Diversity is at the heart of what we do as an ombudsman service and an employer. Reaching fair decisions about complaints involves taking account of different perspectives – and doing the right thing by our people means recognising their different backgrounds, needs and aspirations. We want everyone – both our own people and those who use our service – to feel they’re treated fairly and equally. And where our employees are concerned, that means ensuring we’re drawing on the widest possible talent pool, and recognising diversity in creating opportunities for development.

This year, for the first time, we give a snapshot of how we’re doing – highlighting just some of what we’ve achieved, as well as what we know we’ve got to work on. And overall, I think we can be proud of where we are. Without question, we’re a diverse service – and we value and celebrate our differences, as well as what we’ve got in common. We’re also recognised for what we do: we’ve been Leaders in Diversity for some years now, and have a number of other accreditations. Although these are only part of the picture, they’re an important visible statement of how we recognise and respect individual backgrounds, needs and circumstances.

As an independent ombudsman, we want to set an example for both public and private organisations. And although we compare with the best in both those sectors, we’re determined to improve further. In the next few months we’ll be focused on tackling the challenges we’ve identified here – for example, increasing BAME representation in our senior roles. To help us do that, we’ll continue to draw on the insight of our employee networks – who make a huge difference to their colleagues and our community every day.

Caroline Wayman, chief executive & chief ombudsman

What we're proud of

What we need to work on

What's next

Encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion isn’t just about the law or the “business case”. Fundamentally, it’s the right thing to do. At the moment, over two thirds of our people tell us they feel they can be themselves at work – but we want everyone to feel able to do that, and to feel valued for who they are. Our employee networks have a vital part to play in helping us achieve that aim.

In bringing issues of equality, diversity and inclusion to the table, our executive sponsorship scheme for our employee networks has already made a tangible difference. And our reverse mentoring programme – where our executive team are mentored by other, less senior employees – will do even more to help our leaders understand different perspectives and make inclusive decisions.

We’re mid-way through our action plan, which sets out the progress we aim to make by 2019. I’m excited about building on the successes we’ve already made, and finding answers to the challenges we’ve identified here.

Juliana Francis, senior ombudsman and lead for equality, diversity and inclusion

Reporting on gender

Our data