The power of Allies
At Barclays, we’re committed to building a supportive and inclusive culture where everyone feels included. We believe that making our organisation more equal, at all levels, will help us to make the most of the different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences of our colleagues, and to better serve our customers and clients.
People who feel they can be themselves at work are happier and more productive. So creating inclusive and diverse teams isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also best for our business.
Allyship at work
Allies in the workplace actively promote and inspire colleagues to advance our culture of inclusion. Most of our Employee Resource Groups have an allyship initiative – Male Allies, Race Champions, Spectrum Allies, Reach Purple Champions and Flexible Working Champions.
Being an ally means supporting a culture of inclusion in every arena you are in. Allies in the workplace actively promote and aspire to advance our culture of inclusion. In 2020 we launched an internal allies toolkit to guide colleagues on how they can take conscious, positive steps to make everyone feel that they belong. The toolkit highlights how we all have a role to play. It is essential that we all use our voice and action to foster more inclusion and work to develop empathy towards another group’s challenges to support that group.
What we mean by allyship
Allyship means being consciously inclusive. It helps colleagues to feel respected, involved and connected every day. It means:
- Embracing difference by seeking the views of people with different perspectives and experiences
- Empowering others to succeed and ensuring everyone’s voice is heard and their contributions equally valued
- Standing up and speaking out for what is right and holding others to account for their behaviours
- Opening up opportunities for progression and levelling the playing field for under-represented groups
- Challenging your own understanding and learning about communities different to your own
Allyship and awareness
All colleagues in Barclays now have an Inclusion objective emphasising the role we all have to play in building a culture of belonging that recognises and values difference. As part of our guide on actions and behaviours, all colleagues are encouraged to role-model inclusive behaviours and build a culture of belonging that recognises and values difference (including race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, gender and/or life-stage) as a key driver of our purpose and our successful business performance.
