WE'VE BEEN NAMED ONE OF THE UK’S TOP 10 EMPLOYERS BY TOP EMPLOYERS INSTITUTE
2024-01-12 10:00:09.0
It has been a great start to 2024 as we’ve been recognised as the eighth top employer in the UK.
This announcement makes us the fifth European division of BNP Paribas Personal Finance to achieve Top Employer status for the fourth year in a row, meaning the wider BNP Paribas Personal Finance group was also named a Top Employer in Europe for 2024. Only companies certified in a minimum of five European countries are awarded this special recognition, and this year BNP Paribas Personal Finance has been certified in six countries; Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.
Being named a Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute (the global authority on recognising excellence in People Practices) showcases our dedication to a better world of work and reinforces our commitment to be a role model employer.
How it works
The Top Employers Institute programme certifies organisations based on the participation and results of its HR Best Practices Survey.
The survey covers 20 topic areas under the following six HR domains: steer, shape, attract, develop, engage and unite. The topic score breakdown shared by the Top Employers Institute revealed that BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK scored over 90% across all 20 areas — 10% higher than 2023 — and 100% in 11 topic areas, which is four more than last year: Business Strategy, People Strategy, Leadership, Employer Branding, Talent Acquisition, Digital HR, Work Environment, Performance, Purpose & Values, Ethics & Integrity, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Susan Farmer, Chief People Officer at BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, said: “Every year, we use our feedback from the Top Employers Institute to improve the way we operate and last year, we implemented various changes and focused on the following four areas: attract, unite, develop and engage.”
Attract
Following our feedback from the awarding body last year, we took a different approach to attracting talent into our business in 2023.
From hosting in-person assessments where we invited colleagues to take part, utilising LinkedIn by advertising various jobs to completing workshops with young people in organisations such as Digital Innovators, an award-winning training provider for young people, we made several great changes to our recruitment process.
What’s more, we made enhancements to our onboarding process to ensure the talent we attract, we retain. This involved changing the regularity of catch ups with HR for new starters in the form of feedback sessions after the first 30 days, 60 days and 90 days.
Unite
We have a strong focus on diversity and inclusion at BNP Paribas Personal Finance and last year, we accelerated our commitment by introducing a new D&I strategy which was strongly applauded.
The strategy, which aligns with the wider BNP Paribas Group charter, ensures we have D&I networks in place including Women in Business, Helping Hands, Disability, Multicultural Empowerment, Pride, Early Careers and Wellbeing. In addition, all the committees have a D&I champion leading the sessions to encourage open and honest discussions that are regularly reviewed in committee meetings. Plus, there are panel discussions for support, menopause policies and inclusive leadership training.
Towards the end of the year, we hosted an ‘Inclusion Week’ which saw 326 colleagues attend! As part of this, colleagues had the opportunity to attend 9 different sessions including a Diwali celebration event in the office, and a parent and carers panel event to discuss the initiatives in place to support colleagues who care for others at home, particularly those that are part of the ‘sandwich generation’ – responsible both for bringing up their children and caring for their ageing parents.
Develop
Supporting our colleagues’ career ambitions is central to BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK and it was rewarding to see it recognised by the awarding body. In addition to strategic workforce planning and allowing all colleagues access to the online training platform, goodhabitz, we have introduced several training programmes in 2023 to accelerate colleague career development.
Though our Women in Business and Early Careers networks, colleagues can access a range of talent and personal development opportunities. These include workshops, training and mentoring programmes.
Engage
A big focus in 2023 was extending our commitment to colleague wellbeing. From hosting wellbeing awareness sessions for new starters to reviewing and updating our wellbeing framework to focus on five key areas — body, mind, people, career and finance — we’ve worked hard to make our colleagues feel supported.
In addition, over the year, we held mental health sessions, which saw 214 colleagues engage in seven sessions, resulting in open and transparent conversations.
This year, we’re launching a wellbeing podcast which will share colleagues' experience in terms of wellbeing as well as signposting where to get support.
Susan Farmer, Chief People Officer at BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, says: “As a business, we are committed to being a role model employer which is why we are so proud to receive this accreditation for the fourth year running.
“This year, we are going to accelerate our mission of creating supportive and inclusive work environments by improving our existing practices to ensure we become an even better place to work in 2024.”
Top Employers Institute CEO David Plink says: “Exceptional times bring out the best in people and organisations. And we have witnessed this in our Top Employers Certification Programme this year: exceptional performance from the certified Top Employers 2024.
“These employers have always shown that they care for the development and well-being of their people. By doing so, they collectively enrich the world of work. We are proud to announce and celebrate this year’s group of leading people-oriented employers: the Top Employers 2024.”
Interested in joining our team and working for a Top Employer? We’re hiring. Explore our latest career opportunities here.