Lloyds Banking Group
Case study
Lloyds Banking Group is widely recognized and celebrated for its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). With ambitious public commitments to gender equity, in particular, the team turned to WORK180 for its expert support and seal of approval among job-seeking women.
Industry: Banking and Finance
Size: 65,000 employees
“The WORK180 mission really stood out to us: To raise organizational standards so that all women can choose workplaces where they can thrive. That really aligns with our values.”
Kate Llewellyn
Inclusion Manager at Lloyds Banking Group
The problem
Over the last decade, Lloyds Banking Group has been a regular winner of awards and accolades like The Times Top 50 Employers for Women, Outstanding Employer at the Investing in Ethnicity Awards, and Top 10 Employers for Working Families. The company has also achieved the Business Disability Forum’s Gold Standard Benchmark as a leading employer of people with disabilities, and its LGBT+ leaders have been recognized in the OUTstanding business list.
This recognition is not the result of a problem-free employer. Conversely, it’s the result of a company that recognizes and is committed to addressing an all too common issue in the financial sector: the underrepresentation of women. In fact, Lloyds was the first FTSE 100 organization to make a public commitment to gender equality. However, there are key systemic barriers to achieving such goals. Kate Llewellyn, Inclusion Manager at Lloyds Banking Group, explains:
“A major area of growth for Lloyds Banking Group is in the tech, digital, and cyber security space. In the UK, the percentage of women in tech is lower than 20%. When you bring that down to cyber security, cloud security, Microsoft Azure — and when you add in levels of seniority within those spaces — we’re seeing numbers as low as 1.6%.”
It’s a complex problem that Kate, her team, and Lloyds Banking Group’s leadership team know won’t be achieved through “tokenism” or “tick-box training”. Instead, they’re committed to a multifaceted long-term strategy, which WORK180 has played an important part in since 2020.
“We’re a massive employer in the UK and so recruitment is very much part of our BAU. We’re always looking for long-term partnerships that will support our diversity, equity, and inclusion aims. WORK180 really stood out because of its strong focus on gender equity, and its mission: To raise organizational standards so that all women can choose workplaces where they can thrive. That really aligns with our values.”
Why Lloyds Banking Group chose WORK180
WORK180 sets a minimum criteria that must be met by any organization seeking its support and recognition as a great workplace for women. That’s not because employers must be perfect before being endorsed by WORK180, but they do need to demonstrate a clear commitment to progress. Lloyds not only met this criteria, but was attracted to WORK180 specifically because of this focus on standards. As Kate said: “We’ve been working on gender diversity for many years and it’s just great to be working with somebody that aligns with our thinking and supports us moving forward.”
Along with the awards and accolades Lloyds Banking Group had already achieved, the WORK180 endorsement acts as a clear sign that the company is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, WORK180 goes beyond the badge and offers a range of expertise, tools, and platforms to actively support employers’ gender equity efforts. We asked Kate which specific WORK180 offerings her team values the most.
“We really value the variety you offer us and the content you create is brilliant. You offer us employee stories, social media presence, and we can get involved in a range of campaigns and events. Our recruiters are able to use the jobs board, which really helps get our vacancies out there to a diverse candidate pool. You make our lives really easy.”
WORK180 campaigns
Lloyds regularly features in WORK180 campaigns, which focus on the wide range and intersecting issues impacting women in the workplace. They celebrate employers making a difference, challenge others to do more, and create productive conversations that result in real change. In Kate’s words, “the campaigns help us show the wide range of ways we prove our commitment to improving diversity at Lloyds Banking Group. This has a knock-on effect, improving people’s trust that we’re doing the right things, in the right way.”
Most recently, Lloyds participated in the Women In STEMM campaign. This saw the organization collaborate on and feature in a range of content, including articles that highlight the company’s initiatives for supporting women in STEMM
Employee stories
The expert storytellers at WORK180 create engaging content that brings to life the positive impact Endorsed Employers’ benefits and policies are having on their workforce. For example, Jasmine Kohli shared her experience being part of Lloyds Banking Group Returners Programme — a life-changing scheme designed to break down the barriers many women face after taking a career break.
“After a three-year career break, I was anxious about returning to the banking sector. The Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) Returners Program was the first opportunity that acknowledged my anxieties and supported my journey back into doing something I loved.”
