Bank of Ireland accredited as an Investing in Ethnicity Employer
- In 2023, 14% of external hires belonged to an ethnic minority which will speed progress in ensuring the Bank as a whole is more fully reflective of the broader population
- Up to 6% of Bank colleagues are from an ethnic minority, slightly behind the national figure
- “We value diversity in our business for a number of very clear reasons. At its core, this is not just the right thing to do. It is also the commercially sensible thing to do.”
Bank of Ireland has been accredited as an Investing in Ethnicity Employer in recognition of its progress in developing an inclusive and ethnically diverse workforce that is reflective of the population.
The accreditation was made by Investing in Ethnicity, an organisation established to encourage greater ethnic diversity in the workplace. To achieve this accreditation Bank of Ireland has implemented a number of recommendations made by the organisation, and is taking a range of other steps including monitoring ethnicity at all stages of recruitment, creating dedicated talent programs for career pathways, and providing unconscious bias training for all hiring managers.
Latest Census data indicates that approximately 7% of the Irish population are from an ethnic minority. The Bank’s voluntary data collection (i.e. colleagues may choose to opt in or out of this question when providing personal data) indicates that 6% of colleagues are from an ethnic minority. This year 14% of external hires to the Bank – equal to 148 roles – have self-declared as being from an ethnic minority. This will speed progress in the Group being more fully reflective of the broader population.
Deirdre Gavin, Head of Inclusion & Diversity at Bank of Ireland, said: “We value diversity in our business for a number of very clear reasons. At its core, this is not just the right thing to do. It is also the commercially sensible thing to do.
“We know we need people of different backgrounds and experiences bringing their diverse talents and perspectives to our company. The same goes for Ireland. Diversity is in the spotlight now, and it’s important we acknowledge how vital it is to the future development of our economy and society.”
Sarah Garrett MBE, CEO/Founder Investing in Ethnicity, said: “We’d like to congratulate Bank of Ireland for their accreditation as an Investing in Ethnicity Employer. It’s great to see the organisation investing in ensuring equity for under-represented ethnic groups, and we look forward to working closely together and building on the foundations made in 2024.”
Bank of Ireland has commissioned a significant study into ethnic minority hiring across financial services to better understand barriers to entry and understand the experience of colleagues from an ethnic minority background. The study will help to inform futures actions, and will be made public in 2024.
Bank of Ireland is committed to improving its approach to building an inclusive and diverse working environment in its broadest sense. In addition to progressing its ethnicity inclusive policies, it has a range of active colleague networks, programmes and policies in place to support continued improvement in relation to gender balance, LGBTQ+ inclusion, family and carers, accessibility, multiculturalism, and intergenerational issues.
ENDS
The accreditation was made by Investing in Ethnicity, an organisation established to encourage greater ethnic diversity in the workplace. Investing in Ethnicity has developed an Ethnicity Maturity Matrix which probes business practices across six key areas – Leadership and Commitment, Policy and Data, Culture and Inclusion, Employee Resource Groups, Employee Life Cycle, and External Impact.
Bank of Ireland’s Ethnicity Maturity Matrix highlighted the positive steps taken in ethnicity recruitment practices and detailed where further action was required including in the areas of sponsorship of colleagues, understanding the experiences of colleagues from an ethnic minority, and early career supports. Bank of Ireland has received a Level 1 Accreditation (of 4), with a detailed report to build an action plan to implement recommendations. The assessment covered critical areas such as Culture and Inclusion, Employee Life Cycle, External Impact, and Leadership and Commitment.
The Bank has introduced a series of measures to make further progress including developments to its talent programme to drive progression to management positions among ethnic minority colleagues.
To enable continued progress with its diversity and inclusion strategy, Bank of Ireland has introduced a range of initiatives in key areas including Education and Training, Policy Change, and Tracking and Measurement including:
- Development of a Recruitment Charter, monitoring ethnicity at all stages of recruitment
- Creation of talent programs for career pathways
- Diversity data and progress tracking HR systems
- Unconscious bias mandatory training for all hiring managers
- Inclusion & diversity training mandatory for all colleagues
- Creation of an active Colleague Multi-Cultural Network
- Introduction of an Ethnic Minority Talent Programme (RISE) designed for colleagues identifying as an ethnic minority to help equip them with the skills and knowledge to support progression into management positions. The programme will run for the second time in January 2024.
- Nationally representative research is in progress with an external partner to better identify and understand specific barriers to employment for ethnically diverse people.