At Saffery we value diversity, foster inclusion and strive for equality. We want everyone to belong and thrive with us.
We value diverse abilities, backgrounds, life experiences and identities, and building on our positive work culture, we recognise that diversity, inclusion and equality are key to us being a responsible business, putting our people first and providing outstanding client service.
We know it’s right for us, from a moral and social justice perspective as a responsible business, to value diversity, strengthen a culture of inclusion and strive for equality. We also know that to put our people first and care passionately about them, we need to care for everyone in all their diversity and in inclusive and equitable ways that results in equal opportunity for all.
Our ED&I Strategy, Everyone Belongs, is evidence driven and sets our direction and ambitions for the coming three years.
Across three pillars: Diversity, Inclusion and Governance, our overarching aims are to:
- Increase diversity at senior and entry level
- Strengthen a culture of inclusion, led from the top
- Establish robust governance of ED&I
To achieve these aims, we will implement strategic objectives and drive key initiatives, such as:
- Support our leaders to become inclusive leaders, through learning programmes and engagement with a diversity of lived experiences.
- Invest in our People Networks as hubs of mutual support, and valued advisors to our ED&I and business-wide ambitions.
- Strengthen staff and partners knowledge and understanding of what matters to their colleagues, from cultural and religious celebrations to challenges faced by a diverse range of people.
- Refresh our mentoring scheme and introduce reverse mentoring for learning exchanges between senior leaders and employees across the business.
- Remove any barriers faced by underrepresented groups when accessing professional development opportunities.
- Retain our positive gender balance across the business and increase female representation in the partnership from 37% to 40%, to align with FTSE Women in Leadership Review.
- Improve ethnic minority representation and work towards 37% representation from low and intermediate socio-economic backgrounds.
- Build and harness diversity and inclusion data to support key business functions.
Proud of our ED&I achievements to date
Though we recognise we have work to do, we are building on a positive work culture and existing achievements:
- Within the partnership, female representation is 37%, which is significantly better than the sector average.
- We have 50/50 gender balance at Director and Senior Manager level, with men occupying a marginal majority of roles across business support services that have traditionally been occupied by women.
- Positive results from our Staff Engagement Surveys last year indicate people feel included at Saffery.
- We have six People Networks across the business (Women, Race and Ethnicity, Social Mobility, LGBTQ+, Diverse Abilities, Faith) to support underrepresented groups and influence the ED&I agenda.
- We have been named as one of Britain’s Top Employers for 20 consecutive years.
Partnerships
To take our strategy forward we will draw on existing partnerships with Access Accountancy and Top Employers, and become signatories to further benchmarking organisations to support us in our commitments to gender, race and socio-economic equality.
Gender pay gap report
Reducing our gender pay gap is one key element of improving equality across the firm, at every level.
Our 2021 gender pay gap report reveals that our firm has a mean gender pay gap of 1.0% and a mean gender bonus gap of 4.3%. These figures relate to data as at 5 April 2021.
Read the Gender Pay Report 2021.
We are delighted to share a mainly consistent downward trend in our figures over the last five years. An increase in the appointment of women to more senior roles, along with our flexible working policies and culture, which benefit everyone, are key factors that have contributed to this positive trend.
Going forward, we will continue to change and improve the experience of women in all their diversity at Saffery Champness through our equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. For example, by introducing ethnicity pay gap reporting to understand if women from minority ethnic groups are facing lower average pay; ensuring our policies support all parents and carers so that male colleagues are equally expected and supported to take time off work for caring responsibilities; and by listening to our people networks, so that they inform our way forward towards true equality for women at Saffery Champness.
Read the Gender Pay Gap report for 2020.
Read the Gender Pay Gap report for 2019.
Read the Gender Pay Gap report for 2018.
Read the Gender Pay Gap report for 2017.
