The Challenge
Having enjoyed accelerated growth through multiple company acquisitions, the client faced a challenge in creating a cohesive global D&I strategy which would work across multiple regions and different work ecosystems amongst recently acquired businesses.
Prior to setting down any strategy, they were aware that a vital first step was to understand the current work cultures of different regions and the impact these have on the lived experiences of diverse employees at the bank. Using this information they would be able to take action to bring varying cultures closer together and design D&I initiatives that would be effective in supporting and progressing diverse talent no matter where they worked within the organization.
This information would need to be collected while respecting different regional legal requirements to data collection.
The Solutions
We undertook a detailed mapping exercise using a bespoke iteration of our RADAR benchmarking tool. This collected key quantitative data about current employee populations alongside qualitative data on how inclusion was working in practice within the different regions and work cultures of the business.
Using this data we were able to identify the existing gaps and challenges holding back progress as well as the key opportunities for the organization. Using these insights and our knowledge of inclusion best practice within the finance industry, we assisted in shaping a new cohesive D&I strategy.
This strategy included:
- A company wide rollout of Conscious Inclusion training and e-learning as part of a new culture on boarding designed to align newly acquired business units
- Company wide Inclusive Leadership training for people managers to ensure a cohesive approach to supporting diverse talent within the organization
- Communications support to ensure that key cultural values were being effectively communicated across the entire organization
