Recruiting for diversity

Diversity matters to us. Sustain has a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution. Diversity helps us identify where change is needed and what is required to promote equity as well as reflect the concerns of our wide alliance of members. A range of Sustain’s policies, including our commitment to diversity, are on our website.

Sustain is committed to equality of opportunity and welcomes applications from everyone, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, class, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We are happy to discuss and consider flexible working at the point of hire. All members of staff are expected to contribute to the mutually supportive culture of Sustain (including staff and project participants) in which equality and diversity are not just respected but promoted.

Our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion: Sustain strives to be an equal opportunities employer; an organisation that recognises our privilege and uses it to promote racial justice in the food and farming system; and not to discriminate against people on the basis of personal characteristics or background. We see diversity as a strength and something to benefit from and celebrate. We would like everyone to feel welcome, to feel confident to apply for suitable opportunities, and to find ways to participate.

We are proactively working on a range of actions to improve representation of diversity on Sustain’s team of staff and trustees, welcoming people who identify as having protected characteristics, including people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and people with other personal characteristics currently under-represented on Sustain's staff team.

Sustain reports regularly on our progress on diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism. We are continuously working to improve our recruitment processes to make it possible for more people from diverse backgrounds to gain employment, positions of responsibility and other experiences at Sustain and via our networks. We are committed to taking proactive action to overcome barriers to participation. Please do apply to work with us.

Sustain participates in The RACE Report to benchmark charities in the environment sector on ethnic diversity issues in relation to staff, trustees and employment policies and practices. If there’s a way you think we could improve our recruitment processes and opportunities, or if you know of examples of good practice that we could learn from, please do let us know. We welcome suggestions and our staff group tasked with implementing actions to improve diversity promise to consider them and to respond constructively.

We particularly encourage applications from people from minority ethnic backgrounds, and people with disabilities. This is because these groups are currently underrepresented at Sustain. Unless there is an exceptional reason not to do so, Sustain recruits for roles as part of our Ethnicity Confident and Disability Confident schemes. This means that applicants who meet all of the essential criteria, and who let us know voluntarily that you would like to be considered in this way, will have an enhanced chance of gaining a first-stage interview. This is part of Sustain’s ‘positive action’ approach to recruitment for diversity.

As part of the recruitment process, where two or more candidates are judged to be of equal merit, priority will be given to a candidate who has self-identified under the Ethnicity Confident or the Disability Confident scheme (or both). This is because people in these groups are currently underrepresented at Sustain. The opportunity to tell us you would like to be considered in this way is included in our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form, which is part of the application process. All candidates, whether they have made such a declaration or not, are asked if there are any reasonable adjustments that Sustain can make to enable people to feel comfortable and able to participate fully.

As part of our commitment to recruitment for diversity, we aim to have ethnic diversity represented on our interview panels. Interview panels generally involve 4 or 5 people (2 or 3 for first-stage interviews; 2 or 3 for second-stage interviews), who review the applications, shortlist the candidates and undertake the interviews. We aim to involve at least one person of colour in each interview panel (more if possible).

In 2024, we are also reviewing our induction, on-boarding and probation processes to help people feel welcome and settle in well. Colleagues have established a staff of colour group, which is an optional, informal and confidential space for staff of colour to meet monthly to offer peer support; share issues; and input into organisational culture, policy and practice.

Sustain operates a fixed salary scale, organised in four bands: project officer, project coordinator, senior management and chief executive. This provides a fair and transparent method of remuneration and avoids the disparities that we observe can emerge in other organisations when individuals negotiate salaries that are higher than those of peers in similar roles, whilst others may not have the confidence to negotiate. Sustain salaries incorporate a London weighting and increase with annual increments, until the top of a band has been reached.

Sustain is a signatory to the Show the Salary charity pledge, to embed some of our current practices in policy, and to promote these to our networks. Occasionally, Sustain employs people on freelance or consultancy contracts. As a registered Living Wage Employer, we endeavour to ensure through our contracts that everyone involved in providing such services are adequately paid, certainly at no less than the Living Wage or London Living Wage.

Sustain monitors and reports annually on our pay ratio, ensuring that the gap between the highest and lowest paid in our organisation keeps well within sensible benchmark limits set by Wagemark, which is a ratio of 8:1. Our pay ratio for staff employed directly by Sustain is 2:1, well below the third-sector average. Additionally, Sustain has no hidden bonuses, hidden remuneration or expense accounts that might boost incomes or financial rewards and disparities through indirect means.

Sustain is a registered Living Wage Employer, promising to pay employees and people on paid internships at least the real Living Wage or the real London Living Wage, as calculated by the Living Wage Foundation. We note with concern that the government’s mandatory national minimum wage is not only inadequate to cover the cost of living, but also set at a much lower rate for young people aged 18 to 21, and for apprentices. Sustain commits to treating younger adults, paid interns and apprentices equitably, and we commit to paying at least the real Living Wage or real London Living Wage, regardless of age.

Sustain occasionally offers paid internship opportunities via schemes run by other organisations and by higher education institutions. We are looking into whether we can secure funding, partnerships and capacity to enable more of such opportunities in future.

To support equal opportunities and diversity during the recruitment process, we treat everyone as equals, with courtesy and respect. We do not require degree-level qualifications unless the role makes this essential. We recognise and value the work experience and life experience of candidates. We run interviews in a way designed to get the best out of people, not to trip them up. We usually run interviews that involve a prepared task to allow people to shine in a range of ways. We show the salary clearly in the job advertisement, plus other employment benefits.

We also commit to continuous improvement, remaining open to change, and open to ideas, challenges and constructive criticism. We monitor and report on our progress; learn by doing; are not afraid to try things out or get things wrong; and we aim to learn from our mistakes.