunities for full participation in the workplace and in wider society.

Diversity is focused on making effective use of the differences and similarities between people. It’s about creating working environments that value a range of differences, believing that understanding and managing these can lead to organisational and societal benefit.

When we talk about equal opportunity and diversity in the British Council, we focus on 7 main areas:

• Age
• Disability
• Ethnicity/race
• Gender (which includes transgender)
• Religion/belief
• Sexual orientation
• Work-life balance

We believe the best way to manage diversity is to ensure that it is built into all processes and functions, considered as part of all policy decisions, and present in the planning of all programmes from start to finish.  This is what we mean by mainstreaming diversity.  To help us mainstream diversity we have a number of documents that outline our commitment to equality and diversity. They are our:

Equal Opportunity Policy
Global Equal Opportunity Policy Statement
Diversity Strategy 2011
Our Annual Equality Reporting

Equal Opportunity Training
We use various methods of training in order to ensure all our staff have EO and Diversity training and development. The training consists of:

• The EOD Resources toolkit which is developed to help colleagues put together workshops and sessions on different aspects of EO&D.
• The British Council Learning Site that explains in full the package of EO and Diversity training and development.
• Face to face EO and Diversity Workshops.
• Online courses on Equal Opportunities as well as Performance Management and Recruitment and Selection.

Key UK Organisations related to the diversity areas

Equality and Human Rights Commission
Age Concern and Help the Aged
5050 Vision: North West Forum on Ageing
Disability Now
Mencap
The Fawcett Society
Runnymede Trust
Institute of Race Relations
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (FFLAG)
Work Wise UK

DCSIMG