We are delighted to announce the appointment of Charlene Gachette as employee wellbeing, diversity and inclusivity manager. Her core responsibilities will include developing Churchill’s wellbeing, diversity and inclusion (WDI) programme, the management of WDI suppliers and ensuring that we offer an array of WDI initiatives for its employees across the country.
Wellbeing, diversity and inclusion have been hot topics in FM and workplace in recent years, and the pandemic has pushed them right to the top of the corporate agenda. Numerous surveys and reports have shown that companies with strong WDI programmes perform better financially and have a happier, more productive workforce.
One of Charlene’s main tasks will be to lead on Project Mosaic, the D&I plan that Churchill launched last November. Key achievements of Mosaic so far include the first Churchill D&I survey that had more than 2,500 responses and the creation of a Mosaic committee encompassing employees from across the business. Upcoming activities will include the launch of an employability programme that supports disengaged members of the community back into employment.
Charlene has a strong background in D&I with projects that have encompassed wellbeing programmes, staff engagement networks, mentoring programmes and unconscious bias training courses. A key achievement in her previous role was establishing and chairing a staff network to support the culturally and racially diverse. The network was created without labour or budget but quickly grew in stature and received support from the UK executive board. The network now works closely with HR on policy development and. Employees are much more engaged.
Melanie Taylor, group HR director at The Churchill Group, said: “Wellbeing, diversity and inclusion programmes go hand in hand with our core values – always doing the right thing, always seeking better and always putting people first. Charlene’s experience and track record make her the perfect person to take our WDI programme forward and we look forward to enhancing our employee support.”
Charlene commented: “The chance to drive the Churchill WDI programme was too good to turn down. It’s fantastic that wellbeing and diversity are featuring so high on the corporate agenda and I can’t wait to begin rolling out initiatives and supporting my Churchill colleagues.”