Outcome 2: Increasing our diversity

The table below outlines the actions we set out against this outcome and our progress against them.

What have we achieved?

We want our workforce to be representative of Scotland’s population. However, we are aware that this needs to be a long-term goal. We have a low attrition and turnover in our workforce.

As such we need to focus on making the most of our opportunities to attract diverse candidates to work with us.

We have prioritised diversity and inclusion as a reason to work in RoS. In 2024, we developed our Employee Value Proposition (EVP) with a strong focus on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). Our D&I Lead was part of the working group and supported an Equality Impact Assessment. As a result, D&I is one of the seven sections on our new career site.

This work was informed by colleagues with protected characteristics. We did this through providing a safe space for them to share their experiences. Each draft of our content and imagery was reviewed through a D&I lens, including the final version, leading to a more accessible and inclusive final product.

Prioritising diversity and inclusion as a reason to work in RoS.

In 2024, we developed our Employee Value Proposition (EVP) with a strong focus on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). Our D&I Lead was part of the working group and supported an Equality Impact Assessment. As a result, D&I is one of the seven sections on our new career site.

This work was informed by colleagues with protected characteristics. We did this through providing a safe space for them to share their experiences. Each draft of our content and imagery was reviewed through a D&I lens, including the final version, leading to a more accessible and inclusive final product.

Results

• 42 colleagues, covering all protected characteristics, input to the development of our Employee Value Proposition.
• Diverse colleagues feature in the final career site, including a video where they share their experiences of D&I in RoS.

Ultimately, we now have a resource to specifically promote RoS as an inclusive employer, that we will use to attract diverse talent and address the underrepresentation of disabled, younger (16-24 years), and minoritised ethnic people in our workforce.

Equality Impact Assessments

To make our recruitment more inclusive, we are carrying out Equality Impact Assessments of our end-to-end process, as well as strategic projects on workforce and succession planning. These assessments are being taken forward alongside ongoing reviews and improvements to these areas of our work.

Key actions to date include:

• improving the D&I content within internal resourcing guidance for hiring managers and recruitment materials.
• reviewing interview materials to ensure they are as accessible and easy to follow as possible.
• changing our practice to give all candidates time with the questions at the start of their interview.

This is an iterative process, and further actions will be identified and implemented as we progress with the overall reviews. We will publish our Equality Impact Assessments, detailing all considerations and actions taken to address them, as well as any future actions needed to embed developments in our processes.

Case study

Ensuring our leaders are committed to D&I

In 2024, the Scottish Government recruited the post of Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. Part of the process was an interview with a panel of employees.

Our D&I Lead was asked to lead on this to ensure that colleagues on the panel represented a range of protected characteristics. Our panel represented different gender identities, ethnicities, and nationalities and included disabled and transgender colleagues.

The feedback and scores they gave each candidate informed the final decision.

Increasing representation

To encourage younger people to consider RoS as an employer, we continue to take part in the Career Ready scheme. We provided placements and contributed to the workshops for those taking part.

Senior leaders from RoS have also spoken to schools about Digital, Data and Technology careers in RoS. These sessions had a focus on encouraging girls to pursue these subjects through further and higher education.

We have attended conferences with a focus on addressing racial equality in employment, including practical strategies.

Our focus for 2025 to 2027

This is a long-term goal, and we expect that this work will continue into our next mainstreaming report in 2027. Over the next two years we will focus on the actions outlined below.

We make every effort to accommodate reasonable adjustments in our recruitment process. However, our experience has highlighted that often individuals are unsure of what to request and we may not know what to offer.

Therefore, we are developing a more effective approach to discuss needs with our candidates and explore a wider range of options with them. This work will continue over the next two years.

We have seen a decrease in the number of younger colleagues in our organisation. This is largely due to colleagues moving into the 25+ age bracket. We are also still seeing an underrepresentation of minoritised ethnic and disabled people in our workforce.

Over the next two years, we will continue to take steps to address this.

We will:

• recruit more Modern Apprentices since those who joined RoS through this route speak highly of the positive career development they have experienced as a result
• review our job descriptions to ensure that they are accessible and inclusive
• consider where we advertise our jobs to reach the widest audience