9:08 am, January 3, 2019
THE UK’s largest franchised car retailer Sytner Group has launched an initiative to encourage and promote equal career opportunities within its group.
The initiative, called the Diversity Forum, sees representatives from across the group meet six times a year. Plans are to attract a more diverse range of candidates and deliver on its commitment to colleagues of ‘Developing Talent and Building Careers’.
The forum is chaired by Sytner CEO Darren Edwards, pictured, and includes representatives from across the group’s divisions.
Edwards said: ‘When we recruit we want to attract a rich mix of the best possible candidates regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability or age. The Diversity Forum will help us formalise ways of doing this consistently for every vacancy across the group.’
Its inaugural meeting was tasked with identifying barriers to recruitment and career progression. As a result the group is already assessing ways of providing more flexible working practices and centralising recruitment to ensure a more consistent approach.
He added: ‘I’m looking forward to working with the Diversity Forum to make Sytner an industry leading business in terms of equal recruitment and employment opportunities for everyone.’
Melvin Rogers, Sytner Group’s director of HR said: ‘Our ambition is to have a more diverse workforce across all roles including management and senior management. To achieve this aim we need to provide a more family-friendly approach to working and identify where we can become more flexible in terms of work practices.
‘The work of the Diversity Forum will help us formalise ways of recruiting in an inclusive manner which will be consistent across the business and will consolidate our position as a highly desirable employer offering career opportunities and progression for all colleagues.’
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