Our Approach to Diversity and Inclusion.

Our aim is to be enormously proud of our approach to diversity, inclusion and respect. Director, Catherine Kellaway explains what our approach looks like and the part it plays in the future of Goodman Masson.

Diversity and Inclusion has always been important at Goodman Masson. With the recent rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, as an organisation and as individuals, we’ve realised we need to do more. We need to be vocal, take action and stand up for what we believe in: power in diversity.

If we don’t, change will not happen.

We have spent the last few months researching, speaking to people, listening and putting a detailed programme of change together.

We started with reading Government reports like the McGregor-Smith Review, the Parker Review and EY’s Review of the Parker Review, whilst looking at companies who have best practice in place, and engaging all our team across Goodman Masson to get their view.

We have spoken to our clients. We are in the fortunate position to work with great clients such as Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and National Grid who have run market-leading initiatives and produced results. We’ve taken the time to ask their advice.

We recognise that we are on a journey and our approach is to be honest about where we are and what our starting point is.

Given we are tackling systematic challenges, we realise the importance and necessity of working in partnership, listening to experts in the field and being open to new ideas.

At the start of 2020, we launched our Diversity and Inclusion Team called BAHMAD (Become A Hero, Make A Difference), which is led by Kesi Walker, Deji Bola and Lauren Boyce. They are hugely passionate about influencing Diversity and Inclusion changes across Goodman Masson.

Kesi is a Senior Consultant at GM. 52% of the people Kesi has recruited across her market in the Investment Management sector have been women. An impressive piece of work in an area that is predominately male.

Deji is a Senior Consultant at GM, who introduced us to the Superman analogy. Why bring Clark Kent to work when you could bring your full self: Superman (or Woman!).

Lauren is our Internal Trainer at Goodman Masson. She lives and breathes diversity best practice and I love reading the information she shares on a daily basis. Lauren has worked with our lawyers to understand where and how we can be proactive in our approach to sourcing underrepresented talent.

Last week they launched 3 networks internally; ORIGIN@GM, PRIDE@GM and BALANCE@GM. These networks are in place for employees, to share ideas, initiatives, learning and help educate and influence change.

PRIDE@GM is a network that is all about nurturing and accepting an environment for our LGBTQIA+ employees to succeed. We want to lead initiatives and provide support to ensure that everyone feels empowered to bring their full selves to work.

ORIGIN@GM is a network that is committed to supporting a race-inclusive culture and celebrating how our multicultural backgrounds make life and work more interesting. It aims to provide a safe space for employees to educate themselves on social issues around race, class and religion, and create a workplace where we can all celebrate our heritage together.

BALANCE@GM is a network that is committed to supporting gender equality, through encouraging our women to be positive ambassadors for the company. The main focus is on positive career support, increasing tenure for female employees, and creating more balanced gender representation across all levels of Goodman Masson.

Given the size of the challenge society faces (highlighted well by the fact there are more CEO’s in the FTSE 100 called Steve than there are female or BME CEOs!), we recognise that a huge collaborative, collective effort is needed to move forward, and we welcome the opportunity for people to get in touch with us.

Email networks@goodmanmasson, coordinated by Kesi, or get in touch with me on 0207 019 8855 or by email catherine.kellaway@goodmanmasson.com.

If you would also like to see our full Approach to Diversity document, which details what we are both doing internally and externally, then please feel free to request it on the contact details above.

The importance, influence and positivity of having a diverse and inclusive workforce isn’t debated. We pride ourselves on being a modern workplace, and this is simply not possible without ensuring we have a diverse group of people who are truly able to bring their true selves to work.