Our inclusive workplace culture is something we are very proud of. We want all of our employees to feel comfortable with who they are and bring their true selves to work. Natasha tells us below why our ‘open minds, open doors’ mindset has allowed her to be completely open about her sexuality and why this has made us the most inclusive workplace she has ever worked at.
Name:
Natasha Wright
What is your role at Enterprise:
Lead Representative in the Non Fault Recoveries department
Interesting fact:
I have a twin and I am the oldest by 10 minutes.
Why do you enjoy working for Enterprise?
I love working for Enterprise because I am regularly presented with new challenges which allow me to develop my career.
How does Enterprise support LGBT+ employees and allies?
The management teams are very supportive. I feel very comfortable talking to them about any issue I may be experiencing and that’s because I know they genuinely care about ensuring their employees feel supported and included in the workplace. All the other members of staff are very supportive as well, especially the members of our diversity committees. They offer mentoring and often host LGBT+ awareness events, that make sure Enterprise is a welcoming place.
Tell us a little bit about your career with Enterprise. How did you start and how did you get to where you are now?
I started as an Escalation’s member dealing with complicated claims that other members could not settle, I then went through a spell of being a team manager for a recoveries team in the same department. Now I am still a coordinator but I am more technically based and complete tasks like auditing a claim from when it opens to when we make a recovery.
Did you feel you needed to come out to your colleagues? How did they react?
I never really felt like I needed to come out because I just knew I could be myself. I openly talk about being a lesbian woman, my girlfriend and my life and I have never experienced any negativity towards my sexuality, whilst at Enterprise. Diversity and inclusion is so embedded into the culture at Enterprise that coming out was never an issue or something I even thought about doing.
What has been your experience with being out? Have you ever had a particularly bad or good experience because of your sexual orientation at work?
I have had a bad experience once in an old job. It happened to be people I was friends with, who seemed to think that because I liked women it must mean I fancy them. However, this is never been the case at Enterprise. I have only ever had a positive experience with being out whilst working here.
Who are your LGBT role models in business? Who do you look up to? How have they helped you?
I like to think I am my own role model. I strive to be someone that others feel they can talk to, not necessarily aspire to, but just someone people know they can talk to. For me, I have Rebecca Henderson who is one of my supervisors and I feel I can talk to her about anything. I can ask her anything or discuss any worries I have which has helped me just knowing there was someone there I could trust.
What changes / improvements you would like to make within Enterprise in order to make us a more diverse and inclusive workplace?
I think we need to continue the conversation to ensure no one ever feels they cannot be open and themselves. Enterprise do a great job of making sure we are a diverse and inclusive workplace but that doesn’t mean we can’t do more to find ways of making our diversity initiative more visible to all members of staff, whether they are a part of the LGBT+ community or not.
How would you compare Enterprise to other companies you know/have worked for as a diverse and inclusive workplace?
This is definitely the most open and inclusive workplace I have worked at. I have never felt I need to hide my sexual orientation and I have never felt uncomfortable having conversations in this area either. As I have mentioned above when I talk to people about it, its accepted and people are happy that I am happy and are positive.
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