SPP: Inclusive futures?

Amidst a retreat in many quarters from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments, evidence suggests that the UK pensions industry has stayed the course.

Over the last few months, the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) has gathered the thoughts and experiences of its members and external experts into a compendium of publicly available articles on DEI titled Inclusive Futures. Our hope is to raise further awareness and understanding of the continued importance of DEI both in the pensions industry and in the wider corporate landscape.

On neurodiversity, Donaldson Trust chief executive Lynn Wassell has focussed on the practical steps that employers can take to support neurodivergent individuals, from inclusive workplace design to inclusive hiring practices.

Many of these steps, like prioritising plain and direct communication, provide clear and immediate benefits for the entire workforce and for driving client engagement, and Niraj Shah's article highlights the importance of this proactive support to ensuring that neurodivergent individuals are able to thrive in a workplace which actively supports them.

On a similar theme, Social Mobility Foundation chief executive Sarah Atkinson and the SPP's Ian McQuade address the connection between the importance of breaking down barriers to social mobility and promoting economic and personal growth, and how targeted, data-backed steps can help employers remove socioeconomic barriers in their workforce. This broadening of the talent pool not only helps businesses unearth new perspectives to support client need but could also add billions to the UK's annual GDP according to recent studies.

It is clear from the articles of the SPP's Charlotte Feld and Disability Rights Foundation's Kamran Mallick that far too many disabled people remain shut out from the workplace or face systematic barriers to staying in and progressing within their careers.

Firms which are taking positive and practical steps to dismantle these barriers benefit from innovative and hard-working employees who thrive when they are given the right support. With over 16 million disabled people in the UK, increasing workplace accessibility means that the industry better reflects the society that it serves.

While mandatory ethnic pay gap reporting is driving change across the industry, Jabeer Butt OBE, CEO of the Race Equality Foundation has set out the importance of expanding this to mid-sized UK employers to drive more inclusive practices. Even for employers where such reporting is mandatory, improvements are needed to ensure that these reports are producing useful and actionable data to help uncover structural employment inequalities. The ultimate goal is fostering a workplace culture where everyone's perspectives are valued, and SPP's Shayala McRae has shared her positive experiences of working at various employers who prioritise this (all of whom, coincidentally, are SPP members!), demonstrating the connection between inclusion and better outcomes for both staff and pension scheme members.

As the UN Women UK's Tabitha Morton and SPP President Sophia Singleton explain in their articles, gender inequalities are an economic opportunity. Flexible working, transparent pay, and tailored support for those returning from career breaks are creating paths to leadership to combat gender disparities which directly result in pay and pension inequalities, helping to create the right environment for everyone to succeed.

Although, as Stonewall CEO Simon Blake discusses, overall progress in LGBTQ+ representation in the UK today sits alongside a continued "clear picture of inequality", the pensions industry has nevertheless made strides in its inclusion efforts. SPP member Savannah Adeniyan's experiences show that more and more LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly young professionals, feel able to bring their whole selves to work. However, as with other areas, more still needs to be done on LGBTQ+ equality, particularly in the workplace where an estimated 30% of LGBTQ+ people feel unable to be out at work, and there is still far too little focus on older LGBTQ+ people, particularly on their pension and financial outcomes.

All these articles draw a clear line between inclusion and industry strength, while not shying away from how much still needs to be done, both for those joining and working within the pensions industry and for the millions of people who rely on it – many of whom still face significant pension savings gaps. I hope that this work inspires positive change across the industry and beyond.

Daniel Gerring is chair of the Society of Pension Professionals' EDI group

Read the SPP publication 'Inclusive Futures' here