Independent research and WORK180’s experience have proven that such storytelling is significantly more influential than simply sharing statistics, such as attrition rates or employee engagement scores. And, like many of the busy teams we work with, Lloyds Banking Group appreciates the convenience of WORK180’s content creation process: “It’s great that WORK180 is so in tune with our need to share our employees’ stories. All we have to do is connect our colleagues with the WORK180 storytellers and we receive some great content that really brings to life how supportive Lloyds Banking Group is as an employer.”
The WORK180 jobs platform
Women around the world trust WORK180 to help them choose workplaces where they can thrive. That’s because our transparent job platform only features employers we have endorsed as a great workplace for women. It also allows users to see the opportunities, benefits, and policies these organizations have to offer.
Lloyds Banking Group’s recruitment team use the job platform to get their vacancies in front of a diverse pool of candidates, highlight their offering, and raise employer brand awareness overall: “We’ve been recognized for having really great policies for many many years now, so having WORK180 amplify that is a massive benefit.”
“The barrier to gender equity in the workplace that is impacting me right now is the lack of transparency around employer’s maternity leave entitlements when applying for roles, particularly minimum service periods before being eligible for entitlements. We shouldn’t have to choose between family planning and a new job.”
*statistic and quote from the WORK180 What Women Want Report 2021.
%
of women find a lack of transparency around benefits, policies, and culture the most frustrating part of applying for a new role
WORK180 Events
Events such as WORK180’s recent Women in Tech Careers fair offer employers the opportunity to talk directly to a targeted candidate pool. Beyond promoting what they already offer, employers are also able to gain first-hand insights into exactly what these sought-after women want.
At the most recent UK Careers Fair, Lloyds Banking Group had one of the largest numbers of attendees at their virtual stand. Kate described this as a “big win” for the company in terms of raising brand awareness:
“We were able to do a really great talk showcasing some talented colleagues from the organization. Our recruiters also got to talk to a wide range of women about the different opportunities and roles we have.”
“WORK180 has really slotted in with our overall strategy towards gender diversity. The team creates content that showcases a lot of our talented colleagues and there are lots of events to get involved in, which we really appreciate.”
Achieving gender equity, together
Kate and her team are acutely aware that gender equity “won’t be achieved overnight”, especially given the persistently low numbers of women entering the world of STEMM. However, the progress Lloyds Banking Group has made so far is proof that commitment pays off; from 2014 to 2020, the company increased the number of women in senior management positions from 28% to 37%. With an even bigger target of 50% now in place, and with WORK180 by their side, Kate and her team hope to create a culture shift far beyond their own organization:
“With WORK180, we’re able to change people’s perceptions of what’s possible for women in the financial service industry, and hopefully inspire other organizations to come along the way. For example, the stories shared by some of our employees prove that it’s possible to enjoy a successful career without being in the office 9-5.”
“Through WORK180, we’ve been able to demonstrate that, actually, there’s a huge amount of flexibility when working for Lloyds Banking Group. This flexibility helps our team thrive and fosters a diverse and inclusive workforce that, ultimately, means we’re better able to understand and, therefore, serve our customers.”
“It’s not as easy as saying: we’re going to aim for 50/50 men and women. We’re not just going to promote and recruit women for the sake of it and we certainly don’t advocate tokenism. What we’re doing is creating a culture shift.”
Looking to the future
Most HR professionals know that the results of DEI and employer branding initiatives take time to pay off. However, many are still faced with demands from finance and leadership to display hard numbers and return on investment (ROI) almost instantly. Fortunately for Kate and her team, this isn’t the case for Lloyds Banking Group. Kate made it clear that the leadership team considers DEI a company-wide priority and that they support a long-term approach to attracting, nurturing, and retaining women within the organization.
When asked what role WORK180 will play in this long-term strategy, Kate said:
“You’re not here to increase gender representation by X percent. You’re part of a really strong plan that we’ve developed in order to improve our gender representation across Lloyds Banking Group.”
Keen to change the working world on a wider scale, Kate also shared words of encouragement to any organization considering being endorsed by WORK180. She gave the following experience and advice:
“The WORK180 team is so supportive and it’s nice to be working with a team that aligns with our thinking and supports us moving forward. The endorsement really helps us build brand awareness among diverse talent pools, but it’s not just a sticker or a badge. To become an Endorsed Employer, you need to be serious about creating a work culture where all women can thrive.”