Inclusion without exception
We've worked hard to put inclusion at the heart of everything we do and to make sure we eliminate barriers for our colleagues with a disability, those experiencing mental ill health and those who are not neuro-typical. We recognise that one size does not fit all and our colleagues will have different experiences and requirements.
We support our colleagues by providing a safe working environment, appropriate equipment and the adjustments they need to thrive at work. We also aim to provide accessible products and services for our customers and ensure our recruitment practices are flexible and responsive to cater to a diverse range of needs. We have been awarded Disability Confident Leader status and continue to work hard to maintain this status and create a truly inclusive workplace.
"Our Purpose requires us to be bold and take action, so I’m delighted that after lots of hard work over the past few years we’ve been awarded Disability Confident Leader status across our organisation. It demonstrates our commitment to provide an inclusive environment for all colleagues, including colleagues with disabilities and long-term health conditions"
James Peirson, General Counsel & Purpose Officer
Our action plan
We're committed to creating a culture that celebrates people of all abilities and empowers colleagues with a disability, those experiencing mental ill health and those who are not neuro-typical to be able to fulfil their potential. We've embedded this commitment within our recruitment model in order to make sure we can support future colleagues in their career with us from the get go.
We recognise that every individual is different, and even those with the same disability or similar additional needs may have very different experiences and requirements so there can be no one size fits all approach to adjustments. For candidates applying for a role with us, we are committed in ensuring fairness and accessibility during the recruitment journey and the flexibility in our recruitment model enables us to cater to individual needs.
We promise to offer a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job an interview
We want to highlight the strengths of our applicants. For applicants who have declared a disability, a mental health condition or that they are neurodivergent, we promise to work with them to find alternative approaches to apply in a way that suits them.
We're keen to learn and to keep getting better. To this end we include a candidate survey in our recruitment process where we ask people to anonymously share information on aspects of their identity and their experience of interacting with us to help us better understand who is applying for our roles and how they would rate their experience with us. This is also to identify any gaps in our application pool in terms of representation, as well as any barriers to fair and equitable outcomes for candidates.
We’ll develop unique programmes to support the career development of our colleagues with a disability. This includes a People Leader guide to help support career aspiration conversations and our career sponsorship programme which is designed to empower colleagues with a disability to excel in their career.
Our Vision for Virgin Money is to provide a safe, healthy and nurturing environment where colleagues are inspired to manage their personal wellbeing. The aim is to educate, inspire and facilitate good mental and physical wellbeing at work while supporting colleagues to fulfil their personal and family responsibilities. Our colleagues have access to a broad range of support under our four wellbeing pillars: mind, body, social connection and finance.
We're making a commitment to supporting our colleagues who have caring responsibilities through our policies and working practices and ensuring they can access support to help them balance their work and caring responsibilities. Our Employee Assistance Programme gives our colleagues access to professional advice, support and coaching on a wide range of personal and work-related problems. Our Enable Network group and Carers Corner Teams channel are some of the ways we’ve established a peer-support community for parents who are carers for children who are neurodivergent, have additional needs or disabilities.
We support our colleagues returning to work following a period of leave. Our Welcome Back Programme welcomes our colleagues into a community of peer support with specialist guidance to aid the transition back into work. Modules cover practical updates as well as techniques to boost confidence and resilience.
At Virgin Money we believe in a truly inclusive and accessible environment for everyone, where our colleagues feel empowered and enabled to live a happy and fulfilling work life. A Tailored Work plan is available for our colleagues to make us aware of any adjustments that could improve their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.
We are delighted to participate in the 10,000 Black and Able Interns programme. This provides paid internships for Black students and graduates through the 10,000 Black Interns programme, and paid internships for disabled students and graduates of all ethnicities through the 10000 Able Interns programme.
Enable
Our colleague network group Enable gives a voice to colleagues and customers impacted by disability, mental or physical illness, caring responsibilities and neurodivergence. They are here to enable and empower our community, and help colleagues thrive. By providing a platform for colleagues to share their lived experiences, promoting career opportunities and educating others they play a key role in creating a workplace accessible to all. By understanding diverse needs, constraints, behaviours and emotions we are able to work together to solve problems and inspire new ideas and designs.
This in turn has led us to adopt a more human-centred design approach to our products and services which better places us to solve real-world problems for people.
A life more Virgin
While we’re delighted to have been recognised as Leaders in the Disability Confident programme – a visible commitment from us, not just about making pledges but taking action to be the best we can be – there is more we can do and we are committed to keep making progress in this space. Through a Life More Virgin (our flexible approach to how we work) we are able to offer colleagues flexibility and empowerment to work in a way that enables them to be at their best.