We’re committed to promoting social sustainability, covering our colleagues, local operations, and communities across all aspects of our operations, and looking after their welfare, and mental and physical wellbeing.
Our Values
During FY23, we asked our global colleagues to collaborate and develop Cenergist’s values. As part of the process, we conducted focus groups with diverse colleagues across each of the Group’s locations to provide a cross-section of views and inputs and particular values that accurately represent who we are and what we do.
The values form part of our global culture, performance measurement, recruitment, and stakeholder engagement. We will be monitoring the effectiveness of our values during FY24 through updated recruitment practices, performance development reviews and colleague satisfaction surveys.
Our colleagues are at the heart of our company and are the reason for our success. Our annual colleague engagement survey provides a valuable insight into their views and invites their input. Our results for FY23 showed that:
- 97% agree / strongly agree we have good work atmosphere.
- 95% agree / strongly agree the Group is a great place to work.
- 92% agree / strongly agree we have a good company culture.
- 96% agree / strongly agree the work we do is meaningful.
We are delighted with the positive engagement and feedback from our colleagues, which we will use to identify key areas to focus during FY24. We have already increased opportunities for colleague training and development, including career progression at all levels throughout the business.
Our colleagues reflect the communities in which we operate. We are committed to creating a working environment in which individual differences and the contributions of all our colleagues are recognised and valued.
We promote diversity and inclusion across all levels of the Group and throughout our operations, and it is embedded it in our governance practices, recognising the importance that a diverse and inclusive culture has in delivering our ESG goals.
Our Board and senior managers are tasked to ensure they:
- promote diversity and inclusion to all colleagues and consultants.
- actively demonstrate our Diversity policy and practices.
- develop new practices to ensure inclusion for colleagues, contractors, and customers.
- demonstrate continuous improvement in diversity and equal opportunities for all.
Our Equal Opportunities policy ensures that all colleagues, customers, contractors, and those who we come into contact with are always treated equally, and with fairness and consistency. We provide guidance and training to all colleagues about diversity awareness and equality, to ensure we are both an inclusive employer and service provider.
All our recruitment processes are aimed to ensure fairness, equality, and consistency for all candidates, removing any potential barriers to employment. Cenergist globally employs 168 colleagues, comprising of a gender split of 33% female to 67% male. We are pleased to note that in senior management positions, the gender balance for FY23 was 50% female and 50% male.
We invest in the training and development of our colleagues to support their personal and professional growth, and mental as well as physical health, which includes training on mental health and wellbeing. Our “Recovery4Life” mental health programme ensures everyone at Cenergist receives mental health assistance when they need it. Mental health and wellbeing have a special focus each quarter on our global intranet site when we discuss key topics.
We also encourage flexible working for colleagues to create a healthy working environment and offer a range of benefits for our UK colleagues, including access to a medical cash plan, carer’s leave, and enhanced maternity pay for those with over two years’ service. Equivalent benefits are being developed for our colleagues outside the UK.
All colleagues are helped and encouraged to develop their full potential and we support them to use their talents and resources to maximise our efficiency.
We prioritise health and safety across our areas of operations and provide training for our colleagues. Our “Toolbox Talks” for colleagues focus on topics such as health and safety, risk management, and emergency procedures, ensuring our colleagues are equipped with the knowledge and skills to work safely and effectively.
Where we can, we aim to recruit locally in the areas where we operate. Across our global family, 84% of our colleagues were recruited locally, with 16% working at a national level. We continue to support our local approach through our apprenticeship programme and in FY23, we recruited two colleagues from the areas where we are operating to gain experience in areas of IT and operational services.
Our success and growth are closely tied to the success of the communities in which we operate. We consider how our work effects the local environments we work in, and we use our resources to make a positive social impact in the communities where we operate, as well as reducing their CO2 emissions.
Our support covers a range of initiatives that promote sustainable practices and social well-being, and we are proud to be actively involved in local community projects. In FY23, our initiatives included:
- Installing defibrillators in local communities.
- Donations to an outreach centre for a children’s trim trail.
- Providing winter warm packs for vulnerable residents in sheltered accommodation.
- Improving a local sports club to reduce their utility bills.
We encourage our colleagues and partners to volunteer their time to support local community projects, which are selected through consultation with communities. Over the past year, some of our colleagues have supported improvements to a local nursery and primary schools where they work, as well as gifts for local charities at Christmas.
In the Netherlands, we work with a local company that proactively employs people with a range of abilities, some of whom face day-to-day challenges which may affect their ability to secure employment elsewhere. The company provides a safe learning environment in which valuable work experience is obtained, providing a stepping stone into future employment.
We work with multiple small and medium-sized suppliers, many of whom are only starting their sustainability journey. At present, we are engaging with them to improve their understanding and help them identify emissions and consider how to reduce their impacts. Our Sustainable Procurement policy is designed to promote this approach to social and environmental awareness.
