Added: 19th January 2023 by Frazer-Nash Consultancy
Frazer-Nash is a leading systems, engineering and technology consultancy. We help organisations deliver innovative engineering and technology solutions to make lives safe, secure, sustainable, and affordable.
We are a Tier 1 supplier to EDF Energy, supporting the UK fleet of nuclear power stations through their complete lifecycle, from design to decommissioning. We also work with clients in the wider nuclear market, including in new nuclear technologies such as Small Modular Reactors and fusion.
Our people are at the very heart of what we do, they are the reason our clients work with us to solve some of their greatest challenges. At Frazer-Nash, we want all of our people to feel they belong, confident in the knowledge that we value and respect the commitment they have made by entrusting their careers and expertise to us.
We are committed to, and accountable for, Diversity & Inclusion in Frazer-Nash and as a business we are taking steps to do things differently.
Over three years ago, we formed our D&I steering committee, comprised of a team of men and women from across the business with the objective of shaping and implementing our company wide D&I strategy.
Improving the retention and progression of women within the business is a key focus area for us. We became company partners with the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) earlier this year and actively encourage our people to get involved with the society. One of our people has been successfully elected to the WES Early Careers Board, we have judged WES awards and we recently joined the Lottie Tour (WES Lottie Tour – home), designed to inspire and encourage young girls (and boys) to think of careers in STEM subjects as open to everyone.
We are sponsors of the IET Young Woman Engineer (YWE) of the Year award, and last year one of our people reached the final five, which was a massive achievement we enjoyed celebrating with them.
We have achieved a great deal, but we are not complacent. There is still more we can continue to do to ensure our people can be themselves, feel empowered to achieve their personal and professional goals, and know that we respect the unique value they bring to the company.
We have recently completed the Great Place to Work Survey, where 85% of our people based in the UK strongly endorsed Frazer-Nash to their friends and family as a great place to work, and 91% of our female UK employees said they can be themselves at work. Whilst this is really encouraging, there is always more we can do and we are committed to fostering a working culture that brings out the very best in our people, regardless of their circumstances, identity or background.
One particular success has been our Visible Women network. There have been some fabulous stories from women who, as a result of the support and encouragement of others within the group, have had the confidence to speak out about their experiences and career journeys. They have been a fantastic inspiration to others and are standing out as great role models for those around them.
At Frazer-Nash we are working to embed D&I into the culture of our business and its front and centre in our company values. This however takes time, which can be frustrating. We have partnered with an external company, STEPS, to support us on our D&I journey and to advise on best practices we can follow. We have also recently recruited an Employee Value Proposition Business Partner who is dedicated to our D&I and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Having this focus will help us drive change more quickly.
Our second challenge is the limited pool of females to recruit from. We have worked hard to ensure our recruitment practices encourage a diverse range of applicants, and we work with organisations such as WES and Stonewall to encourage applications from minority groups. And it’s working; this year 24% of our early careers intake were female, which is really positive when considering WES reported in March 2022 women made up 16.5% of engineers.
We recognise the value that differences bring to our company. Diversity and a culture of inclusion are vital for us if we are to build a strong sustainable business that harnesses innovation and creativity, two fundamental elements of what makes Frazer-Nash. We will shortly be launching a Returners programme, to encourage individuals that have had a career break to return to the industry, building experience, confidence and upskilling where necessary.
It’s certainly an ambitious target, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. At present, the pipeline of women is not sufficient to meet this target and hence this should be an area of focus. At Frazer-Nash we have had our biggest percentage intake of female graduates to date this year, and we also encourage our people to become STEM ambassadors and support STEM outreach programmes more generally. Nuclear is a fascinating, fulfilling, cutting edge industry to be part of and its vital that the younger generation see this as a doable career option for them.
