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Who we are

Equity, diversity and inclusion

To address the urgent challenges posed by the climate emergency, we need a diversity of people, experiences and ideas.

  1. Our strategy
  2. Where we aspire to be
  3. How we'll get there
  4. What we've done
  5. Bullying, harassment and discrimination statement
  6. More of our EDI work

Our commitment

  • Climate change knows no boundaries and is impacting people across the world. We're committed to developing equitable responses to address the climate emergency for everyone. This includes work to support marginalised communities who are being hit hard by the impact of climate change.
  • To achieve our ambitious mission, we need a diversity of people, experiences and ideas. We're committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace where our people are representative of the areas in which we work, able to be themselves and supported to be their best.

Our strategy

Working to embed a culture of inclusion and equity is strongly aligned with our organisational values and mission. However, we want to do more than just talk about equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI); we want to take real and meaningful action.

Our journey began in March 2021, when we hired our first EDI lead, Daisy Crowfoot, who worked with colleagues across Energy Saving Trust to develop our organisational EDI strategy. 

This strategy outlines our approach to EDI as an organisation, including where we are currently on our EDI journey, where we want to be, and how we intend to get there.

We took an evidence-based and people-centred approach to developing the strategy, drawing on a range of data, including:

  • An annual employee inclusion survey.
  • Analysis of employee data.
  • Informal interviews.
  • An audit of our policies, processes and cultures.

We’re committed to continually listening to colleagues and others, learning from them, and challenging ourselves to be better. Our strategy and approach will inevitably evolve over time.

Where we aspire to be

Our EDI strategy includes long-term aspirations as an organisation:

  • EDI is fully resourced, prioritised and embedded across our functions and aims.
  • Senior leaders proactively champion and support EDI both in words and in actions.
  • All colleagues feel included, able to be themselves and supported to be their best.
  • Our people are representative of society.
  • We support and engage diverse communities through our work, including those that experience various forms of disadvantage and are often marginalised.

How we'll get there

We’ve identified two key objectives and areas of strategic focus, which will guide us along our EDI journey:

  • Objective 1: becoming an inclusive employer. Developing a diverse workforce and inclusive culture.
  • Objective 2: becoming an inclusive changemaker. Developing equitable responses to address the climate emergency.

If you have any questions about EDI at Energy Saving Trust, please get in touch with our EDI lead, Daisy Crowfoot.

What we've done

We’ve been working hard to create the change we set out in our strategy, focusing on transforming our culture internally and becoming a more inclusive employer. This has involved four key streams of work:

  1. Education and awareness raising. 
  2. Culture and engagement. 
  3. People policies and processes. 
  4. Inclusive leadership and management. 

For example, we have:

  • Established a representative internal EDI committee. 
  • Educated and engaged colleagues on a range of EDI related topics and issues through speaker events, colleague storytelling, blogs, film screenings, guidance and training. 
  • Delivered inclusive leadership and allyship training for our senior leaders and managers.
  • Reviewed and improved a range of people policies and processes to make them more inclusive and equitable. 
  • Developed more accessible and inclusive recruitment processes, including becoming a Disability Confident Committed employer (Level 1). 
  • Improved our EDI related data by asking colleagues to share information about their identities, backgrounds and experiences through an annual inclusion survey. 

This is just some of the work that we’ve delivered. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but we know we can always do more.

Our approach to diversity and inclusion is intersectional. So far we’ve focused largely, but not exclusively, on gender, race, disability and LGBTQIA+ equality. 

We’ll continue to share updates on our work on this page.

Bullying, harassment and discrimination statement

We’re committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace where our people: 

  • are representative of the areas in which we work 
  • are able to be themselves 
  • feel supported to be their best 

We know that this is important not only for our organisation, and our mission, but for all our people and their wellbeing.

We’re committed to providing a safe and respectful working environment for everyone, one that’s free from all forms of: 

  • bullying 
  • harassment 
  • sexual harassment 
  • discrimination
  • victimisation 

Our zero-tolerance approach

We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to instances of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment or discrimination. This covers our interactions with third parties. Third parties include clients, customers, suppliers, contractors, agency staff, consultants, partners and anyone else we work with. 

Our zero-tolerance approach means that we will: 

  • Not tolerate any form of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment or discrimination, and we’ll take responsibility to speak up if we see or experience it.
  • Treat all allegations seriously. 
  • Always take appropriate, proportionate and timely action. 
  • Learn from our experiences to help us continually improve. 

Zero tolerance doesn’t mean going outside our usual policies or making hasty decisions. It means following a fair process while treating everyone with dignity and respect.

Zero tolerance doesn’t mean that we think no incidents will occur. It means that we’ll address matters appropriately, proportionately, and promptly. 

Zero tolerance is everyone’s responsibility. It helps make us all feel safe at work and able to be ourselves. It also helps make Energy Saving Trust a fairer and more inclusive place to work, for our people and those we work with and support. 

We will take action

We encourage all those we work with to report any instances of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment or discrimination to the relevant manager or our HR team, without delay.

We’ll take action against any of our colleagues who commit or condone an act of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment victimisation or discrimination. This will be in line with our disciplinary procedure, up to and including dismissal.

If a third party commits, authorises or condons an act of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment or discrimination, we’ll also take appropriate action. This may include: 

  • terminating calls and email communication 
  • assigning ongoing support to a designated staff member only 
  • issuing a formal warning to the individual(s) involved (and their manager/organisation where relevant) about their behaviour.

In more serious cases, we may also: 

  • discontinue access to any of our services 
  • cease engagement/business with a particular individual/party 
  • report any criminal acts/serious threats to police

We take proactive measures to prevent and address all forms of bullying, harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment. Our colleagues have access to our bullying, harassment and discrimination policy, which outlines our commitment to tackling these behaviours and provides clear mechanisms for reporting and accessing support.

Relevant third parties that we work with can also request a copy of our policy and procedure.

More of our EDI work

Last updated: 23 October 2024