Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Scope

This Policy applies to all Optellum employees and those associated with our organisation such as contractors and consultants.

Introduction

We are a multi-cultural international team with a positive and learning culture: a company that values inclusion, wellbeing and learning and growing in our personal and professional lives. We want our growth strategy to reflect those values.

At Optellum, we understand a lot of time is spent at work, it is where friendships are made and connections are formed. We therefore want everyone to work together to propel our performance and drive our mission. All our people share the same pride in living our values and delivering our vision.

We consider ED&I to be critical to the core of our business, not a compliance necessity.

Optellum promotes equity both inside and outside our organisation, with respect to any personal or social identities, individual rights, opportunities, or status. We recognise that diversity is found in any social identity, such as age, culture, ethnicity, gender, nationality, physical abilities or characteristics, political and religious beliefs, sexual orientation, diversity of thought, as well as many other additional attributes. Inclusion is the process of involving, accepting, and valuing all people regardless of their differences and social identity.

Equity and Equality are two concepts that relate to fairness. Equality means giving the same opportunities to everyone, whatever their background and social identity. Equity recognises that some groups face more barriers than others and tries to address them.

The Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Policy aims to describe Optellum’s commitment to ED&I, our approach, and goals, as well as our areas of focus. This runs alongside our Company values specifically as an extension to Teamwork and Diversity.

Our Aspirations

Optellum’s aspirations for ED&I are structured into 5 pillars, which guide our approach to supporting the integration of ED&I into our organisation and culture. These pillars are:

1. Inclusive Leadership
2. Diverse Talent
3. Equal Opportunities
4. International Mindset
5. Mutual Respect

1. Inclusive Leadership and Culture

1. Inclusive leadership means we expect that our executive team leads by example..
   Optellum is committed to creating an inclusive culture and an environment which empowers all our people to realise their potential.
2. This extends to our wider management team who we expect to lead and develop colleagues at business wide level. Through development and support, we develop our leaders business-wide to inspire colleagues at all levels to foster inclusion. They look to promote an inclusive mindset in their relationships and decision-making and be aware of bias.
3. Inclusion is a critical component in the retention of a diverse workforce. At Optellum we cultivate an inclusive workplace. Employees feel their contribution and perspectives are valued by their colleagues, managers and organisation as a whole.

2. Diverse Talent

1. Our focus on ED&I is essential to enable access to a wider and more diverse talent pool. This ultimately drives our innovation and success, through an enriched team. Optellum is proud of our diverse workforce. We endeavour to attract, welcome, develop and retain people into Optellum with different perspectives, experience, and backgrounds to support us in our vision.
2. When we come to recruit, we consider ED&I in all job advertisements and selection criteria to avoid bias and seek out any hidden bias. In addition, we actively seek to debias job descriptions, screening, and the decision-making processes. We seek to listour job adverts is a wide network including LinkedIn, our website, professional networks and job boards including The Job Centre. Our hiring employees are trained in unconscious bias to identify and remove biased decisions and recommendations of candidates, and we encourage diversity-balanced teams.
3. We aim to build policies to help retain people and promote inclusiveness and ED&I.

3. Equal opportunities

1. Optellum strives to create equitable access to opportunities and fair treatment within
   the organisation. We aspire to provide exciting careers and opportunities for all our
   employees.
2. We actively encourage participation in relevant opportunities within Optellum.
   Engagement at all levels enables the business to benefit from our talent.
3. Optellum seeks to ensure all employees are remunerated fairly, based on the market
   value for the role, capabilities, and performance: never on social identity. It is
   experience, potential, skills, and passion that count. We aim to mitigate practices that
   create pay gaps in the workforce.
4. We will continue to review our workplace policies and practices, further supporting a
   work environment with equal opportunities.

4. International Mindset

1. For Optellum to be a world leader in trusted innovative solutions around the globe,
   understanding our employees and customers is key. We welcome new ideas and
   challenges from all locations and parts of our business and actively encourage all our
   employees to develop and maintain a curious mindset.
2. It is essential that we have an international mindset and experience, and cultural
   sensitivity. We recognise that local laws and regulations can differ, but we will always
   aim to uphold the principles of this policy.
3. This way of thinking helps us to value cultural differences and maximise the
   opportunity that different insights provide, promoting agility and growth.

5. Mutual Respect

1. All employees should always treat each other with dignity and respect.Should you feel
   that you have not been treated fairly, in accordance with this policy employees are
   entitled to raise the matter through the Grievance Policy and Procedure. Optellum will
   provide any guidance and support necessary to achieve this.
2. All Grievances, either internally or externally, will be treated confidentially, seriously
   and will be dealt with promptly. If an employee is found to have breached this Policy,
   they may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
3. Alongside the internal policies and procedures, we can also offer additional
   assistance to anyone who may wish to make a complaint but requires a different
   format to do so. If you feel you require such assistance, please reach out to the HR
   Manager.

6. Our Ambition

1. Our ambition is to foster an inclusive environment, where equity and diversity thrive in support of our vision and priorities. Our ambition is to become a positive example and leader in ED&I.

7. Our Approach

1. Continuous monitoring and review will assist in the effectiveness of our initiatives and will help us to achieve our ambition. These measures will change over time to reflect organisational development through becoming more diverse and inclusive in the following focus areas:
   i) Recruitment, selection & hiring and onboarding
   ii) Mental health and wellbeing
   iii) Development & training
2. Optellum continually strives to improve, looking for new initiatives in order to meet our ED&I ambition by:
   i) Assigning owners / responsible persons
   ii) The leadership team shall support the initiative to construct a focus group, allocating resources to create an Equity Diversity and Inclusion Champions Group (ED&I Champions Group) for Optellum, and shall appoint an ED&I Champion on the leadership team.
   iii) The ED&I Champions Group will be composed of a group of Optellum employees, who engage as ED&I Ambassadors both internally and externally.
3. Execution
   i) The leadership team shall support the ED&I Champions Group in the creation of the ED&I action plan alongside our ED&I Partner, Fair HQ .
4. Monitoring and analysing results
   i) Leadership will review the action plan, acknowledge achievement and support learning outcomes to ensure continued success.
   ii) We will monitor the progress of our ED&I initiatives annually via an engagement survey, and we benchmark ourselves externally against other relevant companies.
5. Applying learning obtained from results
   i) Leadership will reflect on results to amend processes and policies and discuss progress on our ED&I ambitions to ensure the company stays focused and builds traction.
   ii) The ED&I Champions Group will support the leadership as above and be responsible for an annual review and revision of progress, initiatives, and corresponding ambitions.
   iii) Optellum give ED&I and Bullying and Harassment training to all employees biennially through an e-learning platform called IHasco. Certificates of training are recorded in the HR Information System.
6. Open and accessible policies.
   i) The ED&I Champions Group will support the leadership to ensure all applicable policies are promoted effectively, as well as being easily assessable to all UK employees.

8. Summary

1. Optellum’s vision is to attract and retaining the best, diverse talent, where everyone feels that they belong, are valued, and can contribute to our strategy and success.