Our society is, by its nature, diverse. Diversity in an organisation simply equals representation. 

Inclusion engages each individual regardless of their background and makes them feel valued and essential to the organisation.

Inclusion is about recognising the whole person, not just their education, physical characteristics, cultural background or work experience. It means every employee sees the opportunity to join in, every employee hears supportive language and every employee feels that they are part of an inclusive organization. 

Without inclusion the crucial connections that attract diverse talent, encourage participation, foster innovation and lead to business growth won’t happen. When people feel valued, they function at full capacity and feel part of the organisation’s mission.

While it’s easy to measure diversity, quantifying inclusion can be difficult.

It has required legislation to get companies to reveal gender pay differences. Understanding inclusion will need more subtle measures.

That's why,  in 2018, we are starting a research programme to understand diversity and inclusion in business finance organisations. The aim is to identify barriers and opportunities, uncover best practices and pinpoint interventions that work. 

The research is part of our wider mission to help businesses understand the benefits of building diverse and inclusive leadership, management, organisations and teams, and to help organisations embed inclusion and diversity into hiring, performance management, succession management, leadership development and learning.

The research begins with deep dives to understand how diversity and inclusion is currently addressed from the perspective of senior leaders. Then, a baseline survey will gather quantitative information, followed by an attitudes and expectations survey - a  barometer for the industry that provides insights that will help us to develop new interventions in collaboration with companies and industry bodies.

The research will report back late 2018.

A panel discussion at The FLA annual conference. 

A panel discussion at The Leasing Life conference. 
Read more on LinkedIn

An event in conjunction with Alfa^ and Metro Bank on Unconscious Bias.
Read more on Leasing Life

An industry engagement session to outline our research plans and diversity and inclusion strategy. 

The Foundation will report back on our research programme at an event in London. 

We welcome your comments on diversity and inclusion in business finance.

We'd like your insights, accounts of best practice and your participation in our research. 

If you would like your organisation to be featured as a case study of best practice in diversity and inclusion we'd like to hear from you. 

You can send us your comments here, or email us at

diversity@leasingfoundation.org

The Leasing Foundation Diversity and Inclusion programme is led by

Carol Roberts Chair, The Leasing Foundation
Joanne Davis Locke Lord LLP
Emma Thomas Siemens Financial Services
Brian Murphy Alfa^ Systems
Helen Lumb Shire Leasing
Rania Pugh Aldermore

with the support of people from these companies

Siemens Financial Services,  Locke Lord LLP, Alfa^ Systems plc, Shire Leasing, Aldermore, Metro Bank, Wesleyan, DNB, RBS Legal, Motonovo, Simply Finance, SGEF, Liberty Leasing, Commerzbank, ABN Amro, Lombard, 1pm plc, Bibby Financial Services, White Oak UK, Hitatchi Capital Business Finance, The Leasing Foundation

diversity@leasingfoundation.org