Leading Irish building and civil engineering company PJ Hegarty has been honoured for its significant efforts to embed diversity and inclusion (D&I) principles, as well as a range of other D&I measures.
PJ Hegarty has been formally accredited with the Investors in Diversity Gold award by the Irish Centre for Diversity (ICD), a charity and leading provider of D&I training in Ireland.
The accreditation recognises PJ Hegarty’s commitment to embedding the principles of fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion and engagement (FREDIE) within its culture and processes.
In 2020 the company decided to explore ways to create a diverse and inclusive business in a formal manner, after recognising that across the Irish construction industry, and the key professions from which PJ Hegarty hires, widespread diversity was not the norm, and a gender gap persisted.
The ICD assessment team has now recognised PJ Hegarty for implementing several progressive, strategic policies which have seen it earn an official inclusion score of 88pc – some 10pc above the national average. The ICD said PJ Hegarty had provided the appropriate resources and led by example. The work also showed that team members feel they are treated fairly, with respect and are valued for their differences.
Along with progress in Gender Pay Gap reporting, the ICD assessment team noted the company’s development of a new three-year strategy which takes account of both moral and business obligations; the introduction of updated maternity, mental health and wellbeing policies; the alignment of FREDIE principles to staff development, staff appraisals, and recruitment processes and the offer of D&I training sessions to subcontractors and partners.
Overall, the firm received an inclusion score of 88.8% from the ICD, an increase of almost 5% compared to 2022. The company also outperformed the average score of 79.5% across the construction and engineering industry and the national average of 78%. The inclusion score is calculated from data gathered through a staff survey.
PJ Hegarty also led the industry and the national average across all four assessment pillars, including diverse and inclusive leadership; policy, practice and process; recruitment, retention and progress and recording and monitoring.
The construction and civil engineering firm is one of just 28 organisations in Ireland to receive the Investors in Diversity Gold. Investors in Diversity is Ireland’s premier accreditation to recognise progress in D&I.
Commenting on the award, Maurice Killeen, PJ Hegarty Operations Director and chair of the company’s DEI Steering Committee, paid tribute to the team’s commitment to D&I principles and willingness to make them central to the business’s long-term strategy.
