GOC win diversity and inclusion award

The General Optical Council is proud to have won a TIDE Bronze Award for diversity and inclusion.

This is the first year that the GOC has entered the TIDE scheme which is overseen by the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI).

TIDE - which stands for Talent Inclusion & Diversity Evaluation - is a self-assessment evaluation and benchmarking scheme measuring an organisation’s approach and progress on diversity and inclusion.

It assesses several different areas including workforce; strategy and planning; training and development; and communications and engagement.

The GOC scored particularly highly in the strategy and planning category, having recently invested in a full-time EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) lead to co-ordinate work in this area. Recent EDI initiatives include:

• Setting up staff networks to support marginalised communities
• Publishing a commitment to being an anti-racist organisation
• Running awareness campaigns celebrating Black History, Women’s History, Disability History and LGBT+ History
• Supporting staff mental health through ‘time to talk’ teas and training 20 new mental health first aiders
• Undertaking unconscious bias training

In May, the GOC was recognised as the Best Small Company at the FREDIE (Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement) Awards, hosted by The National Centre for Diversity.

Yani King, EDI Partner at the GOC who coordinated the TIDE submission, said: “I am very proud that in our first year of submitting an entry to TIDE we have received a Bronze Award. It’s a brilliant achievement that reflects on the hard work being put in by staff across the organisation to improve our EDI practices.

It also builds on the FREDIE Award we won earlier this year. However, we definitely aren’t stopping here and upcoming plans including ensuring our recruitment practices reflect our inclusive values and getting our new anti-racism staff group off the ground.”

Find out more about the TIDE scheme on the ENEI website.