Race Action Plan: our stand against racism


At Lloyds Banking Group, we stand against racism and discrimination in all its forms.

As a Group, we’re guided in how we do things by a clear set of values. A key part of how we seek to live and breathe these values is to strive to create a fully inclusive environment for all our colleagues, customers and communities, one that is truly representative of modern-day Britain.

While we’ve worked hard over the years to create a more inclusive organisation, the launch of the Race Action Plan in July 2020 was a turning point in our journey. Launched against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement and the coronavirus pandemic, the plan has helped us to address the specific challenges we know our Black colleagues and customers are facing.

Our Race Action Plan


These are the commitments that make up our plan, and as with any good plan, we’re continually reviewing and updating it with input from our Advisory Panel to ensure our actions are the right ones.

1.  We’ve set a public goal, complementing our broader 2018 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic target, to specifically increase Black representation in senior roles from 0.6% at senior grades to at least 3% by 2025, to align with the overall UK labour market.

2.  Our Race Advisory Panel, made up of 23 colleagues of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic heritage, continues to influence and inform our ongoing diversity strategy and ensure we are making the right progress.

3.  We’re working in partnership with external experts to deliver a Race Education programme, and have already delivered a series of sessions for our people teams, senior leaders and line managers. Participants learn about the challenges faced by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and are better equipped to have honest conversations with their teams about race and ethnicity. 

4.  We’re continuing to undertake regular listening sessions to gauge and understand our colleagues’ experiences and progress against our plans. 

5.  We’ve committed to publishing our Ethnicity Pay Gap report (PDF, 6.6MB) annually.

6.  We ensure diversity on all our senior executive recruitment shortlists with a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidate. We’ve trained recruiters, hiring managers and third-party suppliers to ensure they understand our expectations and have the tools to hire inclusively.

7.  We’re nurturing our talented Black colleagues by creating specific development and sponsorship programmes for both middle management and senior grades, so that we can help break the ceiling for senior role models.

8.  We're taking our work beyond our own organisation to help address challenges faced by Black communities, beginning with establishing the Black Business Advisory Committee and working in partnership with Foundervine and the Black Business Network.

Progress is underway

  • 2020

    Our Race Action Plan is announced (16 July) to drive change in our culture, recruitment and progression for Black colleagues. Senior Black representation stands at 0.6% with a goal set to reach 3% by 2025.

     

    Inclusive recruitment 

     

    We upskilled our recruiters, hiring managers and third-party suppliers to ensure they understand our expectations and have the tools to hire inclusively.

     

    As part of this, we started working with new recruitment partners to help us better reach Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic talent.

     

    We introduced a diverse shortlist and waiver process for executive appointments to ensure these include at least one Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidate.

     

    Progression

     

    We launched a new Talent Identification & Sponsorship Programme internally for our Black senior managers.

     

    Culture

     

    Our Race Advisory Panel is formed, made up of 23 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues from right across the business.

     

    We published our first Ethnicity Pay Gap Report (PDF, 6.6MB).

     

    43% increase in the number of advocates who had signed up to our REACH colleague network.

     

    We delivered the start of a wide-scale Race Education programme with almost 60% of senior managers and leaders, to get the conversations started about race with the expertise of external thought-leaders.

     

    Community

     

    We stood with Business in the Community to support the call on government to make Ethnicity Pay Gap Data a reporting requirement for companies.

     

    Our Race Action Plan is widened to look at supporting challenges faced by Black communities externally, starting with a partnership with Foundervine and our sponsorship of the Black Business Network’s Black Investor 360 event for 2020 and 2021.

     

     

  • 2021

    Inclusive recruitment

     

    Rolled out Inclusive Hiring Masterclasses, reaching over 1,600 colleagues.

     

    We completed a full review of all our people processes and agreed actions and recommendations to remove any issues of bias and deliver a proportional outcome for our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues. We are building on broadening this across other demographic groups.

     

    We signed the Charter for Black Talent in Finance and the Professions to enhance equality of opportunity in these sectors in the UK.

     

    Progression

     

    Our bespoke Talent Identification & Sponsorship Programme supported five Black senior managers into senior leadership roles.

     

    Culture

     

    We completed delivery of the Race Education for line managers programme to over 9,500 line managers and launched our Race Education programme for senior leaders.

     

    Community

     

    Our newly established Black Business Advisory Committee, chaired by leading businesswoman and former Cabinet Office advisor Claudine Reid MBE, completed recruitment. All 12 members bring with them a diverse set of experience and expertise, which will equip them to investigate in detail the barriers to growth for the Black business community. 

     

    Together with the Black Business Network, we produced the ‘Black. British. In Business & Proud’ report. The report explores the full entrepreneurial journey for Black business owners in Britain, highlighting some of the barriers to growth and unique challenges faced by Black-owned businesses in the UK.

     

    We collaborated with the City and Mental Health Alliance on the Mental Health and Race at Work report, which seeks to build the business community's understanding of the challenges faced by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees at work, and how this impacts their mental health.

     

    Launched the National Black Entrepreneurs Community Conversation, a series of events to build relationships and trust within the community. 

     

    A new practical guide, titled ‘Championing Modern Britain' for marketing and communications professionals was published. The guide identifies guiding principles that underpin marketing communications to ensure positive and progressive portrayals of ethnicity and race.

     

  • 2022

    Inclusive recruitment

     

    We've seen an increase in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation at senior manager level (Grade F and above).

     

    Continued working with specialist recruitment partners to help better reach Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic talent.

     

    We supported the 10,000 Black Interns initiative with Black interns joining the Group for a summer paid internship.

     

    Our 2022 Graduate programme delivered an increase in the diversity of graduates, with 41 per cent being Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic of which 5 per cent were specifically from a Black heritage background.

     

    Progression

     

    Launched Career Acceleration Programme for Black heritage managers to help support progression into senior management roles. By the end of 2022, over a quarter of these colleagues had secured senior manager roles or made lateral moves to progress their career.

     

    Launched a second cohort of our Senior Leadership programme to accelerate our progress.

     

    Culture

     

    Immersive race education training was delivered to over 72,000 colleagues and contingent workers. This training is included in onboarding sessions for all new colleagues.

     

    We created a Culture Board consisting of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues to support our Marketing team and ensure we authentically represent our customers.

     

    We have commenced recruitment of 60 Race & Ethnicity Mental Health Advocates who will complete specialist training by the end of March 2023.

     

    Community

     

    Our four charitable Foundations support a number of charities that are either Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic-led organisations or are delivering work aimed at benefitting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities across a range of themes including refugees and asylum seekers, homelessness, women’s rights, domestic abuse and mental health. Currently 190 live grants are supporting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic charities or projects, with over £10 million invested.

     

    Launched the Immerse programme in partnership with Foundervine, creating an ecosystem of support with multiple touchpoints for working professionals and founders from diverse backgrounds at various stages of their entrepreneurial journey.

     

    Partnership with Black Business Network aimed at accelerating the personal and business financial journey of current and aspiring Black business owners.  

     

    In partnership with Mentor Black Business, we have reached our commitment to provide 100 mentors from across the Group, delivering vital support for Black business owners to help them tackle challenges and grow.

     

    Published the second ‘Black. British. In Business & Proud’ report. 

     

    Supported almost 4,000 Black entrepreneurs and business owners; resulting in 17,000 hours of total support across the programmes, events and initiatives we have played a part in.

     

    We are implementing a Supply Chain Diversity strategy across the Group to ensure that our suppliers and partners match our goal to represent the society we serve.

     

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