We’re proud to be part of a new initiative which champions diversity within friendly societies and other financial mutuals. The new formed Mutual Diversity Alliance consists of mutual organisations who are committed to demonstrating good practice in relation to diversity and inclusion within their businesses.
As a founding member of the alliance we see this as an excellent way for us to demonstrate a commitment to respecting and valuing people’s differences and managing our business in a very inclusive manner.
The Mutual Diversity Alliance is a group of mutual organisations who are committed to learning about, and to demonstrating, how they support diversity and inclusivity within their organisation. A member-led initiative grounded in the concepts of mutuality and self-help, the purpose of the Alliance is to share and promote learning and innovation, by working together to create common understandings of good practice, as well as common resources for training.
Two core elements of the Alliance are sharing, and transparency: organisations that join the Alliance are expected to work collaboratively to solve problems, learn new ideas and share best practice.
A business should be accessible to everyone, and committed to demonstrating inclusive behaviours and embracing diversity in all its forms.
The Mutual Diversity Alliance expects the following good practices from participating organisations:
- Treating all customers and employees with respect, dignity and courtesy
- Making reasonable adjustments to, and maintaining, an appropriate working environment, where employees from diverse backgrounds enjoy an equality of opportunity, and to demonstrate this through equality of pay, fair recruitment and other HR policies
- Maintaining an effective culture via our Board, that promotes diversity and sets the right example
- Working with other members of the Alliance to share good practice, to support problem solving, and to sponsor training for our people on inclusivity and diversity, and on conscious inclusion
- Reporting each year in September on how we have met the expectations of the alliance
We are convinced that a workplace encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion can help:
- make it more successful
- keep employees happy and motivated
- prevent serious or legal issues arising, such as bullying, harassment and discrimination
- better serve a diverse range of customers
- attract and keep good people
Diversity in the range of people in our workforce. This means people with different ages, religions, ethnicities, people with disabilities and of differing genders, and valuing those differences.
Equality
Equality in the workplace means equal job opportunities and fairness for employees and job applicants.
Inclusion
An inclusive workplace means everyone feels valued at work. It lets all employees be who they are, feel safe to come up with different ideas, raise issues and suggestions, knowing that trying to do things differently to how they’ve been done before is encouraged.
