Colleague networks at Dunelm

At Dunelm we have four colleague networks as we have a variety of people from different walks of life. These networks all have Co-chairs who facilitate the meetings and actions, Director level sponsors who support the ideas and changes from the networks, and numerous colleague contributions from all over the business.

Disability & Neurodiversity Network: Dedicated to supporting colleagues with disabilities and neurodiverse conditions.

Ethnicity & Race Network: Committed to celebrating diversity and promoting racial equality.

Gender Network: Aims to address gender-related issues in the workplace, promote gender equality, and support colleagues in their professional development.

LGBT+ Network: A safe and supportive space for colleagues who identify as LGBT+ and their allies.

We have a schedule of events that are upcoming that we promote throughout the business. These include things like a museum of historical and culturally important items, inviting guest speakers, and Q&A style panel discussions. As an example in March we have;

Employee Appreciation Day International Women’s Day Ramadan National Sleep Awareness Week Disabled Access Day Neurodiversity Celebration Week International Day of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination International Transgender Day of Visibility Spring Hub

Whilst we can’t as yet have celebrations for every important day of the year, we do try at least to get internal blog posts, videos, or quizzes out for as many of the events as possible. It takes a huge amount of commitment and organisation to get these events running, however the feeling of inclusivity is definitely worth it.

So, why do we go to the effort of having these networks? Well Employee Resource Groups (ERG) have specific purposes. Not only do they foster support, inclusion and community, but they also help people develop their careers. Quite often they do this by having mentorship opportunities, skills building, and networking (I wonder why we call them Colleague Networks).

In addition to the above, at Dunelm we are able to work with our product teams to influence more inclusive design and purchasing, adaption of Dunelm branded items, and we even try experiments with different tools and technologies. Inclusion isn’t just a buzz word to our networks, it’s our lived experience, and having director level sponsorship, it means we can affect change.

Some of the initiatives these networks have brought to the company in the past year:

• Women in Tech group
• Guide on accessible bathroom standards
• Self checkouts that have features to make them more accessible
• Changing over our signage to say assistance dogs only, instead of guide dogs only — in progress

Does your company have an ERG? Are they effective? What can you do to make your company more inclusive for its employees?

Curious about the experience of setting up a colleague network? Luke Thompson, one of my co-chairs on the Disability & Neurodiversity Network shared his experience in our blog last year.

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