our people
“The aim of our inclusion and diversity programme is to foster and celebrate a fair and supportive culture that promotes opportunities for all - where everyone feels proud to be themselves.”
Louise Houston, Tarmac - Head of Talent, Diversity and Inclusion
highlights
Tarmac produces its first Gender Pay Gap Report
In 2018, we published our first Gender Pay Gap report, in accordance with the new UK gender pay reporting legislation. read our full report online
Companies with 250 or more employees are required to publish annual statistics showing any pay gap between male and female employees. Gender pay gap data is different to equal pay. Equal pay relates to pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs, or work of equal value. Gender pay gap is the difference in the average pay and bonuses between men and women overall across a business. Overall, Tarmac’s gender pay gap is lower than the latest reported UK average*, however we recognise that more needs to be done and are continuing to challenge ourselves to drive real change and are firmly focused on attracting and nurturing more female talent.
Our gender pay gap reflects wider issues within industry – including the construction sector – regarding the representation and attraction of women, particularly into technical, operational, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math’s) roles. In our report we outline the reasons behind the gender pay gap in Tarmac and the steps we are taking to close this gap and create a more diverse workplace. Some examples of the proactive steps we are taking are also outlined below.
Developing talent
Developing and investing in the potential of our colleagues at all levels of our business is fundamental to Tarmac’s long term strategic growth. Whatever their starting point, we can help employees to fully develop their talents through learning and development programmes and work-based training.
In 2018 we appointed a Learning and Development Advisor, Early Careers specifically to support our young future leaders.
Developing young people
Our commitment to the development of young people is demonstrated by being an active member of the 5% Club. The 5% Club is a dynamic movement of employer-members working to create “earn and learn” skills training opportunities across the UK by driving the recruitment of apprentices, sponsored students and graduates. Members consist of large and small employers from a wide range of sectors who want to make a difference to people’s life chances and our shared prosperity as a nation competing in global markets.
Members aspire to achieve 5% of their workforce in ‘earn and learn’ positions (including apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formalised training schemes) within five years of joining. For Tarmac, this means approximately 360 of our employees will fit this definition by 2021. 271 employees (3.6%) were achieved in 2018 and it is expected we will hit 5% before the target date. We have some excellent development programmes for our higher apprentices and graduate recruits, with a mixture of on-the-job development and off-site learning. Apprentices are provided with vocational qualifications to take on roles such as operatives and fitters, while some also work towards a degree. Graduates take on a variety of roles across the business including; technical graduate, graduate development surveyor and general management graduate.
During the year Tarmac also launched a groundbreaking educational programme with SkillForce to help students prepare for the world of work. The jointly designed, one-year programme will support students develop the key skills, confidence and capabilities needed to enter professional employment.
Watch our video - 'Tarmac Operations Management Graduate, Building Products'
Our partnership with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), the UK’s leading youth charity, is something we are immensely proud of. This new charity partnership with Tarmac will see young people from across the business offered the opportunity to do their Gold DofE Award, as part of an 18-month programme.
To achieve a Gold Award, colleagues will complete all the DofE sections including Volunteering, Physical, Skills, Expedition and Residential, with a focus on developing valuable skills for business such as team-work, commitment, determination, communication and a positive approach to work. During the year, 30 young people from across our business started their gold award and took on DofE challenge in the Peak District, learning new skills that can help them in their day to day work in Tarmac.We recognise that UK quarrying / construction sector has traditionally attracted a male dominated workforce - making gender diversity a particular challenge. This trend is reflected in our own figures. In 2018, females accounted for 16.4% of our total workforce, a slight improvement on previous years. Within our head office and support functions we see a more balanced 43% female population.
We want to attract and retain the best people to work at Tarmac, and we believe that the best way to achieve this is by reflecting the full diversity of society and the communities where we work. We know that businesses that are open and inclusive are better placed to deliver long-term value. We pride ourselves on being an equal opportunities employer, providing equal, merit based opportunities to everyone irrespective of age, gender, disability, nationality, religion or sexuality and have been working in partnership with a fantastic new social enterprise Diversity Hut. This business helps us find skilled colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
Integrating inclusion and diversity into our business strategy brings many benefits. An inclusive work environment helps motivate employees, improves staff retention and boosts creativity, which is a particular advantage when devising innovative solutions for our clients. To really make a difference we are taking some bold steps and recognise the importance of bringing our people on the journey with us. In 2019, we will be launching our ‘Proud to be Me’ campaign which will help raise awareness and encourage people to be proud of who they are and bring their real self to work.
You can read more about our plans to encourage I&D here...
