As Northern Ireland’s leading waste and resource management company, RiverRidge is committed to encouraging diversity and empowering our team members to thrive within the workplace. From promoting gender diversity across all sites, to increasing the proportion of women in senior leadership roles, we are committed to elevating the voices of women within our team.
In May 2024, we took another step towards promoting these voices at RiverRidge, by becoming one of the newest corporate members of the esteemed Women in Business NI network.
Women in Business NI is a group dedicated to promoting networking opportunities for women across Northern Ireland, where their voices, successes, ideas and concerns within the workplace are raised and discussed. Part of the work Women in Business NI does focuses on helping women build their professional skills, make connections, and gain confidence in their respective field through profiling opportunities, professional development programmes, personal development webinars, networking events, conferences and awards. With over 10,000 members from a variety of sectors across Northern Ireland, Women in Business provides a diverse network which champions the voices of its members.
This month, some of our females employees had the opportunity to attend the organisation’s New Members Networking Event in Belfast. This event was a great introduction to the network, giving insight into the advantages of becoming a member, as well as the opportunities it presents. Alongside the benefits membership offers, by becoming part of the group, we are reaffirming our commitment as a company to greater inclusivity.
As a company operating within the waste sector, which is considered a traditionally male-dominated field, it has been an integral part of our overall strategy to increase the number of women that join and thrive at RiverRidge, and create a workplace that is welcoming to female new-joiners and champion their voices across all levels.
This ambition has been re-asserted within our recently published ESG report, with increasing diversity falling under our ‘social’ pillar. Over the coming years, we plan to take a particular focus on building an inclusive culture and diverse team which supports individual professional development and encourages people to progress in their career, and being a member of the Women in Business NI network will help us achieve this.
As of the end of the 2023 Financial Year, the proportion of women that make up our management and administration departments stands at 48%. We are also in the process of developing an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy (ED&I) in 2024 to underpin our ethos that recognises and celebrates difference, and creates a workplace that supports equity, fairness and eliminates discrimination.
We recognise that championing the voices of women must begin early, and that encouraging more women to pursue roles in STEM areas will help increase their representation in the workplace. This is why we have continued to place a focus on encouraging young women to undertake the various placement and opportunities we offer.
RiverRidge is committed to ensuring our company remains a place where women want to work and feel valued for the work that they do, and our recent membership of Women in Business NI is just one way in which we plan to continue championing these voices.
