Pinsent Masons- A responsible choice
What are you currently doing to encourage an inclusive and diverse environment at your firm, and in particular among the senior roles?
Pinsent Masons is fundamentally a ‘people’ business, working hard to develop and sustain an inclusive and healthy culture, which prioritises wellbeing and belonging. This means creating a workplace where people with different talents, cultures and outlooks benefit from working together.
Over the last 12 months we have featured in the top 12 most inclusive businesses in Europe in the Financial Times Diversity Leaders Report; been ranked as a top five inclusive employer in Britain for the fifth consecutive year by Stonewall in its Workplace Equality Index 2020; been recognised as a Disability Confident employer; ranked as a Times Top 50 Employer for Women; and as a Top 10 Employer for Working Families.
We believe that embedding a culture in which all our employees feel empowered to bring their whole selves to work requires ongoing commitment and the continuous implementation of transformational steps to promote progress.
How do you create a work environment that supports health and wellbeing for all in one of the largest law firms?
We are committed to ending the stigma around mental health and promoting good mental health and well being across the business. We have developed a Mental Health Plan; our Disability and Wellbeing Network continues to go from strength to strength; and we have a growing team of over 300 Mental Health Champions.
A wide range of wellbeing, resilience and mental health awareness training is also available to all staff. Over 36% of colleagues joined sessions as part of our annual Wellbeing Month and our response to the global pandemic.
We are proud to be a co-founder of The Mindful Business Charter (MBC), a bilateral collaboration between service providers and clients, based on four pillars; openness and respect, smart meetings and emails, respecting rest periods and mindful delegation.
By identifying and tackling the root causes of unnecessary stress, the MBC is able to promote better mental health and wellbeing, re-establishing some of the boundaries between our personal and professional lives. The MBC has helped move the dial in respect of attitudes towards mental health and wellbeing in businesses and reducing avoidable stress.
You have made a film – ‘Talk about Race’ – providing an insight into some barriers your own colleagues have faced. Tell us why you made the film.
In early 2018, we formally launched Sun in our UK, Middle East and Australia offices. Sun identifies the barriers to recruitment and career progression which may be faced by people due to their race, colour or ethnicity. Sun aims to create a better balance of race and ethnicity within our workforce and a better workplace for all.
Following an extensive consultation carried out by D&I consultants, Brook Graham, we identified a series of recommendations to be implemented across the firm as part of Sun including the development of our ‘We Need to Keep Talking About Race’ programme which focuses on upskilling people to better understand the different diversity dimensions in play across our global business.
A significant theme that emerged from that consultation was that there seemed to be a silence around race and ethnicity in the legal sector. Some felt that this was due to a lack of confidence around how to talk about race, and others were unsure of the language to use. Many said that myths and stereotypes continued to exist which had the effect of stifling progress. As a result, we created ‘Talk about Race’ using some of the quotes that were gathered during consultation, along with other widely recognised themes from the legal sector. Additional actions include Reciprocal Mentoring, Group Mentoring and Real Role Model programmes.
In 2020 we launched a supporting film, ‘Talk About Race’, to debunk the myths and stereotypes around race. Since launching the film, membership of our FREE (Faith, Race, Ethnicity and Equality) network has increased by 44%.
Our work in this area continues and is led by our Sun Delivery Board. Our stance on racial injustice is clear. There is simply no room for racism or prejudice, and we are committed to creating inclusion, respect and a place where differences are valued.
How does your firm ensure that employees affiliated with the LGBT+ community feel included and valued in the work culture?
Our LGBT+ inclusion journey began in 2007 with the inception of our LGB Group, now our LGBT+ Network. We began a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of LGB inclusion in the workplace and the network went from strength to strength in that first year. Our first entry into the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index was in 2008, we were the first law firm to make the top 100 and we were recognised as Most Improved Employer.
We have continued to be a high performer in the Stonewall WEI Top 100 Employers list, and in 2019 we won Employer of the Year. We have continued our commitment to inclusivity with the launch of a number of initiatives such as staff training focused on gender identity and expression ensuring the firm is an inclusive environment for trans colleagues and clients. This year marks our 13th on the index, we ranked 4th overall, recognised as top law firm once again.
Our active LGBT+ and allies employee network group has a clear focus on intersectionality and offers a range of support and mentoring.
How does your initiative, Sky work in order to allow young women to develop successful careers? How does it engage with male employees to raise awareness?
The proportion of women entering the legal profession is increasing. However that gender balance is not reflected in the partnership or the senior leadership teams of most firms. We recognise that we need to ensure that our female colleagues are properly supported to achieve their full potential.
We are working hard to identify and remove the invisible barriers to recruitment, retention and progression that can hinder talent from progressing at Pinsent Masons.
We have been acknowledged for our work on increasing transparency around career progression for women and implementing initiatives to promote gender balance across the business through Sky. Sky works to enable women of all ages to develop and nurture successful careers. We have established different groups and initiatives to adopt a strategic and comprehensive approach to this across our firm. These include:
– Establishment of senior groups including our Sky Steering Group, Nominations Committee and ‘Issues in Management’ group. Collectively, these groups facilitate discussions about gender balance in senior roles whilst ensuring a strategic and transparent approach to senior appointments and addressing any other gender-related issues;
– Creation of a new Global Inclusion Strategy Group (GISG) with gender balance as one of the key themes;
– Introduction of reciprocal mentoring programme between senior male and junior female colleagues to share perspectives;
– Requesting gender-balanced shortlists as part of our external recruitment processes and internal promotion processes;
– Programme of inclusive behaviour training which tackles unconscious bias; and
– A series of workshops supporting women in their careers pathways while also engaging male colleagues.
Sky is backed by our Female Futures (FF) networking group, which focuses on the importance of gender balance with the objective of making the firm a great place for women to work at all levels. It does this by:
– Providing a valuable support network and a great forum to meet and interact with colleagues from a range of backgrounds.
– Hosting a number of events, which includes training and presentations from inspirational business leaders, along with networking events tailored to each office.
– Providing information, advice, support mentoring and business development.
– Acting as representatives of colleagues and playing an important role in the development of the firm’s policies and initiatives which have a particular gender focus
Going forward, we will ensure maximum connectivity between GISG, Sky and Female Futures to encourage a truly joined up approach to gender balance.
From an external perspective and with a view to the future of the legal profession, one of the many ways we encourage young women to develop successful careers is by partnering with the Girls Out Loud Foundation in Manchester, through participation in the Big Sister Programme. The Big Sister programme complements our existing schools mentoring programme but involves more in depth one-to-one interaction targeted at girls (Little Sisters) who are at most risk of failing to meet their potential. The programme has already seen visible positive impact: 100% confidence improvement in girls; 90% of girls on target to achieve 3 levels of improvement with regard to attainment; and over 90% of girls setting their sights on further education or some form of vocational training.
How does your FREE network tackle the imbalance of minority ethnic group representation in the law sector?
We believe that further developing our diverse workforce will make us an even more successful international law firm by drawing on different perspectives and experiences to address our clients’ issues. We know the balance of minority ethnic group representation; particularly at senior levels is a key challenge for most large law firms. Our FREE Network and Sun are critical for us in tackling the structural inequities that exist in the legal profession. FREE provides all colleagues an opportunity to share experiences, helps to raise awareness of issues faced by ethnic minorities, gives people the tools to address those issues and promotes a more inclusive working environment.
We believe true innovation can only happen when we nurture a diverse team in which everyone is empowered to contribute to success. If our values resonate with you, we want to hear from you.