Our values permeate every aspect of our organisation, from the expectations we have of leaders, to the opportunities our people should share, and the kinds of clients we work with. These nine, progressive commitments guide our decision-making every day.
1. Leadership
We will foster and develop leaders, and an approach to leadership, that is diverse, understands and responds to the communities we serve, celebrates difference and has inclusion at its heart.
2. Thriving
We will make our environment one where excellent people belong, thrive and progress offering tailored career support, proactively seeking opportunities to develop our future leaders, and being open to challenge and change.
3. Learning
Our members will be well-educated in the issues facing their colleagues and clients who belong to minority groups, will understand their responsibility to work inclusively and promote diversity, and will celebrate difference and the opportunities it brings.
4. Clarity
We will be clear about what good behaviour looks like and won’t tolerate discrimination, micro-aggressions or bad behaviour of any kind. We will foster a culture in which we are able to have candid conversations and challenge one another with courage and kindness, and where concerns can be raised and addressed freely and safely.
5. Clients
We intend to work with and for clients with whom we share a common purpose, and who share our commitment to reducing inequalities and promoting fairness.
6. Work
We will consider inclusion, as an element of sustainable development, in all aspects of our projects –from bid, through inception to delivery. We will always guide our work, and those involved in it, onwards towards even more diversity and an ever more inclusive approach because we know this produces better outcomes.
We will develop and share with clients our best practice guidelines for maximising diversity and inclusion on projects.
7. Influence
We will use our reputation and standing and influence to lead on and advocate for improving diversity, equity and inclusion in our sector, in the built environment and in the wider societies within which we operate.
8. Future talent
We will adopt an approach to finding, attracting, selecting and recruiting talent that brings the very best people into Arup from as diverse a pool of talent as possible.
9. Measurement
We will develop an approach to measuring and reporting on diversity, including racial diversity, that is respectful of our different cultural contexts and geographies and enables us to share a clear picture of our current position and to track our progress.
Our values
Founded by Sir Ove Arup, a gifted engineer-philosopher with an original and restless mind, our firm has always had a keen sense of purpose. The six aims, means and values Sir Ove identified in his Key Speech (1970) guide us to this day.