We are at our best when we understand the diverse needs of our community. When people from diverse backgrounds are involved in creating the services we deliver, we get better results that work for everyone. For these reasons, we are committed to reflecting the communities we represent and serve, and to taking targeted action to tackle underrepresentation, wherever it occurs. In order to do this we need up to date and accurate information about our community.
To help us capture this information, we’ve launched a joint initiative between the University, Trade Unions, staff networks and EDI Self-Assessment Teams to make the process easier and clearer for staff. The UCU, Unison and Unite campus trade unions have shared a joint statement of support for this initiative.
As part of this we have updated and expanded our diversity monitoring questions available to staff in MyHR and are inviting staff to visit the MyHR dashboard and check their details. Longer-serving staff are particularly encouraged to check their details as these may have changed over time, or were not fully captured previously.
By updating your details, you help give us a clearer picture of the diversity of our community and improve our understanding of staff needs and how we can support colleagues going forward. You can learn more about the information we ask for and how we use it on the Diversity website.
The data you submit will be treated in strictest confidence and is stored in line with the Data Protection Act. This data is anonymised and used to compile reports to help the University meet its equality objectives. These reports are used by equality charter self-assessment teams and working groups to examine specific processes or issues, e.g. equal pay reviews and equality impact assessments. No identifiable information is ever shared outside of HR, and data is aggregated to ensure that individuals cannot be identified.
It is entirely voluntary for employees to disclose their equality information. To find out more about how the data is managed and this meets the requirements of the Data Protection Act, please visit https://southampton.likn.co/hr/services/data-protection/data-protection.page. You can also update your personal details such as next of kin through the MyHR Dashboard.
