PRIDE MONTH — HOW WE’RE CULTIVATING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE ALL YEAR ROUND
2023-06-01 08:00:05.0
Pride Month is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQ+ communities around the world but at BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, we take pride in being an ally all year round.
Having recently been named Top Employer for the third year running — and praised highly in our feedback from the awarding body for our strong focus on diversity and inclusion — we are proud of our commitment to creating a workplace where everyone is not only welcomed but celebrated.
Pride is all about being proud of who you are and to mark the beginning of the month, we sat down with Chief People Officer, Susan Farmer, to find out more about BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
What does Pride Month mean to BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK?
Susan explained: “Pride Month is a great opportunity for us as a global organisation to celebrate our colleagues who belong to the LGBTQ+ community.
“We believe that everybody should be able to come to work as their authentic self and feel comfortable in the workplace without any concern regarding discrimination.
“This is key to supporting our colleagues with their mental well-being and to maintaining employee engagement across the organisation.”
Beginning the celebrations
To help colleagues kickstart the celebrations, BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK supplied colleagues with tickets to Birmingham Pride (27th-28th May) so they could enjoy celebrating in their hometown.
In addition, the Solihull and Belfast offices will be decorated in Pride colours with rainbow-coloured skittles shared with colleagues to enjoy.
What’s more, our diversity and inclusion network has several events lined up throughout the month to raise awareness of the importance of acceptance, equality and inclusivity. These include a Pride quiz and an LGBTQ+ film exchange to start important conversations around the office.
Kate Clarke, co-chair of the Pride Committee at BNP Paribas Personal Finance, said: “It’s important to create an environment which celebrates diversity and inclusivity and aligns with our culture of supporting all colleagues.
“I went to Birmingham Pride with colleagues, including Craig Garner-Beasley and Amy Wilson, who are the other co-chairs of Pride. It was a fantastic event and I’m proud that we have been attending since 2016. The event gets bigger, and better, every year. I appreciated spending time with colleagues from different areas of the business, whilst enjoying some fantastic entertainment in the glorious Birmingham sunshine.”
Diversity and inclusion in practice
Whilst Pride Month offers additional opportunities to celebrate our LGBTQ+ colleagues, ensuring that our colleagues feel welcome and comfortable all year is key to BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK.
Susan said: “We have several initiatives that are already in place or are being rolled out which actively work against discrimination, raise awareness, and foster the behaviours necessary for an inclusive workplace.
“In addition to rolling out our D&I charter, we are developing our overarching D&I strategy for the company and have recently recruited our first Diversity and Inclusion Business Partner. This will ensure that we have the level of focus needed to maintain and improve our inclusion measures as we move forward over the next few years.
“We also have seven D&I networks and two committees, which includes our Pride Network — the first of the networks established at BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK.
“In terms of recruitment and creating a diverse workforce, we conduct regular anti-bias training with our colleagues and take measures to make our job vacancies and application process visible and accessible to everyone — regardless of gender, race, or sexuality.”
Pride and beyond
BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and celebrating our LGBTQ+ colleagues is long-standing — but there is always more to be done.
Interested in joining our diverse team and working for a Top Employer? We’re hiring! Explore our latest career opportunities including App Marketing Manager and Transformation Project Manager here.