Costain Empower Programme

Diversity at all levels of Costain is fundamental to effective decision making and delivering high performance. Every person should feel welcomed and able to participate, contribute and
challenge. 

A people survey carried out in 2022 by the Women’s Network revealed that 50% of respondents identified a lack of confidence as a key barrier to progression, with challenges in visibility and networking ranking high. Some 85% of respondents expressed a desire for some form of development. Costain’s EDI Gender Pay Gap data highlighted a decline in female representation at middle management level.

Based on the emergent themes from the survey and existing EDI data, Costain’s Empower Programme was designed to address the challenges women encounter in the industry and to tackle barriers to progression into senior roles.

The Empower Programme provides women bespoke development opportunities focusing on their career goals and aspirations. In tandem, line managers are supported to advocate for the candidates during and after the programme. This includes raising their awareness of the differences by which men and women approach work and some of the challenges women face in the workplace. New data has been gathered organically and feedback has been positive.

In 2023 the first Costain women’s empowerment programme was launched.

The programme provided space for women to come together, the opportunity to conduct self-awareness exercises and time to reflect on what they had heard or experienced, as well as a network of individuals they could relate to.

Line managers reported the following observations about the candidates:

By the end of the programme the learners will gain self- awareness tools to identify and confidently articulate their strengths, feel supported by senior leaders and mentors and connect with inspiring women to learn from their career journeys.