Empowering our people: How Schroders' Employee Resource Groups foster support and growth (part 2)
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Our employee-led networks support our grassroots approach to building an inclusive culture. These Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) create spaces for networking, celebrating our differences, and raising awareness of challenges that underrepresented groups face.
In this series, we caught up with the Chairs of our ERGs to get a deeper insight into their objectives and achievements.
Schroders Black Professionals Network (SBPN) – Edwin Lamptey
Chair of SBPN, Edwin Lamptey
What is your objective/aim this year?
Our objective is to support career progression and recruitment initiatives that will address lack of representation of Black talent in our industry.
What have you achieved?
We contributed to the 2023 Speed Networking initiative which saw more than 35 ERG members make connections with individuals from in influential roles in the firm.
We have supported HR on various initiatives, including on recruitment and ethnicity pay gap reporting, and we contributed to the establishment of City Black ERGs, a network of Black ERGs, sub-ERGs and affinity networks serving more than 30 organisations.
We’ve also organised several events, including ‘Celebrating our Sisters’ with Professor Olivette Otele and partnered with Barrington-Hibbert Associates to launch a research paper looking at the £25bn gap as a result of overlooking Black talent in the UK financial services industry.
How does Schroders support your group?
All ERGs work closely with a fantastic HR team that includes amazing Inclusion & Diversity personnel; we confer with senior management including our CEO and Board. We also have great resources to enable what we do.
Schroders will make sure we do not feel alone when we need corporate support and solidarity. They help us address issues related to under representation of Black professionals across all levels of our organisation, where it is geographically relevant.
Parents & Carers Network – Rebecca Jennings
Rebecca Jennings, Chair of the Parents & Carers Network
What is your objective/aim this year?
Our objective is to signpost parents and carers to the support they may be unaware of, including benefits that Schroders provides, as well as help them feel supported no matter their background or circumstance.
How do you feel ERGs make a difference at Schroders?
ERGs allow us to raise awareness of underrepresented groups and help them feel more engaged, fostering an understanding between groups from diverse backgrounds.
Why is inclusion important to you?
Inclusion helps us grow and develop, it strengthens acceptance, camaraderie, and fairness across groups and helps members build lasting relationships.
Workability – Claudia Buffini
Chair of Workability, Claudia Buffini (right) with Louisa Kartey, Client Services Executive, at the Snowdon Trust reception
What is your objective/aim this year?
To build our accessibility portal to help people request equipment and software that can help them thrive.
What have you achieved?
We have strengthened the presence of our community by running several campaigns to enhance psychological safety and make people feel they can ask for the support they need. These include increasing visibility and awareness of accessibility functions and tools readily available, celebrating deaf role models at Schroders and learning why diverse abilities matter.
Why is inclusion important to you?
We want people to bring their whole selves to work and not feel the need to hide certain aspects of themselves. By forging an environment where we can celebrate our differences, we create a culture that allows teams to collaborate and innovate successfully.
Related news:
- Empowering our people: How Schroders' Employee Resource Groups foster support and growth (part 1)
- Black History Month UK: Spotlight on our Sisters
- Breaking down barriers to work: How we're supporting students with disabilities alongside the Snowdon Trust
- Growing up as a young carer: Navigating the path of responsibility and resilience
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