By Emmanuel Oluebube, Senior Correspondent, UK

UK TMT regulator, Ofcom has been listed as one of the Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality for the fourth year in a row, recognising its continued commitment to creating an inclusive workplace culture for all women.

Cyber Era NG learns that inorder to make the annual list, organisations must demonstrate how they work to foster gender equality in their workplaces, submitting an application and case study showcasing their approach to a range of issues known to impact gender equality at work.

These include family-friendly policies, flexible working, steps to address unequal pay, and more. Applications are then independently assessed and benchmarked by Business in the Community (BITC).

Four years of making the list

The regulator sys: “Being included on the list is a testament to the work happening across Ofcom to create an inclusive culture, one where colleagues are free to be themselves, are safe from stigma and can thrive and progress.

Our diversity and inclusion strategy for includes a commitment to work towards gender balance within senior roles by 2026. There are a number of steps we’re taking to help achieve this.

We are taking steps to make Ofcom a career destination for women by ensuring our recruitment, career and performance systems are fair.

In the last year we have increased the number of senior women by 15 per cent, to 45 per cent. In addition, 40 per cent of our tech and data roles are made up of women – which is an industry-beating level.

“We are strengthening gender diversity in tech roles by building long term partnerships with STEM outreach programmes such as Women in Data, and have pledged to take action to create more career opportunities for women.

We have provided information and support on the cost-of-living crisis and its potential effects on gender equality.

We have enhanced our policies and practices in this area, introducing a domestic abuse support policy and trained domestic abuse allies. We will go further this year by adding a menopause policy and strategy.

We have reduced our median gender pay gap and are working on the actions to reduce this further.

These changes don’t just benefit women as actions for gender equality, they also help create an inclusive and equitable workplace that we all want in Ofcom.

“It’s a privilege to complete the benchmarking work for the organisation and to see just how broad and deep our work on gender equality really goes. And on top of that to then see this recognised independently is amazing. Diversity and Inclusion is a long-term change programme and there is lots to do – but being recognised four years in a row shows we are on the right track.”

Ofcom People and Transformation Director, Kerri-Ann O’Neill commented:“I’m thrilled that we’ve been recognised as a top employer for women for the fourth year in a row. This is a testament to the work being done across Ofcom to create our inclusive culture, not least by OWN who put in so much effort to support different genders and gender identities across Ofcom. We are now two years into our Diversity and Inclusion strategy, which sets out our ambition to have an equal gender balance by 2026.

“Ofcom is already a great career move for women, and we’re committed to ensuring this continues as we work towards our 2026 targets for gender,” said Ofcom Chief Operating Officer and Ofcom Women’s Network (OWN)Melissa Tatton.