British Business Bank aims to unlock potential of small businesses. To do so we are accelerating our diversity, equity and inclusion journey to make sure our organisation reflects the diversity of the population we are trying to reach, meet market standards we set for our delivery partners and to continue to create an environment where diverse talent can thrive. In 2022, we embarked our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy, policy and actionable three-year roadmap aligned with our organisational ambition. We have defined a clear aspiration and are identifying metrics to track progress including on gender diversity.
We are committed to recruiting, developing, and retaining individuals with the skills and experience required to enable the Bank to meet its strategic objectives. Our range of people policies and programmes are designed to support a diverse community where talent is recognised and nurtured, and colleagues feel empowered to be proactive in their own development.
We continually review these policies and programmes alongside colleague groups with a view to further strengthening them where we can and ensuring equal access. We foster a culture of inclusion and sense of open dialogue and encourage colleagues to bring their full selves to work.
Stronger Together
Central to our strategy is our Employee Resource Group called Stronger Together. The group is sponsored by our Executive Committee and is a diverse group of colleagues from across the organisation. Stronger Together is an open forum run by colleagues, for colleagues, to provide a safe and supportive environment in which to discuss issues specifically relating to inclusion and diversity in the Bank. Our inclusion mission statement, which was created with Stronger Together, supports our inclusion activities:
- We are committed to creating a culture where each and every colleague can be truly collaborative and creative. As individuals, and collectively as an organisation, we benefit from ensuring the bank is inclusive, everyone has a voice, and we all have the opportunity to be our true selves at work.
- We celebrate diversity and inclusion, engage with colleagues across the organisation and shape the DEI strategy at the Bank.
- The UK benefits from the diversity of the businesses we support and empower. We are committed to doing everything we can to help them prosper and grow.
- At the British Business Bank, we share the same ambitions for our people. We are proud to create an organisation where everyone is stronger together.
Diversity data and our people processes
It is our ongoing commitment to continuously monitor and safeguard the integrity and fairness of our policies, processes, and structures to ensure equal opportunities for all:
- We test our annual pay progression and promotions for any differences between men and women.
- We test our bonus awards for any gender differences in the percentages of bonus pay-outs relative to their bonus opportunities.
- We have an internal job evaluation system which considers the scope and the breadth of each role irrespective of the jobholder. This means that our internal Bands are not decided based on the person doing the job (in which case the system could be susceptible to biases) but based on the content of the job.
- We test our yearly talent and performance management processes for representation against the wider organisational population.
- We collect data to analyse our attraction and recruitment processes.