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staff
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- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Disability
- Age
- Commission Race for Opportunity to undertake an independent review of all programmes and initiatives relating to the recruitment and retention of ethnic minorities. TARGET ACHIEVED
- Establish an Ethnic Minorities Employment Steering Group with senior management representation from across the bank, chaired by an Executive Director. TARGET ACHIEVED
- Complete the distribution of Personal Information forms to all staff to ensure all personal details are accurate. TARGET ACHIEVED
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performance
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Disability
Gender
Ethnicity
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- Brackets show total number of staff within each 'organisational level'
(Excludes staff on maternity leave or career break and all staff on relief
contracts)
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Age
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Up to 35 Years |
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36 to 45 years |
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46 years plus |
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commentary
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Employment policies The bank's equal opportunities, dignity
at work and work/life balance policies are detailed on its
website.i
Gender The majority of the bank's staff are women (62%). In
2002, the number of female managers continued to increase,
particularly within the 'Delivering Business Plans' level. During
2002, the bank introduced 'Growing Performance and
Potential' to support the development of future leaders from
within the 'Delivering Business Plans' level (Follow this link for the Staff page). 35% of
staff identified as having the potential to develop into roles in
'Translating the Strategy' are female (cf. 29% eligible staff). In
future years, this programme should lead to an increase in the
proportion of female staff at this senior level. During 2002, a
'Women in Management' Steering Group was established in
the bank's Corporate and Business Banking Division. This
group aims to tackle issues of career progression, which may
particularly affect women working in this area of the bank.
44% of the general workforce are women (Labour Force
Survey, Autumn 2002). The bank has been benchmarked by
Opportunity Now ii and has been rated as Gold standard in their
2002/03 survey (which is in line with the financial services
sector average).
Ethnic minorities The number of staff who consider
themselves to be from an ethnic minority has increased from
2.5% to 3.5% during 2002. The majority of the improvement in
ethnic minority representation is considered to result from the
hard work undertaken across much of the bank in recent
years. However, a proportion of the increase may also be
attributable to the distribution of Personal Information forms,
which enabled all staff to update their records in accordance
with the ethnic categories in the 2001 Census. Monitoring in
accordance with these new categories is recommended by the
Commission for Racial Equality iii. For the first time this year, the
bank reports on the percentage of ethnic minority staff within
each organisational level. Ethnic minority staff are
disproportionately represented in 'Implementing Activities'.
This may be due to the fact that ethnic minority staff are
generally younger. 70% of ethnic minority staff are under 35
compared with 48% of all staff. Some areas of the bank
continue to be more representative of the local community. For
example, 13% of staff within the bank's Treasury department
and 8.2% of staff within smile are from an ethnic minority.
During 2002, the bank has introduced two new initiatives to
improve workforce representation.
- 'Project Equal'. Funded by the European Union, this
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council initiative aims to
examine and overcome the barriers that 'marginalised'
groups may encounter in entering the workforce. The bank
and smile are benefiting from the services of a dedicated
Senior Employment Officer focusing on ethnicity. The project
involves a full review of the bank's recruitment, selection,
induction and employment procedures, practices and
policies. It aims to understand why the bank has found it
difficult to increase the number of staff from ethnic
minorities. Through contacts with local black and minority
ethnic groups and by exploring any perceived barriers to
employment, the project aims to raise the profile of the bank
and smile and to attract more applications from ethnic
minority populations. All recommendations made by 'Equal'
will be evaluated by Race for Opportunity iv to ensure actions
are in line with a best practice.
- Ethnic Minorities Employment Steering Group. Chaired by
an Executive Director, and with senior management
representation from the bank and smile, this Group first met
in July 2002. The initial meeting consisted of a review from
Race for Opportunity, which sought to challenge current
performance and planned initiatives. During 2002, members
participated in 'cultural and religious awareness' training to
help them fulfil their roles and responsibilities. Members are
also drawn from the Co-operative Group and CIS to ensure
that best practice is widely shared.
6.8% of the national economically active population are
from ethnic minorities (Labour Force Survey, Spring 2002).
Disability The number of staff informing the bank of a
disability has increased from 36 to 48. This can be attributed
to current staff declaring disabilities for the first time in
response to the circulation of Personal Information forms. All
staff were requested to update their records and to declare any
disabilities. The bank is a member of the Employers' Forum on
Disability v, which provides advice and guidance on the
employment of people with disabilities. As
a holder of the 'Positive about Disabled
People' symbol, the bank has agreed to
meet five commitments regarding the
recruitment, employment, retention and
career development of disabled people.
The bank recognises its responsibility for making 'reasonable
adjustments' for new staff with disabilities and for those
individuals who develop disabilities whilst in employment. To
facilitate retention of staff, 69 new 'reasonable adjustments' for
45 people were undertaken during 2002. The vast majority of
adjustments are for staff who have developed a requirement
for the adjustment whilst working for the bank. Adjustments
included changes to equipment and to working patterns. The
bank seeks advice from a range of specialist organisations to
help accomplish 'reasonable adjustments'. For example,
during 2002, advice was sought from AbilityNet vi (IT
equipment), Posturite vii (musculoskeletal disorders),
Plantronics viii (digital headsets) and Maltron Keyboards ix
(specialist keyboards). For more details on the bank's
approach to disability follow this link for the Customer section and follow this link for the Community section.
Age The bank currently has a compulsory retirement age of 60
for both men and women. During 2002, the bank piloted a
flexible retirement policy, which, with mutual consent, enables
staff who wish to remain in employment to continue beyond
60. The pilot is being evaluated and, if appropriate, will be
launched throughout the bank in 2003. The bank continues to
work with the Employers' Forum on Age x, a national campaign
that promotes age diversity. The bank's age profile has
remained constant during 2002. Labour Force Survey
statistics show a continuing slight decrease in the under 35
workforce (from 39% in 2001 to 38.5% in 2002 - Labour Force
Survey, Autumn 2001 and Autumn 2002).
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- www.co-operativebank.co.uk/the bank/people.html
- www.opportunitynow.org.uk
- www.cre.gov.uk/gdpract/em_cat.html
- www.raceforopportunity.org.uk
- www.efd.org.uk
- www.abilitynet.org.uk
- www.posturite.co.uk
- www.plantronics.co.uk
- www.maltron.co.uk
- www.efa.org.uk
To follow any of the links mentioned within the Partnership Report 2002, please visit the links page.
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new targets
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- Review the bank's existing Equal Opportunities policy and relaunch as a Diversity policy.
In partnership with CIS and JobCentre plus, launch a joint Work Preparation programme for people with disabilities within CIS, The Co-operative Bank and smile.
Jayne Beer, Partnership Manager/Alison Booth, Human Resources Development Manager
- Further develop the flexible retirement policy and, if appropriate, introduce the policy bankwide.
Undertake an Equal Pay Review in partnership with staff and UNIFI.
Tony Britten, Director of Human Resources Services/Alison Booth, Human Resources Development Manager
- Develop new staff volunteering opportunities focusing on Diversity.
Isabel Ponte-Marino, Project Consultant
- Gain further insight into the reasons for the under-representation of women in managerial positions within Corporate and Business Banking.
Debbie Wheeler, Senior Manager, Corporate Treasury Sales
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