Kleinwort Hambros ambition is to be a leading responsible private bank – to their clients, colleagues, communities and for the climate. Supporting colleagues and diversity forms an important part of this ambition. Initiatives include engaging juniors via an apprenticeship and a reverse mentoring scheme designed to harness their talent. Their efforts in all these areas won them the Excellence in Employee Engagement category at the 32nd Private Banker International (PBI) Global Wealth Awards 2022.
The four key aims of Kleinwort Hambros’ employee engagement programme are to:
- Close the gap in perspectives across generations.
- Increase engagement & visibility for junior employees.
- Adopt a bottom-up approach to solving problems, harnessing junior talent.
- Leverage more diverse experiences & insights.
The first three aims are helped by a reverse mentoring programme that flips the usual dynamic and reaches out to junior staff to try to learn how they would challenge the status quo and innovate at the firm. The Next Generation Executive Committee (Nexco) also brings together senior and junior employees on strategic initiatives to ensure the firm stays relevant via projects such as exploring how to use the metaverse, in which 21st century customers will live their digital lives, and how best to accommodate the increasingly prevalent hybrid office / work from home model.
A more traditional and formalised apprenticeship scheme, unveiled in 2020, also seeks to introduce talented youngsters to the bank from more diverse backgrounds. University graduates from high profile institutions are invited to join, but also those from non-Russell Group institutions that are from less well-known universities and perhaps received less familial support. Allied to a 50/50 gender split policy, this encourages more diverse backgrounds, genders and ethnicities to join the bank.
On the job experience and a professional qualification are offered alongside wellbeing initiatives for apprentices, such as mental and physical health workshops, mental and first aid help training, and access to a range of bank-wide diversity networks that are open to all employees, spanning:
Pride & Allies: An LGBTQ+ community that works with the Stonewall campaigning organisation to ensure awareness of gay issues at the firm and inclusivity.
Be Me – Race Equity Network: is focused on removing any barriers to progression faced by those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
We Are Young (WAY): network is intended to support young employees at the start of their professional lives, expanding their network and understanding of global business.
Gender network: is designed to help Kleinwort Hambros achieve its Women in Finance Charter pledges to encourage more women into senior positions to reach its target of 50/50 parity by 2025.
Narrowing the gender pay gap is also a priority, which has reduced from 24% down to 18% in three years at Kleinwort Hambros and should continue to fall with the number of initiatives underway at the firm, such as a Gender Equality Forum.
An on-going Diversity Data campaign is also underway at the bank since last year. This metric invites employees to share their gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation and various other characteristics to continue to shape and measure Kleinwort Hambros diversity strategy.