QA
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QA delivers training, apprenticeships and tech skills to UK companies large and small. They believe everything starts with their learners – transforming their careers, and their lives, is what motivates them.
INCLUSION STATEMENT
At QA, we are absolutely committed to breaking down barriers, eliminating discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities so that diversity can flourish here. One of our core values is that ‘our Diversity makes us stronger’ – we recognise that people from different backgrounds and experiences bring valuable perspectives and enhance the way we work at QA. As a market leader in digital education, it’s our duty to drive diversity and inclusion not only for ourselves, but also the wider industry, the clients we serve and the communities in which we work.
CEO STATEMENT
PAUL GEDDES
We’re committed to building a culture that promotes equality, diversity and inclusion, and one that actively values differences. Our diversity makes us stronger – we recognise that people from different backgrounds and experiences can bring valuable insights to QA and enhance the way we work.
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Diversity and inclusion are not buzz words, they are an integral part of our make-up and brand values. We are committed to investing in this space with resources and our complete attention to strengthen our culture of inclusion within our company and drive positive change. As inclusion is vast and encompasses all aspects of the employee lifecycle, we are collaborating with leading D&I experts for consultancy advice to ensure we are maximising the impact of our actions at every stage of the journey. This collaborative approach will ensure we are treating inclusion holistically and embedding inclusive practices in all aspects of QA life.
With our size and reach, we have a responsibility to do far more than just raise awareness. Our objective is to drive the conversation, and to have a meaningful, tangible impact on how people experience QA products and services, and how they engage within our workplace and with the business in general.
As a passionate educator, we care deeply about the principles of social value and inclusion. Whether that’s enhancing social mobility through our early talent programmes or providing employment opportunities across social and geographical spaces, we deliver intrinsic social value as an integral part of our day-to-day work. Our responsibility is not just to those who work with us, but to the larger education industry in the technology space, the clients we serve, and the communities in which we operate.
EMPLOYEE PERSPECTIVE
Morgan Grey
Business Analyst/DevOps & Cloud Consultant
Diversity Champion, Co-Lead for QAHE Student LGBTQ+ society
I joined QA in January of 2020, training as a DevOps consultant. By the time the 12-week training course ended… Well, we all know that story. During the time where we were furloughed, we saw the George Floyd murder and the BLM protests that followed. Questions started being asked about D&I in the UK and I was overjoyed when QA stepped up.
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I have been an equalities representative with Unite for years and have seen so many companies who get by doing the bare minimum, but QA decided that they wanted to do more. I applied to be a D&I Champion because I saw the potential for the company to not just be ‘good enough’, to not just do the legal minimum, but to achieve real meaningful goals – “I want QA to be the bar against which other companies are measured” has become my catchphrase throughout our journey.
We still have a long way to go in building up Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, but our D&I team are working behind the scenes in a very agile way to make sure that all of our colleagues are represented, and I am so proud of all of that we have achieved. One of the company’s core values is that ‘Diversity makes us stronger’ and I am so happy to be working for a company putting its money where its mouth is on that point.
Bryan O’Connor
Principal Technical Learning Specialist
D&I Champion, Wellbeing Advocate
I have worked for QA approaching 14 years and love it! In those 14 years I have been a trainer in all things cloud and virtualisation. I am also proud to be one of the QA Diversity and Inclusion Champions – our goal is to make QA an even better place to work for all.
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As part of my role at QA I teach thousands of people per year, and the part that I enjoy the most is learning about the people. I am fortunate that I interact with people from all over the world and get to learn about their diverse backgrounds and cultures.
I am also fortunate that QA has great diversity and this gives us a wealth of different perspectives that enriches our experience. Our diversity is a real strength of ours but I know that we can always improve and that’s what gets me excited – we’ve got the chance to make a positive difference to our clients, students and colleagues.
“We’re thrilled to be part of the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers list! The survey was comprehensive and looked at all areas within D&I, so being recognised in the top 50 gives us great confidence that our overall approach to D&I is on the right track and comparable to the most inclusive companies in the UK. We’re delighted for all the other companies who took part and are looking forward to learning about what else we can do to drive inclusivity and diversity within QA. Thank you to our People Team and D&I Champions for the tremendous effort over the past year.”