Inclusion, diversity and wellbeing

Internally, our aim is to build an inclusive culture where everyone can be themselves and thrive, and for our Society to reflect the diversity of the wider communities we serve. This ambition forms one of our  Mutual Good Commitments.

Our philosophy is inclusion first - we want our people to feel valued for who they are and be empowered to thrive, bringing out the best in themselves and in others, no matter their background, identity or circumstances. This provides a strong driving force for our inclusion and diversity strategy, which our board and leadership team are committed to progressing, with a focus on long-term, sustainable change.

From 2022, we asked colleagues four questions to measure inclusion sentiment and four to understand wellbeing sentiment. Based on their answers, we're able to generate inclusion and wellbeing measures.

These measures complement our seven diversity measures, that help us to track the diversity of our workforce across gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation, in support of our Mutual Good Commitments.

Our inclusion, diversity and wellbeing measures are reported to our board and leadership team each month. Inclusion and diversity are also embedded within the PRIDE values, that underpin our culture, beliefs and behaviours.

Find out more about how we're progressing against each of these measures on our inclusion, diversity and wellbeing measures page.

Our strategy includes these key areas:

• our mission
• how we measure progress
• pay gaps
• women in finance
• our employee network groups

Find out about our inclusion and diversity strategy

Wellbeing and our ethic of care are at the heart of the way we do things and are a key part of what makes us Nationwide. Our colleagues’ health and wellbeing remains a key priority for us.

We have a range of initiatives in place to support our colleagues in looking after their social, mental, physical, emotional and financial wellbeing.

Unmind is a dedicated wellbeing app and free access is provided to all colleagues. This mental health improvement platform empowers colleagues to proactively measure, understand and improve their mental wellbeing.

Our employee network, Minds Matter, focuses specifically on mental health and emotional wellbeing initiatives and support. Over 200 colleagues across the Society are now trained as Healthy Mind Champions, to offer a listening ear and provide a signpost to relevant help and advice for those struggling with their mental health. We have also signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge, taking positive action to ensure our workplace is supportive and understanding of anyone affected by menopause.

We also recognise that the increasing costs of living may have a negative impact on our colleagues’ wellbeing. To respond to this, in line with our belief that everyone deserves a place fit to call home, in March 2022 we launched our Colleague Support Housing Package. This offers colleagues a loan of up to £1,000 with 0% interest to cover a rental deposit or emergency remedial costs, plus paid time off or flexible working to deal with a housing emergency.

Our colleagues’ views and opinions are important to us and they help us understand how we can best support them and drive positive changes across our business. Our real-time feedback platform helps us to gather, listen to and action colleagues’ feedback in a timely and appropriate way so that we can support our colleagues’ wellbeing and enable them to thrive.

To assess our progress in supporting wellbeing, we have introduced measures on how our colleagues are feeling and on the support we are providing. These are tracked and reported to our board and leadership team. This is enabling us to drive targeted action where it is needed.

View our latest results and accounts

We also continue to embed wellbeing considerations into people processes and propositions, these include:

• Care-full People Change (this is a set of guiding principles that ensure we do the right thing, in the right way throughout the people change journey).
• Performance of the Future (this supports the uplift in Society performance by empowering ways of working).
• Our approach to hybrid and flexible working.

We’ve been externally recognised for our commitment to colleague wellbeing.

Mind

We've been awarded the 2021 Mind Workplace Wellbeing Gold Award. This recognises our success in embedding mental health into our policies and practices, and our long-term and in-depth commitment to our colleagues’ mental wellbeing.

Glassdoor

We've been recognised in Glassdoor’s 20 Highest Ranking UK Companies for Work-Life Balance in 2021.

We do not tolerate discrimination in any form. Our purpose – building society, nationwide – is underpinned by our PRIDE values, which define how we behave and treat each other. Consistent with our mutual values, we are committed to building an inclusive culture by creating equal and fair opportunities for our people and prohibiting all forms of discrimination.

Read our discrimination policy statement

Last updated: January 2023