Race Equality Matters is pleased to announce that Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have been awarded #MyNameIs solution Trailblazer status!

Race Equality Matters #MyNameIs is a simple but highly impactful solution to ensure everyone pronounces people’s names correctly. The campaign calls to normalise phonetic spelling in your email signature, meetings, name badges and more. In a 2022 poll, 73% of respondents from more than 100 organisations said they had their names mispronounced. They told us it made them feel ‘not valued or important,’ ‘disrespected’ and ‘that they didn’t belong.’ 88% of respondents thought a phonetic name spelling campaign would help tackle race inequality.

As a strong applicant in our second cohort of Trailblazer applications, JLR’s Name Campaign is making genuine steps in tackling racial inequality. The panel of independent judges – all of whom are ethnically diverse – unanimously recognised the successful implementation of the #MyNameIs campaign within the organisation. JLR’s application has evidenced the rigour necessary to become a Trailblazer. Through this, other organisations can learn and implement this fantastic solution within their workplace. 

#MyNameIs

JLR launched the #MyNameIs campaign as part of an online Lunch & Learn event hosted by the REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) Network in March 2022. The event was organised to introduce the Name Campaign: an initiative by the REACH network to educate people on the importance of getting someone’s name right and the benefits this can bring to business. The event included personal stories from people who had experienced their name being continuously mispronounced, shortened and disrespected. They used the #MyNameIs tool to help in this endeavour and staff were encouraged to use the tool to create profiles with phonetic spellings of their name. 

Impact 

After introducing the #MyNameIs tool, staff found that the mispronunciation of their name reduced, resulting in positive impacts on their mental health, wellbeing and productivity. Following the success of the tool, JLR have created a Name Campaign working group to drive further action in the business, resulting in a second successful Lunch & Learn based on nomenclature and a monthly ‘Story Behind My Name’ column in the REACH newsletter to describe the history behind names from regions and cultures around the world. 

JLR has demonstrated commitment for change. Their #MyNameIs Trailblazer status echoes the impact felt by the organisation’s ethnically diverse employees. Celebrating our Trailblazer community will accelerate the change and momentum towards racial equality, through action not words.

Follow JLR’s Lead: Become a Trailblazer

If your organisation is driving change for race equality and you can demonstrate impact, endorsement from ethnic background employees and share future plans; register your interest for the next round of trailblazers on our website.