Diversity policy

Our commitment

The Health Foundation is committed to embracing diversity by promoting and sustaining an open, inclusive and supportive environment.  This will help people to make the most of their particular qualities and skills and to achieve their full potential in line with their abilities and aspirations.

Backing the best and those with the potential to be the best is one of our core organisational values. The Health Foundation will ensure that people are judged on their ability and potential, not on their background and situation.  We will seek to ensure that people are treated fairly regardless of visible and non-visible differences such as gender, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religious beliefs or practices, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability, age, family / marital status, social background, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, caring responsibilities, spent criminal convictions, and trade union affiliation.

We appreciate that these differences will contribute to different experiences of life, attitudes, values, and ways of thinking and communicating.  These different perspectives can make a valuable contribution to the Foundation’s work.

Key aims

Our key aims in embedding the principle of diversity are to:

1. Promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive work environment, which affirms the rights of individuals to be treated fairly and with respect and enables them to fulfil their potential.  We undertake to recruit, develop and retain the best staff by valuing the varied skills and experiences they bring to the Foundation; by investing in their development; by treating staff fairly and equitably; and by encouraging an honest and open culture which values the differences between us.
2. Develop policies and practices in employment and in making awards, which make our values and expectations clear and deliver fairness and consistency of approach while at the same time valuing individuality.
3. Ensure that staff are aware of their rights and their responsibilities as employees of the Foundation in relation to diversity. It is the responsibility of everyone at the Foundation to sustain a culture and approach to our work that supports the principle of diversity.
4. Encourage staff, recipients of our awards and those offering technical assistance associated with our programmes, to value and proactively support diversity.
5. Ensure that the principle of diversity underpins The Health Foundation’s organisational values; these are as follows:

Backing the best

We seek out the best and support those who are able to make a disproportionate difference.  We work to identify those with the potential to become the best and support them to live their dreams and to develop others.

Acting as a catalyst for change

We bring knowledgeable people together to seek better ways of doing things.  Our influence comes from independent and professional engagement with policy makers.  We work with others to embed improvement.

Encouraging innovation

We use the advantages of our independence and financial security to take risks and try radically new things. We seek to create sustainable improvements.

Seeking an evidence base

We are dispassionate and objective.  We evaluate and learn from what we do.  All we do, all we advocate and all we support is based on sound evidence.
 

Cherishing our independence

We reach independent judgements about all that we do, but also maximise our influence and leverage additional resources through strategic partnerships.

Fostering a reputation for integrity

We deal fairly with each other, our grant holders and our partners. We are accountable for our decisions and communicate them effectively. Our processes are open and transparent.

Staying close to our stakeholders

We listen to our stakeholders and seek better ways of doing things to meet their expectations.
 

Focusing on performance

We deliver what we promise.  We measure and evaluate our performance.  We are a learning organisation.  We avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

Remembering that people matter
We train and develop our staff and enable them to grow.  We involve them in decision-making and strategy formation.  We support our alumni. Every person and every idea counts.

Scope
This policy applies to all our relationships within and between our staff, our Board of Governors and the external stakeholders with whom we work.

Implementation
The Health Foundation has developed an action plan for implementing this policy.  The action plan and policy will be kept under constant review and will be adapted and developed as appropriate.