We recognise that being diverse and inclusive, both at board level and more widely, helps deliver better outcomes for our members. It also positions us strongly as an employer of choice – able to attract, retain and provide opportunities for a team of exceptionally talented colleagues.
During 2023 we continued implementing our new inclusion and diversity strategy ‘Being You, Transforming Us’. This is helping us build a culture where all colleagues feel valued and included for who they are.
The unique perspectives held by our colleagues help us respond to the needs of our members and foster greater innovation, making sure we’re fit for the future.
By creating a culture where lived experience is shared, and diverse thought celebrated, we’ll be in a better position to support more people on the journey to home ownership. As well as striving for increasing demographic diversity, which is about differences in people’s demographic characteristics, we recognise the importance of cognitive diversity and lived experience across the Society.
In 2022 we voluntarily opted into targets on board diversity and have achieved a position of 33% female representation at board, which brings us in line with the Hampton Alexander Review. We have two board members from an ethnic minority background, which is against an FCA target of at least one. When recruiting for board positions we use external recruiters to support us identifying potential candidates and require a diverse longlist.
More broadly, the FCA has highlighted the challenges of firms focusing in isolation on improving representation at senior levels. To help deliver lasting change, we’re committed to improving diverse representation at all levels in the Society and growing strong diverse talent pipelines. We’ve expanded the diversity data set we collect to help us monitor broader diversity across all levels in the Society. We also have focused interventions to support our talent development. For example, our Ignite programme which supports colleagues in new line manager roles had 15% representation of colleagues from an ethnic minority background and 70% female representation.
Read more information on our diversity commitments and high-level targets.
You can also read more about the Being You: Transforming Us strategy by downloading our Purpose Impact Report.
