From Reach CEO Jim Mullen:

“Developing a culture where people thrive is a core pillar of Reach’s strategy, and I believe a critical part of building a sustainable future. Leading an inclusive workplace is equally important to me on a personal level, and I know that many of our colleagues feel passionately about making Reach a more inclusive place.

“I host regular breakfast meetings with groups of colleagues from every corner of our organisation, and we often discuss opportunities to better represent and serve our communities, and help people from a range of backgrounds to get in and get on here. Over the past year, with the support of our D&I team and our growing internal inclusion networks, I believe we’ve made real progress. It’s been an eye-opening personal journey for me, too.

“Our Playing Your Part leadership cultural change programme was an empowering experience that refreshed my perspective on inclusion issues. And it’s been a pleasure seeing so many of our colleagues share their experiences and expertise during these sessions. Our commitment to D&I has shaped the way we approach the running of our business, and we are beginning to see the results of this work surface increasingly often in our editorial content. For example, this year our teams launched the Belonging Project, which has spurred all of our regional newsrooms to more proactively engage with their local communities – the creation and success of the Brummie Muslims newsletter being only one standout result of this.

“Over the past year Reach has continued to transform as a business, and I firmly believe that successful organisational change is only possible if our culture continues to change too. I’m excited by our progress so far and to see where we go next.”

Strategy

Reach is led by a clear strategy, underpinned by data and five demographic focuses.

In 2021 Reach launched BE Counted, a voluntary colleague data collection exercise that 87% of Reach colleagues participated in. The data provides a solid basis for tracking progress and informs the company’s work going forward; for example, the enhanced family and carer policies introduced in 2022.

Senior leaders have been key to the success of the organisation’s efforts. Every member of the Board, Executive Committee and senior leadership team has committed to Inclusion Action Plans and is responsible for identifying and delivering three actions in their respective teams, covering a range of areas including development, network representation, inclusive hiring and editorial content.

Inclusion networks

• Reach has eight Inclusion networks, run by passionate volunteers around the business. Each network is run by its own committee and has the guidance of an executive sponsor, as well as support from the inclusion team.
• ReachOut (LGBTQ+): Works to drive change and understand the narrative around LGBTQ+ identities, increase visibility, and create a safe, inclusive and equitable environment.
• ReachAbility (Disability): Empowers people with a disability and those with long-term health conditions to achieve their full potential.
• ReachCulture (Race): Aims to take direct action by educating and informing around matters of race and ethnicity, creating a safe space to amplify voices, broaden minds and open discussions.
• ReachEquality (Gender): Champions women; challenges gender equality; and supports and inspires everyone to reach their full potential. A sub-group (Meno-Chat) is focused on menopause, to support and educate.
• ReachBelief (Faith): Open to all colleagues who are faith-based, faith friendly or faith neutral.
• ReachPotential (Social Mobility): Aims to make practical improvements to social mobility within the company and for the wider media industry.
• Reach Family & Carers (Family and Carers): Champions flexibility and fairness, challenges inequality, leading the way in creating equal opportunities and offering support.
• ReachMind (Mental Health): Aims to raise awareness around mental wellbeing, and bring about a better understanding of mental health issues.

Networks raise issues important to them and their members to the wider Reach community, particularly via virtual events. For example, Pride Month 2022 saw two networks explore mental health in the LGBTQ+ community, along with some high-profile guests.

Each network runs a number of other initiatives throughout the year and the networks have been instrumental in advocating for Reach-wide policy changes.

Recruitment

Reach works with respected partners including Evenbreak, myGwork and Inclusive Companies to enhance recruitment practices and ensure that its job ads are seen by a more diverse pool of talent. It hosts numerous events with partners, for example Working In Media, to showcase opportunities and the culture at Reach.

Reach works closely with its Talent Acquisition team and has begun to monitor candidate data to support and inform hiring practices.

Over 500 hiring managers have received bespoke inclusive hiring training. Managers are encouraged to make use of diverse panels and blind screening, and to apply diversity targets at shortlisting stages, which are starting to be embedded more widely.

Editorial inclusion

This year Reach established an Editorial Inclusion Board, led by Mirror editor-in-chief Alison Phillips, who works with all editorial teams to encourage and implement better practices around ensuring Reach content is inclusive.

In addition, this year Reach regional teams launched The Belonging Project, which has seen each regional newsroom develop action plans to make their content more inclusive, initially starting with reaching out to one community with a strong presence in their area. The project has seen a number of pieces of standout content, including the launch of the popular Brummie Muslims newsletter, and the goal of the project is to embed an ongoing and data-based approach that makes diverse community inclusion part of the daily working of the newsroom.

Outreach and mentoring

Outreach to new talent and mentoring existing talent are two important elements at Reach, in order to nurture a diverse and long-term pipeline of talent at all levels of the organisation.

Last year Reach launched The Big OutReach programme via its social mobility inclusion network ReachPotential, which has continued to run events for young people, giving them a front-row seat to a range of careers in the media. Through partnerships with Speakers 4 Schools, Causeway Education and Career Ready, in 2022 Reach delivered sessions to 80 schools and 23 social mobility cold spots, reaching 400+ students.

Reach currently offers colleagues opportunities to participate in three mentoring programmes:

Gender Equity via Moving Ahead: This well-established and respected programme matches women from all levels at Reach with mentors from other companies for a nine-month development programme, with six core learning events, plus networking opportunities.

Generation Valuable: A new programme for rising talent with a connection to disability. Run by The Valuable 500, a disability-focused business collective, Generation Valuable is a first-of-its-kind 12-month programme that pairs talent with C-suite mentors. Reach has been invited to join the very first cohort, along with other businesses including Deloitte, L’Oréal, Omnicom and P&G.

Bridge: A mutual mentoring programme for Black, Asian, and ethnic minority colleagues, delivered in house by the ReachCulture network and Inclusion team. Bridge is a nine-month programme for traditional and reverse mentoring. The scheme is designed to remove barriers to progression for colleagues from underrepresented groups and give mentees the knowledge, access, and tools they need to advance their careers. Reach also partners with a number of external bodies to mentor people outside of Reach, such as the John Schofield Trust, Women In Journalism, Career Ready, and Nottingham University.