Our person centred approach to valuing equality, diversity and inclusion

Picker is a charity that promotes equitable, person centred policy and practice. We are committed to recognising all people as equals, valuing individual worth and diversity. Our core values – excellence, integrity, valuing diversity and collaboration – underpin everything that we do, reflecting what we believe in and how we behave.

Our founding principles are built around ensuring people’s views count and championing the best possible person centred care. Our work brings us into contact with a wide range of people involved in all aspects of health and social care – whether as recipients or providers. We believe that respect, dignity, equality, appreciation of diversity, and freedom from discrimination are integral to Picker – not only in the delivery of person centred care and the research we carry out, but as an employer too. We want Picker to be an inclusive, enjoyable place to work.

We are committed to:

• Inclusive leadership.
• Demonstrating positive behaviours and having policies in place that promote an inclusive organisational culture.
• Adhering to and promoting the Equality Act 2010 to protect our staff from discrimination in the workplace.
• Recruiting and developing staff from the widest possible talent pool, striving to create a productive environment where everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
• Ensuring our staff feel safe to raise concerns and challenge behaviour and attitudes which prevent us from achieving our vision for diversity and inclusion.

The following initiatives support how we embed and implement equality, diversity and inclusion into our working lives. They help hold us to account and track our progress:

• Equality monitoring to prevent discrimination.
• Provision of equality, diversity and inclusion learning and development.
• Use of internal networks and working groups to support staff involvement in the charity.
• Following best practice and procedures for recruitment.
• Flexible working practices including working from home and flexible start and finish times.
• Review and improvement of methods used for recruitment and participation in our research.
• Review and improvement of project outputs to support clients to address inequalities and differences in experience seen in the groups they serve.

Our CEO Chris Graham reflects on Picker’s values and commitment to achieving an inclusive work environment:

Picker’s vision is of ‘the highest quality person centred care for all, always’. The phrase ‘for all’ here is very important: a commitment to equality and equity is part of our DNA and is etched into everything we do. We recognise the profound benefits of diversity in our workforce and in our Board of Trustees, and strive to ensure inclusivity in all of our policies and practise. Similarly, we are determined to support the organisations and people that we work with by building understanding of equalities issues in people’s experiences and by promoting more equitable health and care, and we are proud of our work with diverse communities.