Women in Finance Charter
As a company, Unum is committed to championing the perspectives of the people who engage with our company every day. We see this as a responsibility shared with each and every member of our organisation.
Our Women in Finance journey so far…
Signing up to the Women in Finance Charter in 2016 displays our commitment to building an inclusive culture to benefit us — both now and in the future.
Unum UK is proud to announce that after increasing our targets in 2022, we’ve already hit the targets we set for ourselves as part of our commitment to the Women in Finance Charter. We wanted to have at least 43% female representation within our wider senior leadership team by the end of 2026 and we achieved this in 2023.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Female talent in the total Unum UK workforce | 55% | 55% | 56% | 57% | 57% |
| Female talent at senior management level (internal L15+) | 37%* | 36% | 40% | 40% | 45% |
*Based on only ExCo level
How we have made progress…
Our Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) Strategy, launched last year, continues to put a priority focus on increasing women in leadership at the heart of our representation pillar.
This year, with the support of our Executive team, we created the role of Inclusion Business Champions. These senior leaders take responsibility for the implementation of the I&D strategy in their functional areas. Empowering our champions to take a forensic look at their local position has helped them to create action plans with targeted impact.
Our Gender Equality employee network upLIFT continues to actively create community and engagement. The team hosted award-winning speaker Jaz Ampaw-Farr on International Women’s Day and published a series of ‘Day in the life’ articles which share the lived experiences of our own people. They also hold menopause cafes which provides a safe space to share experiences, offer support and provide education.
In addition, we offer all employees access to our Menopause Plan, which provides access to specialist doctors and support on how to alleviate any symptoms. In the year ending 31st March 2023, 23 of our employees used this service.
Women in Finance and the future of work
The future of work has been a big topic for most organisations. Unum UK has ensured our approach continues to promote a healthy work/life balance and an environment where collaboration is key.
Our teams have created individual team charters, working together to decide on the levels of flexibility needed in their working day. We also have “locate for your day” approach to where you choose your location based on your working day, giving our employees choice. This approach supports those with caring responsibilities, who are in the majority mostly women, making it easier for them to participate in the workforce.
What's next...
We’ve achieved 43% female representation on our leadership team, our challenge now is to maintain this position. As a relatively small organisation in the UK, the change in a single role can impact this percentage and we are anticipating significant change over the coming years.
We will remain focused on this goal to ensure it is maintained and exceeded.
Please contact Jane Hulme, Unum UK's HR Director.
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