After signing up to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter last year, we are now thrilled to announce that we have been officially included in the updated list of signatories, published today.
As a mutual, we are committed to our values which focus on members and our staff. One of our core principles is that “we are committed to creating an environment in which our staff feel valued and motivated to achieve the best possible member outcomes.” Treating our staff fairly and promoting a culture based on equality are essential to this.
Late last year, we shared that we had signed up to the Women in Finance Charter, an initiative launched by HM Treasury in collaboration with New Financial, in order to “build a more balanced and fair industry”. All signatories are required to make a pledge to take real action against gender inequality, which involves:
- Having one dedicated member of our senior executive team who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion
- Setting targets for gender diversity in our senior management team
- Annually publishing reports which document progress against these targets on our website
- Having a real intention to ensure that the pay of the senior executive team is linked to delivery against these internal targets on gender diversity
The third Annual Review of the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter took place earlier today, with an online event to mark the publication of the updated list of signatories on gov.uk. The event included progress updates on various signatories’ pledges, sharing of best practice regarding the principles of the Charter and also celebrations of successes.
There were also a number of speakers from HM Treasury, New Financial and other notable organisations such as the Bank of England and Virgin Money.
Our Culture Director Nasrin Hossain, who attended the virtual event, said:
“Being part of the Women in Finance Charter is a proud moment for Shepherds Friendly. We work extremely hard to ensure our company culture is as inclusive and fair as possible. With a female CEO and a female Chairman leading our business, we’re already setting a strong example for the industry when it comes to gender diversity. Being a signatory of the Charter is yet another step forward for the Society in terms of equality.
I really enjoyed attending the annual review event; the speakers shared some interesting insights and the overall tone was one of positivity, empowerment and celebration. Now, we’ve just got to continue working towards meeting all of our pledge commitments!”
