A diverse and inclusive workplace, full of the richness of different perspectives, creates better ways of working.
Our clients and colleagues benefit from a more rounded, informed culture, making us a more resilient and sustainable business.
Our approach is to make sure that we have policies which are fit for purpose, and then to concentrate hard on bringing them to life throughout the firm. This filters through at every level – we nurture a spirit of equality, fairness and respect and we challenge non-inclusive behaviour. We want everyone to reach their full potential, by being themselves whilst encouraging each other to achieve their goals with courage, determination and enthusiasm.
We work hard to ensure that difference is visibly valued and welcomed, and that our people understand there is so much to equity, diversity and inclusion and it's not about a set of paper policies. Everything from our award-winning apprenticeship scheme, our Investors in People Accreditation, our focus on health and wellbeing, to our #BeYourself campaign, underlines the importance of a visibly proactive and diverse and inclusive culture.
"With the support from our diversity, equity and inclusion networks as well as our Board, we pride ourselves on our open and inclusive culture where our differences are valued and celebrated. We continue to build on what we've achieved so far, working with our networks and our clients to drive positive change, not just in our firm, but across the legal profession."
Jessica Tresham, Partner and DEI Board Sponsor
By working together on a variety of activities, campaigns and initiatives both internally and externally, we have:
- Achieved our Gold Standard Investors in People status
- Awarded Women in Law Empowerment Forum UK 2021 Gold Standard
- Ranked 56th in the Stonewall's Top 100 Employers list
- Achieved the Gold Employer Award by the Stonewall Equality Index 2023 in recognition of our initiatives to foster an inclusive and safe workplaces for all of our people and where everyone feels empowered to be their real selves
- Made our Social Mobility Pledge
- Ranked as a Top 75 Employer in the Social Mobility Index 2023
- Maintained our DWP Disability Confident Employer status
- Became a member of the Business Disability Forum
- Saw an 88% completion rate for Count Me In, our self-declaration diversity questionnaire. The results help to inform our diversity, equity and inclusion strategies
- Launched gender neutral drafting policy
- Began offering a 24/7 flexible online library for our people to access wellbeing and resilience training.
- Launched gender pronouns and name pronunciation guides in email signatures
- Marked Neurodiversity Celebration Week for the first time in 2023 by supporting the ADHD Foundation's Umbrella Project.
Each year we publish our gender pay gap report (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022), and we're working hard to improve gender representation across the firm.
Diversity requires inclusivity – different types of people need to be involved in our decision-making and to feel safe to share views and contribute. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group, led by our Board Sponsor, works with our colleague networks to raise awareness across the business, contribute to policy development and foster a working environment based on mutual respect, inclusiveness and equal opportunities.
Through our Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage network (WBD REACH), LGBTQ+ (WBD Pride), Disability and Women's Career Development groups, there's always a safe and connected environment for our people and allies to share their experiences. We're in constant dialogue with our people about how we expand our networks to better support everybody.
Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion networks:
WBD Disability
WBD Pride
WBD Reach
WBD Thrive
Supporting everyone affected by disability or long term health conditions, through raising disability awareness and positively contributing to policy development to foster a working environment based on inclusiveness.
Supporting our LGBTQ+ people and open to allies, WBD Pride creates an environment where everyone feels able to bring their whole selves to work.
Reach stands for race, ethnicity and cultural heritage. The network is open to all colleagues and works to improve BAME representation, offer focused training and raise awareness.
WBD Thrive aims to support women across all levels and all areas of the business to achieve their potential at the firm. The panel achieves this through raising awareness of the issues, empowering everyone with the tools to support women and leading initiatives to drive change.
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