Diversity & Inclusion Statement

Blog
20.07.22
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S&S is a company founded to be different on purpose.

We aim to inspire a future of work for the next generation and we are putting our people at the heart of our work to move our company and industry forward.

The needs of the communities we serve are changing and we know diverse teams are better placed to deliver great outcomes. So we’re building a place where difference is sought out and valued.

Collaborative effort is how we show up – everyone here has a voice and we expect everyone to contribute.

We have work to do and in 2023 will improve the representation of women in management, on our Board and in our consulting team.

 

What are we doing to demonstrate DEI?

As a fast-growing scale-up we believe prioritising Inclusion is a sustainable and authentic priority focus.

Inclusion means everyone is welcome and involved, and has a voice and unique contribution.

We are trying to weave inclusion into all we do, making it a practice rather than it being purely event-driven.

This is how we are making a start:


Listening

The most crucial element of inclusion is making people feel welcome heard and seen. This is the golden thread running through our approach to inclusion where everyone has a voice and is expected to use it. We build this into our recruitment and onboarding where peer appraisal is part of the selection process. New joiners are appointed a buddy whose role is to help them feel welcome, feel comfortable being themselves, model our values, and our standards and most importantly to regularly listen.

  • We use Gallup Strengths at an early stage in recruitment and onwards to help appreciate candidates’ unique contribution and dive into meaningful conversation.
  • We practise a range of ways to listen (through dialogue, qualitative and quantitative) to our team members using the Great Place to Work (GPTW) Trust Index to assess our culture.
  • S&S has a small cross-functional culture team who represents the full organisation in protecting and growing our inclusive GPTW culture by engaging and proactively seeking the wider team’s views.

We are an equal opportunities employer and include the following commitment in all recruitment literature:

‘We want the best people who will do their best. We recruit and promote based on a blend of capability and values regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, educational background, religion or physical ability.’ 


Ways of Working

From cross-functional teams to full team stand-ups and retrospectives to replacing our senior leadership team with a ‘Servant Leadership Team’, we are trying hard to push back on hierarchy and practices that can work counter to inclusion.


Leadership

We know that the role of the line manager is crucial in growing and protecting an inclusive culture. Now that we have a larger team, we have work to do in leveraging the role of our line managers as coaches and enablers. We plan to train our Line Managers to become great coaches, great at inclusive conversations, effective at collaboration to make sure we are bringing different voices/perspectives to the table.


Learning

We have no learning investment threshold and take each personal development request on a case-by-case basis. If the individual and firm will both benefit tangibly, then we’re all ears. We have supported team members to become professionally accredited, attend leadership development training, join professional bodies, and receive external coaching support. In June 2022, five of our female team members joined ‘Upfront’, a 6-week global offering whose goal is to drive confidence and impact in women and marginalised groups. The firm has a board advisor whose role is to hold The Board to account on its commitment to improving senior female representation.

In October 2022 we commenced a 6 month K2 Academy programme available to all with the intention of better positioning S&S to scale-up by unlocking the full potential of our people and each of us to feel we are playing the game we are capable of playing.


Our Associate Community

We work with our community of experts client-side to help solve their strategy-to- execution challenges in a people-centric manner. We invest heavily in selecting and vetting associates who are aligned with our values. We are focused on improving the diversity of our community and putting thought into how we land individuals and teams who can give a valuable and diverse contribution.


Business for Good

We believe that inclusion has a broader remit, one that looks out into the community in which we operate. Our mission is to help create a brighter future of work and that means investing in future workers. We give 2% of our operating profit to a range of causes including CentrePoint and Access Sport, chosen by our team, whilst also supporting Amos Bursary with a significant annual donation.


Metrics

As an accredited Great Place to Work we are able to use surveys to view responses by diversity indicators (age, sex, location, tenure & ethnicity) which will become more meaningful and useful as we grow.