One of the UK’s largest housing associations, Newcastle-based Home Group, has been ranked the no 1 workplace in the UK in the Best Workplaces for Women Awards 2023.
The specialist provider of housing, health, and care saw off competition from major global companies, and was the only housing association in the top 40.
Susan Fulton, Director of People and Corporate Services at Home Group, said: “This is a brilliant outcome and testament to the work that so many of our amazing colleagues have done on creating and sustaining discussions about improving the workplace for women here at Home Group.
“From initiatives to bring more women into senior leadership roles, to conversations around safety and menopause, our efforts have seen Home Group move up the rankings once again.
“Home Group prides itself on supporting all women including trans, non-binary, gender fluid, and intersex women. We want women to feel safe at work and we want women to feel engaged and empowered to lead a fulfilling professional life, whatever that may look like for them.
“There’s still work to be done, and we want to keep learning and improving our wonderful organisation, but to be ranked the best in the UK gives us great confidence going forward.”
The awards recognise the best super large, large, medium and small workplaces in the UK who are leading the way in creating equal opportunities for women in their workplace, with Home Group named in the super large category for business with over 1,000 employees.
This latest success follows on from being ranked among the top 10 places to work in the UK for the fifth year running in the Great Places to Work survey.
Among the policies and actions that took Home Group to number one spot include applying the Rooney rule for gender (as well as for multicultural candidates) for all senior roles; supporting every woman in their career development journey, running quarterly virtual ‘Lean In’ sessions, where women can informally build networks; continuing to focus on women’s safety with working groups reviewing safety, workplace language, training and education of others.
Home Group also reviewed its Lone Working arrangements and improved the experience for colleagues returning to work after absence, as well as continuing to work on gender pay gap, which remains favourable against the national average and shows a year-on-year improvement.
Best Workplaces awards were created by Great Place to Work, an international organisation represented in over 50 countries worldwide. Operating in the UK since 2000, their aim is to help businesses create high performing workplaces where employees feel valued and trusted.
Representing the most prestigious recognition of employer success, the awards are backed by over 30 years of global research. They provide a unique insight into the people practices that create an organisation’s workplace culture.
