Supporting diversity, equity, inclusion and wellbeing

Disability Confident

In April 2023 we joined the Business Disability Forum (BDF) as part of our goal to become a more disability inclusive organisation. BDF provides a wealth of resources, information and advice for managers, human resources and employee network chairs to ensure staff with disabilities or underlying conditions are supported at work.

Supporting our LGBTQ+ colleagues

Our commitment to our LGBTQ+ colleagues goes beyond support for Pride and LGBT+ history month . We encourage our people to be respectful of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

LGBT Great

LGBT Great is the LGBT+ membership community for the financial services industry. They support us in several ways, including with their valuable insights, visibility and outreach initiatives that empower Nest to thrive. The LGBT Great global member platform connects us with their global members and provides a safe space for LGBT+ people and allies to network and learn.

We’ve become a member to ensure that we create a fully inclusive and accepting culture and working environment for our candidates and colleagues, while celebrating the value LGBTQ+ people bring to Nest. LGBT Great provides access to training, events, resources, toolkits and additional networks, all of which will help us support our LGBTQ+ colleagues and ensure they can be their authentic selves at work.

Addressing race

We hold regular ‘Let’s talk about race' discussions with all staff as well as workshops with inidivudal teams to educate colleagues on the experiences of employees in the UK workforce and to encourage allyship. 

The race and social diversity working group also have regular meetings to agree on the actions needed to ensure that we continue to focus on racial equality at Nest. You can find our current and previous reports in our library.

We’ve also changed our job application process, anonymising CVs to mitigate against bias at the shortlist stage.

10,000 Interns programme 

We’ve signed up to the 10,000 Interns program, providing paid internships for talented Black students and graduates. We hope to unlock opportunities in an industry where people of colour are traditionally underrepresented.

Ethnicity pay gap report

We want pay and progression to be fair for all ethnic groups. One of the ways we can measure this is by identifying and investigating any differences in the average pay between different ethic groups at Nest. We voluntarily publish our ethnicity pay gap report every year, using our findings to develop action plans. You can find our current and previous reports in our library.

Championing diversity

We want everyone who works at Nest to be respected. That’s why we encourage people to stand up and be an ally, as well as fostering a working environment where people of all backgrounds feel included and valued.

We have seven working groups which are championed by our senior leaders, and they all play a critical role in helping us to achieve our ambitious targets. Our seven working groups are:
 
1.    Disability and Neurodiversity working group 
2.    Gender working group 
3.    Interfaith working group 
4.    LGBTQ+ working group 
5.    Mental health working group 
6.    Race and social diversity working group
7.    Social diversity working group

There are also two subgroups of our interfaith working groups which are our Christian and Muslim networks.

The Diversity Project

The Diversity Project is a cross-company initiative championing a more inclusive culture within the savings and investment professions. We’ve signed up to the Asset Owner Diversity Charter as part of our commitment to improve diversity, in all forms, across the investment industry. This involves working collaboratively with other companies and has provided us with an opportunity to get involved in programme initiatives and drive change through The Diversity Project steering committee.

Committing to the Living Wage

A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. That’s the premise behind the Living Wage Project. Not only are we Living Wage accredited, we push for the companies our members’ money is invested in to become Living Wage employers too.

London Living Wage

We’ve achieved the London Living Wage accreditation, meaning all employees working directly for us are paid above this rate. Any company who’s contracted to provide a service to us must also be committed to paying the Living Wage to all their staff.

Supporting social diversity

As a digital-first scheme, we know how important it is to close the digital divide. To help digitally excluded people and the planet at the same time, Nest donated 342 laptops to Good Things Foundation’s National Device Bank. We also partnered with The Switch to support students and young people to improve social mobility. The Switch connects organisations with schools to introduce young people to the world of work, helping them to fulfil their potential by aspiring to life-changing careers. Tower Hamlets is one of the most deprived areas in London and we felt that we had a role to play in supporting students and young people in our local community to try and change the cycle of deprivation in our borough. Our aim is to improve social mobility in our local community.

Promoting good health and wellbeing

Nest recognises that employers have an important role in promoting and embedding physical, mental, financial and social wellbeing and resilience. We also understand the important role we have in combating the stigma that surrounds poor mental health.

We participate in the #timetotalk campaign, which encourages employees to have open conversations about their mental health. The campaign aims to break down stereotypes, improve relationships, aid recovery and take the stigma out of something that affects many people.

We celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week in May each year and use it as an opportunity to share experiences of poor mental health and signpost and promote mental wellbeing in the workplace. We've trained Mental Health First Aiders who offer support and signposting to colleagues who may need help with their mental health.

As part of our wellbeing strategy we also promote financial, physical, mental and social wellbeing throughout the year with support from our internal communications team.