Banking on Racial Equality
In NatWest Group our purpose is to champion potential, helping people, families and businesses to thrive. It is a clear call to action for us. We will break down barriers that get in the way and fight inequalities that hold people back.
This includes inequalities and barriers that persist for people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds. I believe we at NatWest Group have a substantial role to play in tackling them. Simply put, it’s not enough to recognise the problem; organisations like ours must be a part of the solution.
We’ve taken time to listen, learn and better understand
In June, following the rise of the Black Lives Matter protests across the world, I established a Taskforce led by the co-chairs of our multicultural network; Samuel Okafor, Shamraz Begum and Yinka Fadina. Their role, with the support of Nigel Prideaux and Simon McNamara from my leadership team, was to help us listen, learn and better understand the issues we are facing, and consider the key actions we can take to tackle inequalities for Black, Asian and ethnic minority customers, colleagues and communities.
The taskforce leads rose to this challenge brilliantly. Over the past few months they have taken a very thoughtful and measured approach, and collaborated with people from all backgrounds right across the bank and beyond. They have spent time listening and learning, including conducting a bank-wide survey on race, diversity and inclusion which drew over 21,000 responses from our colleagues. They have carefully analysed all that they’ve heard and learnt. And they have planned for action.
We’ve launched a set of commitments designed to make positive change
Today I am proud to share the Taskforce’s report: ‘Banking on Racial Equality: A Roadmap for Positive Change’. Informed by the Taskforce’s findings, this report outlines commitments from NatWest Group designed to make meaningful, positive change for our Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues, customers and communities.
We’ve also introduced a new target to have 3% Black colleagues in senior UK roles by 2025. We’ve introduced this target because we have a higher under-representation of Black colleagues in senior roles than other ethnic minority groups, relative to the UK’s working population.
Getting to this point has been a joint effort. There have been many open and honest conversations taking place across all teams and levels of the organisation. Though these conversations have at times been difficult and uncomfortable, they have been absolutely vital in the Taskforce’s work. I’m extremely proud of my colleagues for the courage they have shown in speaking up, asking challenging questions, and sharing their views and different perspectives.
We’ve made progress to date, but we’re far from complacent
The commitments we’ve launched today build on the progress we’ve made in the last five years to become a more inclusive and diverse organisation. Alongside targets to increase Black, Asian and ethnic minority representation across our workforce that have been in place since the beginning of 2018, our Executive team and senior leaders across the bank have taken part in a reciprocal mentoring programme with Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues. We’ve shared inclusion learning resources in our NatWest Group Academy, and are making important progress with our early careers initiatives, such as our Social Mobility Apprenticeship programme – a first of its kind in banking.
However, we know that we still have a long way to go. The purpose of the Taskforce’s work was to intensify the focus and accelerate progress. The commitments we have launched today will set a new standard for how NatWest Group engages and champions those from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds.
I want to formally thank Samuel, Shamraz, Yinka, and all of my colleagues and customers who have been involved in the Taskforce’s work. Today marks an important moment in time for us on our journey to becoming an open and inclusive bank – one that stands against racism.
I am fully committed to building a culture that will embrace inclusivity to allow everyone to thrive. At our best, we are an open, inclusive, progressive organisation, but until that is everyone’s experience, every time, we have more to do.
Find out more about our commitments.
Read the full report: Banking on Racial Equality: A Roadmap for Positive Change
Project Management I Business Analysis I Agile
3 年A lovely read especially the commitment to customers, I agree that the bank gets good referrals, but the onboarding process is very tiring especially during covid-19. As an International Student in UK I have tried to open an account for 5 months. I have my International passport, BRP, letter from the university, Provisional Driver license, NIN, a pay slip etc. The online platform whether through website or downloading an app does not appear built for my persona (Immigrants, people not born in the UK and International students especially post graduate students). I will ask the team to review the process flow of the online onboarding process, a little bit on inclusivity might be needed. Thank you for your fantastic work. Every step counts.
Helping Leaders and Organisations Achieve Excellence
4 年I commend the NatWest group and the other banks that have set targets to recruit and develop more staff in the bank that are representative of your customer base and the population as a whole. I think it is important as part of this narrative that people understand the difference between positive action, making efforts for better recruitment, development and promotion of underrepresented groups often hindered by a number of practices and biases. As opposed to positive discrimination, hiring someone specifically based on their characteristics. The latter is illegal under Equality Act 2010 and no sensible company would do that as they know the legal implications of something like this. Companies who have listened to the concerns of those from underrepresented groups through surveys and conversations with staff on these things are benefiting. Looking at their attraction, retention, promotion and succession plans. Understanding what has prevented people from applying for such roles and often seeing great talent leave because this was not previously addressed. The truth is you still have to be as qualified and as competent to fulfill a role. Programmes such as these are recognising this and allowing those who previously missed out an opportunity to have access either because of lack of visible role models or understanding of the role of sponsors, leadership development programmes and cultural awareness. For those working in organisations who value belonging and equity, this is a no brainer.