Our Gender Balance Affinity Group works to make sure we have gender balance in everything we do that impacts our workforce. Their work is in line with our overall vision for gender equality, and is at the heart of how we make sure that everyone feels able to thrive at work, whatever their background, identity or circumstance.
The Gender Balance Affinity Group helps us to do this by providing:
- A guiding light for the business as we commit to having a culture of support, safety and acceptance regardless of gender identity.
- Help with identifying where we need to improve, when structural and cultural changes are impacting on that commitment.
- Support for our business as we develop and implement a gender balance framework. Through mentoring and career development, data analysis and support groups, this framework ensures that everyone is treated according to their needs.
- Support and collaboration with our other affinity groups so that we make sure we always consider any other individual characteristics that overlap with gender.
The Affinity Group’s priorities
To achieve their purpose, the Affinity Group focus on four key objectives. These are:
- Gender data: Understanding what gender data we currently have, looking trends and gaps across areas such as leadership, specialism or pay, and suggesting targeted actions.
- Equal opportunity: Creating a workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity, regardless of gender. Looking at everything from HR policies to our recruitment process.
- Culture and awareness: Creating a community here that has a culture of support, safety and acceptance, regardless of gender. Providing training and awareness, Vanquis Banking Group Peer Circles for support and discussion, and supporting our broader Inclusion and Diversity agenda. A culture where there is no place for misogynistic and misandrist behaviours.
- Communication: Making sure we have clear, consistent and timely communications around gender balance, by creating comms plans and sharing the latest news and content in this area. This might be celebrating national gender-based holidays, or simply supporting other inclusion groups at key points through the year.
SWITCH'D: Supporting Women in Tech, Change and Data
Colleagues from Technology and Change, and Data, including those in our Gender Balance Affinity Group, have pulled together as a team called SWITCH'D - Supporting Women in Tech, Change and Data - the new name for the Women in Tech and Women in Data initiatives.
From the moment an advert is published for a role in Technology and Change, or Data, right through to colleagues' progression within Vanquis Banking Group, the main goal of the SWITCH'D initiative is to attract a diverse pool of talented candidates, making sure that those who are shortlisted are representative of just that - a diverse mix of people who go on to be interviewed by a diverse panel.
Remaining connected to our Group-wide inclusion and diversity agenda and to support our 40 per cent target of women in Level 14 and above roles by the end of 2026, it's vital that we create a balanced pipeline of talent for progression ready for when new senior roles open up.
Improving Gender Balance Across the Group
The Gender Balance Affinity Group’s efforts are also part of a broader programme of work that focuses on improving gender diversity across the Banking Group. In 2019 we signed up to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter, and challenged ourselves to have 40% female representation in the Group’s senior management population by December 2026. Read more here
Gender pay gap reporting update
We regularly use our Corporate Responsibility reports to disclose our gender pay gap reporting figures, covering all colleagues that are employed across the Banking Group.
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