We are committed to building a fully inclusive environment that is reflective of the society we serve. A place that encourages and values the unique differences our people bring with them to work every day, and where everyone can reach their full potential. Getting this right is at the heart of our purpose to Help Britain Prosper.

Our race education programme

Building a truly inclusive organisation requires us to provide an environment where all colleagues speak up, challenge and act to take an active stance against racism and discrimination of any kind. It’s important to have a strong communication plan and feed a ‘drumbeat’ of activities to take everyone on the journey of creating an inclusive workplace.

Our Race Education programme has delivered race education to our executives, senior leaders, specialist people teams, line managers and all colleagues. In 2024, we continued our Line Manager Race Education sessions and are proud that over 11,000-line managers and leaders have been trained since its launch. The content reflects what line managers and colleagues have told us they need to have a better understanding of race and culture related issues and challenges. Over 95% of colleagues completed the all-colleague training since launch and is now included in induction training for all new colleagues.

As part of creating an inclusive and supportive culture, we trained over 40 Race and ethnicity mental health advocates to support Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues in moments that matter.

Mental Health and Race Champions

Nicola Bailey (she/her)

Head of Product & Service Assurance, I am mixed race of Caribbean heritage and growing up I faced into a lot of adversity and issues, while trying to navigate where I fitted best. I also watched as my mum and many around me suffered with depression – many people from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background live with poor mental health for many reasons, including racism. When I joined the Group, I became a Mental Health Advocate (MHA) straight away. I liked that they are working hard to remove the stigma surrounding mental health issues and I wanted to help. After additional training, I am proud to also be a Race and Ethnicity MHA. I have been mentoring younger colleagues on our Graduate and Apprentice schemes supporting with everything from voicing issues to recognising the signs of burnout. Supporting these colleagues is essential for us to strengthen our cultural environment.

Jing Chang (she/her)

Senior Financial Risk Manager, having been a Mental Health Advocate (MHA) at Lloyds Banking Group for a few years, becoming a Race and Ethnicity MHA was an obvious next step for me. As well as supporting individuals, I run group sessions to promote awareness and allow safe space discussion and have also supported our Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage (REACH) colleague network in a Group-wide session too. Having experienced burnout myself, being able to support others is so important to me. The existence of Race and Ethnicity MHAs has encouraged many colleagues to ask for help, who may otherwise have remained silent. Since its launch, more colleagues from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background have asked for support around a variety of topics, such as increasing stress, unconscious bias and lack of empathy and understanding. This is an invaluable programme I look forward to continuing to support.
The maturity matrix is a valuable additional tool for completing an internal audit of our strategic action plan, helps to identify areas for improvement and assess how we’re performing against other organisations.