Our People

The CEC aims to be a good and fair employer and is committed to being a great place to work. Our corporate values provide a strong impetus for all policies and interactions. A quarterly staff pulse survey provides feedback on employee engagement.

This section gives more information about CEC’s people, its commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing, its approach to remuneration and commitment to the skills agenda.

CEC's People

The data below shows the total number of staff and composition.

Staffing analysis

Average Annual Headcount*

Gender**

Ethnicity**

2023

102

60% female

40% male

32% minority ethnic

68% white

*During the period 1 April 2022 - 31 March 2023
** Data only includes information that has been provided directly by individuals as of 1^st April 2023

Commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are intrinsic aspects of The Careers & Enterprise Company’s (CEC’s) work as both an employer and as a leader of careers education. At the heart of our strategy is the notion of ‘belonging’. The goal of our work in equity, diversity and inclusion is for our staff team to feel they belong, for our Network to feel they belong, and for all young people to feel they belong in pursuing their best next step.

We know that engagement at work relies on feeling included and valued. Inclusion is both a choice and a practice, for us as an organisation and for individuals within our team. We aim to drive inclusion through every aspect of our work. We understand that building equitable, diverse and inclusive teams are essential for innovative careers education and are central to our values, mission and impact. CEC’s EDI committee is staff-led, raising awareness of important issues and supporting strategic initiatives such as Equality Impact Assessments, to help make the organisation more inclusive, equitable and diverse.

We will use diversity data to identify any existing biases, gaps or challenges and work towards improving them. CEC values the visible and invisible qualities that makes each member of our team who they are. Watch our recent recording on our culture and values.

Commitment to staff wellbeing

The CEC is committed to staff wellbeing and has a vibrant Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee, whose purpose is to ensure all employees to thrive at work. Their vision of success is that:

Staff are proud to be a part of the CEC because it is a place where people thrive in an environment of ambition, caring and celebration.
Staff physical and mental wellbeing have equal value.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee takes a preventative approach to mental ill health by taking embedded, holistic and quality actions.

CEC's approach to remuneration

The CEC’s approach to remuneration ensures objectivity, openness and accountability, recognising the importance of having a fair, equitable, transparent and affordable policy to determine the pay of all employees. All decisions take account of the relevant conditions of service and statutory requirements. The CEC’s remuneration principles are:

The pay for each employee is determined with reference to the individual role and responsibilities, a view of the relevant market rate, individual performance, and overall affordability.
Equal pay for equal work, by ensuring that pay systems meet legislative requirements and actively work towards reducing any unjustified pay gaps.
Salary bands and pay setting arrangements are mapped to the Civil Service and - in particular – the Department for Education. This is supported by The CEC’s performance review process to inform individual pay decisions. These are moderated across the organisation to ensure equity and affordability.
Staff benefits are also benchmarked against the non-profit sector.

Pay analysis

	Fair pay ratio*	Gender pay gap**
5 April 2023	2.69	10% (median)

*Fair pay ratio: highest paid staff member salary band as a multiple of median salary.
**Gender pay gap: average variances from reference group, based on male: female comparison.

Comparison to UK gender pay gap averages is shown below. Our median pay gap of 10% is below public, private and not for profit body averages. We want to further reduce our gender pay gap. As a relatively small organisation, an individual role can have a significant impact on our data, and we pay close attention to this impact.

Gender pay gap, UK 2022

Sector	Median
Public sector	15.9%
Private sector	19.6%
Non-profit body or mutual association	18.4%

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2022, Office for National Statistics (latest available)

Senior staff salaries

Salary Band	2022/2023
£70,000-79,999	5
£80,000-89,999	1
£90,000-99,999	1
£100,000-109,999	1
£110,000-119,999	0
£120,000-129,999	1
£130,000-139,999	1

Our commitment to young people and skills development

Our mission to support every young person to find their best next step means we care deeply about doing the right thing as an employer. There are clear links between learning, engaged employees and ultimately, productivity.

The CEC offers apprentice, industry placement (including T-Levels), internship and work experience opportunities to enable people to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to be successful in the workforce. In 2023/24 we employ 5 apprentices, covering a broad range of business operations, financial and technical roles. We are constantly evolving our commitment to skills development. We have undertaken self-evaluation against the Employer Standards framework to ensure that we undertake our responsibilities as an employer in driving high quality careers education.