Inclusion and diversity - Camden Careers

Diversity, inclusion and belonging at Camden 

We want Camden Council to be a place where people feel proud to work, a place where everyone feels welcome, valued and able to be themselves. 

Creating a truly inclusive organisation is one of our biggest and most important priorities. We want diversity in all its forms, including diversity of background, experience and thought, because this helps us better reflect the communities we serve, make better decisions, and deliver better outcomes for Camden. 

We are committed to building an organisation where: 

• everyone can be themselves at work and feels seen, heard, valued and respected  
• our workforce reflects the diversity of Camden and understands our communities  
• we recognise that we all have biases, and take responsibility for understanding, challenging and learning from them  
• difference is valued and celebrated as a strength  
• people feel able to speak up when something is not right  
• discrimination, victimisation, harassment and bullying are never tolerated  

Making recruitment more inclusive 

Becoming a truly inclusive, anti-racist organisation means continually looking at how we recruit, develop and support people. 

In our Race Equality Action Plan, we made a clear commitment that our end-to-end recruitment processes should be fair and unbiased, and that this should be reflected in both our candidate pools and final appointment decisions. 

Since then, we have been working to make recruitment at Camden fairer, more inclusive and more effective, with valuable input from colleagues across the organisation. 

Some of the steps we have taken include: 

• introducing a diverse recruitment panels policy  
• removing unnecessary seniority barriers so colleagues at different levels can contribute to panels  
• taking positive action to avoid all-white shortlists for senior roles  
• using more inclusive and accessible language in job adverts and job descriptions  
• rolling out anonymised recruitment across all roles  
• introducing inclusive recruitment training for hiring managers and recruitment champions  

This work is helping us create fairer processes, improve candidate experience and challenge structural inequality in our systems and practices. 

Learning, listening and improving 

We know this is ongoing work, and we know there is more to do. 

That is why we continue to listen to colleagues, work with staff networks and improve our approach over time. We are developing further training, practical guidance and new tools to support inclusive recruitment and help ensure consistency across the organisation. 

We are also continuing to review how we assess candidates, recognising that traditional interviews do not always give everyone the best opportunity to show their strengths. 

Working with others 

Our commitment to inclusion is also reflected in the organisations and networks we work with and learn from. 

This includes partnerships and memberships that support our work on LGBTQ+ inclusion, disability inclusion, support for people affected by domestic abuse, and better inclusion for Muslim colleagues and candidates. 

These relationships help us challenge ourselves, learn from best practice and keep improving. 

At Camden, inclusion is everyone’s responsibility 

We come to work to improve the lives of residents and make Camden a borough where everyone has a chance to succeed. That starts with the kind of organisation we choose to be ourselves. 

Creating an inclusive, respectful and welcoming workplace is not the responsibility of one team or one leader. It belongs to all of us.