Diversity & Inclusion
Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our success and are embedded into our business-as-usual processes. Virtually every decision we make has a connection to diversity and inclusion.
From day one we have cultivated an inclusive culture. This culture allows our employees to be themselves at work, to contribute and feel empowered to provide challenge, raise concerns and perform at their best. Indeed, one of our core values is Authenticity. By fostering this culture of psychological safety, we can unlock the benefits of diversity of thought and allow it to flourish in practice.
There are two primary reasons why diversity and inclusion are important to us:
It helps us grow as individuals. Being open to different viewpoints and different solutions, expands our horizons, broadens our knowledge, and helps us guard against groupthink.
It makes business sense. We operate in a competitive market. A large number of providers offer similar products and services. We need new ideas, new ways of working, new products, we need people who challenge the way something is done – even though it has ‘always been done like that’.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of initiatives we subscribe to:
Women in Finance
The Women in Finance Charter is a pledge for gender balance across financial services. We recognise that a balanced workforce is good for business – it is good for customers, for profitability and workplace culture. Avyse Partners are proud signatories of the Charter and are happy to share our targets.
We have a target of at least 40% of employees and senior leadership being female. We are exceeding both targets. Women account for 50% of our senior leadership and 52% of employees.
Race at Work
The Race at Work Charter commits firms like ours to accelerate change for Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse employees in the workplace. Avyse Partners are committed to tackling barriers that ethnic minority people face in recruitment and progression. Additionally we want Avyse Partners to be representative of communities, customers and British society today.
We have a target for BAME employees to make up at least 20% of the workforce, and the senior leadership team to have at least one BAME member. We are currently meeting the former benchmark and are working towards (in the shape of career development) achieving the second metric.
Socio Economic TaskForce
We subscribe to the principles of the Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce and are firmly of the opinion that “there is equity of progression – where high performance is valued over ‘fit and polish’”. At Avyse factors such as parental occupation, or which school you went to are irrelevant. We assess employees based on who they are and the value they add.