An essential part of this is developing teams who give and welcome different opinions, perspectives and cultural reference; bringing a real richness in our day to day activities, which will achieve better business results, for both ourselves and for our clients. It will also enable us to access a wider talent pool without any boundaries or bias.
We define diversity and inclusion in the following ways:
Diversity is about differences
At Barnett Waddingham we recognise, respect and value individual differences and in doing so we aim to maximise this through positive interactions which will help us deliver the best for our clients through an enhanced diversity of thought. Differences may include gender, background, education, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. It is the individual that matters and the skills they bring to our organisation.
Inclusion is about embracing these differences for the future of the company
We have created an environment where all our people feel valued and respected, where people give their best. No member of staff should feel excluded from any activity because of their own background.
Our diversity and inclusion strategy aims to:
We aim to continue to develop our inclusive culture where all our people can achieve their full potential. We look to continually strengthen the diverse mix of our teams and leaders by ensuring that there are no barriers in our talent pipeline or development programmes. We ensure our people can use their uniqueness to innovate for the benefit of the business.
We aim to consistently recruit the best people regardless of their own backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to enrich the diversity of our organisation. Our procedures and policies aim to remove any unconscious bias and we will continue to focus our efforts on advancing our diverse talent.
We look to equip our people managers with the skills and confidence to lead teams inclusively, and help develop the mindset that encourages maximum contributions from all our people, and allows for any differences in learning styles.
We ensure all levels are accountable for the equitable development, support and advancement of our people. We look favourably on inclusive behaviours which are rewarded and play a key role in promotion decisions and leadership appointments.
In line with the people strategy, over the next five years we have set out the agenda for action and progress and this work is underway. The immediate focus will be to raise awareness of our commitment. We will do this by:
Being respectful and fair to all who work at Barnett Waddingham is an integral part of our culture and something I am extremely proud of and want to protect. However, I also recognise in this changing world we need to ensure that we change with the expectations of the outside world.
At Barnett Waddingham we start from a strong position but we need to recognise that we are on a journey of ensuring that we do all we can to support and encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace. By doing so, we will build on our culture where all employees are inspired to share their passions, talents and ideas; where they will continue to be part of the team delivering fresh thinking and innovation to our clients.
As a company we are committed to ensure that we foster an environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work. I give you my personal commitment that we will do our best to ensure that we embrace diversity and ensure inclusion so that all our people can flourish.
Andrew Vaughan
Senior Partner, Barnett Waddingham