Inclusion first, diversity second; without fostering an inclusive working environment, diversity will not flourish.
We are continuously striving to increase diversity in all forms at Berwick Partners, and create an environment where everyone is comfortable being themselves. We genuinely celebrate difference and listen to everyone’s opinions.
To this end, we launched our Unlimited programme which combines a number of our Allies groups.
These groups are made up of volunteers from across the business, whose goal is to ensure everyone feels valued, included and has a voice, that we actively improve in all areas of diversity, and that everyone always has someone to talk to about any issue. These groups are Age, Ethnicity, Gender, Disabilities, Mental Health, Menopause, Social Mobility, LGBTQ+ and Neurodiversity. Further details on our Unlimited programme can be found here.
We have already taken a number of important steps in the right direction. These include improving our family leave policy so that it more effectively meets the needs of all our people, adapting our promotions process to ensure it offers an equal footing for all, and working with partners such as Leonard Cheshire to create an open and inclusive recruitment process (we are a level 2 Disability Confident employer). We produce an annual Gender Pay Gap report which highlights the steps we’ve taken in the areas of recruitment, internal progression and salary monitoring, and makes recommendations for further action to ensure we are always improving when it comes to creating a fair and equal environment for men and women. We are also delighted to have become a signatory of the Race at Work Charter. We are the first executive search firm to be added to the Charter.
Unlimited – Inclusion & Diversity
Unlimited is our philosophy, our commitment and our call to action on Inclusion & Diversity.
We are committed to advancing Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) in Berwick Partners, the wider Odgers Berndtson Group and the world at large.
What we believe in
At Berwick Partners, we will always strive for a world of inclusion, diversity, tolerance and acceptance.
Diversity and inclusion is hardwired into our business and, as such, we have made commitments in two areas:
The first is to create an inclusive culture and working environment where everyone has a sense of belonging and ensures equal opportunities, remuneration, and conditions.
The second is to act on our unique responsibility. As one of the world’s leading executive search firms, we are committed to using our global voice and network to change social inequality and injustice for good. We aim to help our clients address their diversity challenges through more inclusive search, and aim to create a more equal playing field for all emerging and aspiring leaders around the world.
Unlimited: The journey
We have and will always stand with and support the inclusion of our colleagues, candidates and clients and are committed to improving the level of diversity in all its forms within the Odgers Berndtson Group. To this end, we launched
Unlimited – a programme of initiatives that embody our philosophy and our commitments to diversity and inclusion.
Unlimited: For our colleagues
Internally, this includes our Allies – The Allies programme was created as a means by which to ensure our unique ‘Unlimited’ culture is upheld and resonates across our geographic locations.
Allies are self-nominated individuals who believe all colleagues should experience equality, fairness, and dignity at work and ensure we actively improve in all areas of inclusion, diversity, equity and access. These groups are (though not limited to) Age, Ethnicity, Gender, Disabilities, Mental Health, Menopause, Social Mobility, LGBTQ+ and Neurodiversity.
To find out more about our global Unlimited Festival, an annual week-long event held to educate, celebrate our differences and showcase our commitment to inclusion and diversity – view our Observe Magazine’s Unlimited article.
We have made it an integral priority to focus on developing our D&I capabilities and have taken a number of important steps in the right direction.
We use consistent behaviour which excludes any potential for unintentional discrimination.
We send out engagement and pulse surveys on a variety of topics to our employees regularly. At our last survey, 75% of employees said the Unlimited Festival increased their knowledge and understanding of D&I.
We partner with Change100, Social Mobility Foundation and 10000blackinterns for our summer internship programme, making Executive search accessible to all and providing us a talent pipeline for future hires.
We support and contribute to a wide range of positive network initiatives, thereby deepening our understanding and reach, including Ethnic Minority Foundation, Change the Race Ratio, City Women’s Network, National Black Women’s Forum amongst others.
We produce an annual Gender Pay Gap report which highlights the steps we’ve taken in the areas of recruitment, internal progression and salary monitoring, and makes recommendations for further actions.
Improving our family leave policy so that it more effectively meets the needs of all our people, and adapting our promotions process to ensure it offers an equal footing for all and working with partners such as Leonard Cheshire to create an open and inclusive recruitment process (we are a level 2 Disability Confident employer and working towards level 3), we have implemented a Purple Passport scheme for recognised disabilities.
Unlimited: Why we are doing it
Simply put, we believe helping to create fairer and more inclusive societies is not just the right thing to do but is part of our responsibility as a global executive search firm. In fact, the moral case for inclusion and diversity is so irrefutable, that we are focused on the ‘how’, not the ‘why’. Evidence of this ethos is illustrated by:
Our attainment of the highest government accreditation for search companies on gender diversity – the Executive Search Voluntary Code of Conduct, and placements of some notable firsts across the UK.
We are a signatory to the UK search industry Voluntary Code of Conduct and are accredited under The Enhanced Code of Conduct for Executive Search Firms for the FTSE350. We have also received the highest level of accreditation for our diversity outcomes from the Cabinet Office.
We have contributed and been keenly involved in the Hampton Alexander Review into female representation in corporate boardrooms and our percentage of female placements at FTSE350 board level (51%) exceeds the target set by his Steering Group for Women on Boards.