REVIEW
MARKET
Diversity and inclusion: it’s good to talk Craig Calder director of mortgages, Barclays
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ctober marks Black History Month in the UK, and this year’s theme, ‘Time for change: action not words,’ represents a strong message that should resonate with us all. Here at Barclays, one of our principal aims is to make every one of our colleagues feel comfortable being themselves at work. It’s central to our culture, and we nurture it through activities and initiatives, and building networks for colleagues to connect. Diversity and inclusion should be key words in any business, and it’s a huge positive to see such progressive strides being made across the mortgage market in recent times. However, this is not a tick-box exercise – it’s a movement that should be embedded within company cultures for a number of reasons. Looking at this in a business and commercial sense, diversity and inclusion can open the doors to increased profitability, creativity, stronger governance, and better problem-solving, because employees from diverse backgrounds bring more of themselves in terms of new ideas, perspectives, and experience. Having a diverse workforce makes organisations more resilient and more effective, and they tend to outperform less-diverse organisations. As an industry, I think it’s fair to say that – despite significant progress being made – we are still not as diverse or inclusive as we could or should be, and our progress must be tempered by the knowledge that there is still some way to go. This was highlighted in
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AMI’s second Viewpoint report back in October 2021, which found there was definitely an “appetite for change,” with 82 per cent of respondents saying they felt diversity and inclusion were important and just five per cent saying they didn’t think it was important. However, those surveyed, especially from minority groups, also reported discrimination in the workplace and at industry events, raising concerns around culture and leadership. More than 40 per cent of respondents said the mortgage industry attracted a representative workforce. This falls among women, LGBTQ+, and ethnic minorities to 35 per cent for women and 36 per cent respectively for the latter groups. When employees think their organisation is committed to and supportive of diversity, and they feel included, employees report better business performance in terms of ability to innovate (83 per cent uplift) responsiveness to changing customer needs (31 per cent uplift), and team collaboration (42 per cent uplift). So what more can be done? Simply asking this question is a great starting point. Talking and listening are key in attempting to get to grips with these issues. Diversity and inclusion have featured heavily in our Mortgage Insider podcast series, and past episodes – “Diversity and inclusion in broking,” with Sidney Wager and Sophie Lowndes-Toole; and “Diversity: Pride month,” with Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall, and Hannah Bernard, head of business banking at Barclays – have both tackled these topics extensively. And a more recent episode, “Breaking down barriers,” with Sarah Tucker and Jamie Lewis, co-founders of The Mortgage Mum, was released to coincide with International Women’s Day. All of these are available to listen to online. As a company, we will continue highlighting such issues whilst
MORTGAGE INTRODUCER NOVEMBER 2022
accepting there are still many knowledge gaps, and curiosity will drive further education. For businesses, it can be as simple as asking themselves the question, “Are we representative of the communities we serve?” There are many charters and government initiatives that are helping people to take a good, hard look at themselves and their businesses. The Race at Work Charter may be a good starting point for some. This was launched by Business in the Community (BITC) in late 2018, with the aim of tackling ethnic disparities in the workplace. This charter is composed of five principal calls to action for leaders and organisations across all sectors. It also outlines that action by employers could boost the UK economy and lead to increased productivity and returns in the workplace, and points out the following. Race equality in the UK will potentially bring a £24 billion per year boost to the UK economy – 1.3 per cent of GDP, equating to £481 million a week. Organisations with more diverse teams have 36 per cent better financial returns. Only one in 16 people at senior levels in the private and public sector are from an ethnic minority background. In a purely business sense, diversity and inclusion open the door to better recruitment, greater innovation, stronger employee retention, and an enhanced understanding of client demands. These factors are relevant to firms of all shapes and sizes. Diversity and inclusion may not the easiest topic at times, but we as an industry need to become more comfortable having these conversations in order to continue moving forward and create real change. M I www.mortgageintroducer.com
