BEYOND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.

Sometimes, unexpected things come our way which have life changing consequences.

People close to me know that I was once an avid hiker with a loving passion for the Peak District and in particular, Mam Tor.

As I write this, the prospect of walking up Mam Tor like I used to, feels like an intimidating and daunting prospect which would likely be impossible to accomplish.

At this moment in time, just the smallest of inclines feels like the most gargantuan of mountains.

In August 2020, I was admitted to hospital with an extreme flare up of eczema which had inflamed so badly that my immune system was attacking my very own body.

Additionally, the threat of septicaemia (blood poisoning) was of great concern to the medical team who were working tirelessly to stabilise the condition.

A session at Leicester Royal Infirmary is always a humbling affair. Not only to witness how hard NHS staff work and the genuine care they posses for their patients but also, to hear the individual stories of patients you meet along the way.

Now an outpatient, my eczema is still in a bad way, where I have spent almost two years on a variety of treatments and medication.

One series of tablets has had an adverse effect on my bones and calcium, resulting in difficulties with mobility.

Last year, dermatology informed me the best thing to do was place me on Methotrexate which was a move not taken lightly and the final decision had to be mine alone.

One of the side effects to consider was a weakened immune system which would place me as a high COVID risk.

I weighed up the consequences and decided to take the prescription. I am still taking Methotrexate which does seem to be alleviating the pain and discomfort.

Because stamina and strength has been affected so greatly, when standing for long periods of time or out walking, I currently rely on the use of a walking aid.

Not long ago a neighbour knocked on my front door to ask how I was. We chatted about many things such as Japan and its influence on British manufacturing through to disability awareness.

Now finding it difficult to walk without the use of an aid, we were discussing what it takes for disability to be understood or indeed, even recognised.

In rail, we often address the '4 C's Challenge' which consists of the following; Carbon, Cost, Capacity and Customer.

When thinking of the customer, I ponder about the needs of passengers such as making mobility and the ease and accessibility to public transport made available to all.

An associate of mine recently raised the poignant matter of hidden disabilities. This makes me contemplate on how we (as a sector) accommodate and make allowances for those struggling with autism or depression.

I also suffer with a severe nut allergy which typically goes unnoticed unless I either talk about it or suffer an anaphylactic shock.

I wear a discreet necklace with an engraved dog tag informing of my hidden condition so if in any eventuality I am unable to communicate, the first person on-hand to assist will know that I need to be delivered an administration of adrenalin.

Suffering with and enduring a chronic outbreak of a skin condition which had previously caused little discomfort has been a learning experience for me as to exactly what constitutes as disability.

I had never considered my condition to be a disability but in fact, it is and is legally protected under the Equality Act of 2010.

Fortunately, I am fit and able to work and wish to do so because as most people know, I feel thoroughly passionate about the marketing profession, design, SME British manufacturing, and my beloved rail sector and railway family.

Regrettably, disability is still an incredibly misunderstood subject matter surrounded by a great deal of ignorance and misconception.

I have long been a believer in aligning commercial strategies with ethical objectives and the benefits of doing so.

Corporate Social Responsibility has been on my radar and agenda for a great many years and just like technology, is forever in constant flux.

Admittedly, sometimes it takes for a personal event to make one more consciously aware of certain topics.

My situation has certainly raised an awareness of disability and has empowered me to take positive action.

One of the great things about working for an SME such as Flotec is that there isn’t too much red tape to cut through. Organisational change can be agreed and actioned incredibly quickly.

Being employee-owned empowers each Flotec individual to make progressive transformations for the benefit of not only the business but also, its people and communities.

In 2021, I wrote a series of mission statements, core values and published a dedicated Corporate Social Responsibility Duty of Care document.

At this time of writing, on Monday morning of this week a quick discussion was had where I expressed a desire to work towards Flotec becoming a disability confident organisation and was given full autonomy and support to take the lead on this massively important and progressive project.

The government disability confident scheme exists to create a movement of change, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people.

There are three stages to complete with the first being to be disability committed, the second to be a disability confident employer and finally to become a disability leadership organisation.

Within the space of just four working days, I was able to rapidly progress Flotec through to becoming a disability confident employer which is quite an achievement.

Importantly, I had full support and engagement from my fellow Flotec team.

We are now working towards leadership kudos.

Whilst having been busy this week preparing submissions to become disability confident, some extra wonderful news has come my way.

Late last year, I submitted Flotec for an award through the Federation of Small Businesses and received notification this Wednesday that we had reached finalist stage for both the wellbeing and product innovation categories.

I cannot help but feel heart warmed by this. The wellbeing submission was in recognition for the fantastic work done by Flotec’s Chloe Lofthouse and Sophie Wright who took it upon themselves to become St John Ambulance trained and are now Workplace Mental Wellbeing First Aid Responders.

The duo implemented this initiative not as an order from elsewhere but because they themselves, understood the moral reasons and benefits for doing so.

I am firmly of the belief that if an organisation gets its ethical conduct right, productivity, innovation and ultimately profitability will naturally and organically flourish alongside.

Simultaneously reaching finalist stage for product innovation is evidence of this.

My career has been eclectic, working for large international organisations, small and medium enterprises through to micro sized companies of just a few employees.

It has taken a long time, but I have finally realised that my home and passion lie within SMEs and their contribution to industry, the economy and ability to make substantial and positive change.

I absolutely love working within the rail sector, not only because I am a self confessed train enthusiast but also because of what rail stands for by actively addressing issues associated with overall equality.

If Corporate Social Responsibility is approached as something which needs to be done as a ‘box ticking exercise’ to 'appear' to the outside world as doing the ‘right’ thing then I would argue for organisations not to waste their time and concentrate their efforts elsewhere.

The culture needs to be as such that employees genuinely want to address social issues and make substantially progressive change for the better of people and communities.

As a small enterprise comprising of just twenty-three people, Flotec is a gem of a company which genuinely does care about its conduct and sociological impact.

When thinking about shareholder capitalism, I usually consider larger organisations and the difficulties (or unwillingness) they face in aligning financial priorities with stakeholder objectives such as employee wellbeing, due mainly to being primarily focussed upon share value.

As a small employee-owned trust, Flotec has given me a different perspective about what shareholder capitalism really can be where our concern is not the value of shares on the New York Stock Exchange (for example) but more importantly, how we, as a collective group of people can all support, encourage and help one another which in turn, is a critical success factor for commercial success.

Excitingly, I will be discussing employee-ownership in just a few weeks’ time at the Invest Midlands 2022 event.