Is the business doing anything different to promote diversity and inclusion and create a more collaborative environment?

Hi I think this is very similiar to another question on here so I have provided the same information below:

Thanks for your question. We have a clear purpose to help people secure a life of possibilities. That’s all people, from all different backgrounds, and DEI isn’t just a buzz word for us. We currently have ten colleague-led networks that cover a broad range of topics and perspectives, including Faith, Mental Health, Ethnicity, Gender, Armed Forces, Young Professionals, LGBTQ+, Carers, Working Environment, Disability and more. We recently published our first combined Gender and Ethnicity pay gap report and also published further stats on our website and in our candidate materials to show our progress so far.

" We employ more women (54%) than the financial services average (45%),
" The average age of a Phoenix colleague is 40
" 5% of colleagues identify as LGTBQ+ (vs UK population of 2.7%)
" As of February 2023, 39.5% of our senior leaders identified as women
" 9% of our colleagues are Black and minority ethnic

We were honoured to win Best Employer of the Year’ at the 2022 Financial Times Diversity in Finance’ awards. We also recently announced that we are the headline sponsor of Windrush75, which is a series of events across the UK to commemorate the contribution of the Windrush pioneers and those who followed.

We know that we have more work to do and there are so many more examples we can share! We recently signed up to the national Opening Doors’ campaign that aims to make two million jobs more inclusive by 2025. We’ve committed to three key actions to make our processes more inclusive, this includes Inclusive Leadership’ and Inclusive Hiring’ courses for our colleagues, collaborating with suppliers to promote inclusivity and continually evaluating our recruitment process.

We’re always looking for new ways to ensure we’re inclusive and accessible and there are many more examples that we can share about our internal and external work in this space. For more information you can check out our dedicated DEI page on the careers site: https://www.thephoenixgroup.com/sustainability/people-and-culture/diversity-and-inclusion

Hi, I just thought i would add to this thread on the second point raised around development in the finance function. Phoenix offers a broad range of development opportunities. Those that get the most out of this at Phoenix tend to be those with a more proactive nature and a willingness to engage with the multitude of programs available. At the base level the company offers training in many areas, be that through internal delivery on job specific tasks, building to broader knowledge development on what your team does, to the fundamentals of insurance and finance. The company also offers external training and development courses that can be requested in any area the employee things would be conducive to their development or role. We recently picked up a course on Macro and VBA work to support automation and bug fixing for existing worksheets in our department. These range from technical specifics as above, to accounting/actuarial chartered/certified studies to things like report writing, coaching, presentation skills etc... The world is definitely your oyster when it comes to building your skill set, it is very much a point of engaging with your management and realising your potential. The company also offers a mentoring scheme in which you can offer to be a mentor or request a mentor within the business. This can give you regular face time with a senior professional within the business, which i have found provides you with an objective ear to help you see the right path for you in the business and help you to take the right steps on that path to your goals.

Thank you both for the detailed explanation. I very much appreciate that.