How much do your family and friends really know about what you do?
For many of our Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) female employees, the answer to that question was: “Not enough”. But we hope our recent meet-the-family event, BAME Connexions, has gone some way to changing that.
Family matters
Many of our employees have told us in surveys that they allow their family members to get heavily involved in their career decisions, and are guided by them in everything from which promotion opportunities they should go for to what working hours they should do.
They have also informed us, however, that key family members do not always understand what they do for a living. “Please tell my family I am not just a glorified taxi driver!” was one typical response we received.
Making the connection
We decided to tackle this issue by creating an event, BAME Connexions, to which all our BAME female employees were encouraged to bring two significant others. These could be parents, partners, siblings or even friends. The important thing was that the people closest to our employees got a chance to meet us and hear about what we do.
It was also an opportunity for families to find out how their loved ones were getting on here at Enterprise and to ask us any questions they might have or to discuss their concerns.
Management Trainee – Greater Manchester
Getting buy-in
Our GM, City Manager and Area Managers all attended the event, underlining the importance we give to inclusion at Enterprise. Our GM delivered a powerful presentation about the business, covering our history, our values and our ambitions, which will hopefully have helped our employees get added buy-in from their family and friends.
Guests also heard from keynote speaker, Rovida Ramzan, who shared her Enterprise journey, and from two other BAME female employees who gave a brief presentation on their careers to date.
Resounding success
We’ve received some hugely positive feedback on the event.
“My family members entered the event unsure about where my career was heading or if Enterprise was the best choice for me. After meeting with senior managers and our guest speaker [they] are now encouraging me to pursue the Area Manager role.”
BAME female Assistant Manager
“For both employees and their families, it really clears any doubts and stigmas there may be about car rental.”
BAME female Management Assistant
“I now feel like my parents are more comfortable with me working for Enterprise. My dad was astonished at the amount of support I get from people from all different branches.”
BAME female Intern
“The event… was great not only for family members but also for the BAME females as we all got a chance to interact with one another and hear the success stories of others, making our individual goals more tangible.”
BAME female Branch Manager
Enterprise is fully committed to providing every employee with an inclusive workplace that offers the respect, training and opportunities to succeed. If you’d like to be a part of it, why not check out our graduate opportunities.