We want to create an environment where all colleagues feel psychologically, emotionally and physically safe to be authentic, representative of the diversity of the world they live in, share their personal experiences and have equal opportunity to achieve.
Our inclusion and diversity plan underpins our growth strategy and in FY21 was focused on four areas that were identified as being important to our colleagues:
A fifth resource group will be established this year to cover Accessibility.
For each of these focus areas we have colleague resource groups led by a Steering Committee, each of which has an Executive sponsor, HR and a Talent Partner. A dedicated Group Communications Business Partner is responsible for supporting our colleague resource groups to drive engagement both internally and externally.
At the heart of our commitment to inclusion and diversity is our NCC Conversations programme, which we launched in August 2020. Each month the focus area Steering Committees work together to produce content, from blogs to panel sessions and resources, which support our ongoing awareness and education for colleagues.
In addition, the programme includes workshops with external experts invited to support learning around topics exploring what it means personally and in the workplace.
These conversations are leading to positive changes in how we operate as a firm – investing in annual inclusion and diversity training as well as building into Manager Essentials training, partnering with organisations to develop future pathways for diverse talent to enter the industry, reviewing colleague policies, and improving how we recruit new talent and invest in career development
