Solat Chaudhry Interviews Becky Hewitt, Director of People at Leeds Building Society
In the fourth of our key influencer interviews, NCFD Chief Executive, Solat Chaudhry explores how to recruit a diverse workforce with Becky Hewitt, Director of People at Leeds Building Society.
SC: Becky, you are always so full of energy and enthusiastic. Probably, the secret ingredient behind Leeds Building Society taking home a double at the 2019 Grand Awards. Entering for the first time, you scooped the Large Business of the Year and Financial Services Company of the Year awards. Well done, it must have felt a fantastic achievement?
BH: Solat, it felt terrific. What an achievement for our business as a whole! Yes, it was the first time we’d entered the awards, encouraged and buoyed by working with the NCFD team through the accreditation processes.
We enter awards genuinely, knowing different teams’ hard work will be recognised and to show our achievements having an impact. It’s important for any manager leading on EDI to put changes in place and see them through. On that point, we were able to demonstrate the changes we made had achieved a positive impact.
In terms of financial services (FS), clearly it is male-dominated as a sector, a fact which receives a lot of scrutiny. That’s why we are supportive of HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter; in fact, we were one of the first signatories and have been heavily supportive ever since. I’ve sat on the Charter board since inception and recently was made Chair.
SC: Wow! That’s great and congratulations on being made Chair … how does it all work?
BH: For Leeds Building Society, it enables us to lead from the front and make sure we pick up on things happening elsewhere. There are over 330 signatories to the Charter and each organisation makes four commitments around publishing targets; progressing against those; having an accountable executive; and that the senior team is remunerated against progress.
The board draws those signatories together to share best practice and promote what works well and makes a difference. It’s also a communications enabler linking signatories with the Treasury, which is important as more businesses sign up to the Charter. We’re pleased to have made progress in getting signatories together to discuss the challenges but want to increase the impact and will be working on this, such as making the case for change, whilst acknowledging progress can be slow. It may take a generation to change the diversity of candidates in the talent pipeline for some roles. Therefore, it is a mixture of actions to take in your own organisations from a cultural and talent perspective to nurture diverse talent, whether gender or otherwise. It’s also about making organisations attractive to draw new people to join from more diverse backgrounds.
SC: There’s a lot there!
BH: Yes, it’s about educating organisations on EDI and, from the other side, extending outreach to schools – for example, looking at careers support and/or financial education programmes, so young people can understand the range of roles available and see FS as an attractive career.
We do a range of things at Leeds Building Society. We’ve been under-represented from a BAME point of view, especially compared to Leeds as a city, and are getting better by specifically focusing on BAME. Our CR agenda complements our diversity work and we’re currently developing our colleague volunteering programme to help deliver financial education support in disadvantaged areas.
SC: That is good to hear Becky. One of the questions I like to ask the people I interview is this: on a scale of one to five, where one is the most important, where does culture sit?
BH: One… and not just on culture vs strategy question.
SC: Ah! You read my mind. That would have been next but I have interrupted you…
BH: We have always prided ourselves, as most mutual organisations do, that if asked about our culture, colleagues respond that ‘it feels like a family’. When we ask people why they joined, more often than not they say from the first moment coming through the front door, it was so welcoming. Colleagues often say to me, ‘I walk down the corridor and people who I don’t know say “hello”; where I previously worked, I would walk in and sit with my team and no-one would do that’.
We’re a very hard-working, ambitious business and try to treat people like adults. Of course, sometimes we have to do difficult things; it’s a changing world, a changing organisation and sometimes roles we needed before don’t exist in the future. Where those things happen, we treat people fairly and openly.
SC: You are obviously applying the FREDIE values and you are NCFD Leaders in Diversity. I am interested, as I am sure other readers will be, how you remain fresh and not become complacent?
BH: Having something like NCFD accreditations helps focus our attention. Did the accreditation mean we did things we wouldn’t have done anyway? No, probably not but it gave us a framework to check where we are going. Having an external reviewer is also good, pointing out where things could be done differently and perhaps even better. It’s good when an assessor can share examples which have worked elsewhere. I do find the accreditation process useful to follow and help to make sure we don’t become complacent. You keep us on our toes Solat, as there will always be another accreditation or review coming around!
We don’t lose sight of our culture because we talk about it at the Society Board all the time. A positive in the FS sector is that regulators recognise the importance of culture. All our senior team has specific regulatory responsibilities and the Chairman and CEO specifically have responsibilities for our culture.
Questions have been asked about how to audit, measure and monitor culture. It requires a range of data – colleague surveys, data on why colleagues leave or join, customer satisfaction or complaints etc. Our Board discusses these different aspects, which helps to keep us on point too.
We have grown 50% in terms of colleague numbers since 2013 and were determined to maintain the positive aspects of our culture during this time. We are rigorous on recruitment, making sure we have culture fit, but by the same token to bring in new skill sets we had to return to the diversity piece. It’s about not recruiting the ‘mini me’. How do you open up and make sure you attract a broad range of people, with different views, yet ensure the similarities and the attitudes interact with each other and fit in with the culture?
SC: That interaction from the senior team. How, does that manifest itself? Do they walk the floor?
BH: Yes, that’s it. A good example is today. Who knows, you might bump into Richard, our CEO. We’ve just released our half-year results. Richard, over the course of three days will be walking the floor or speaking via a video link with colleagues in our branches. This is to say “thank you” and let teams know where we’re up to in our business plan and share calls to action for the next half year. He meets everyone face-to-face and takes questions, and also meets all new joiners in their first few days.
SC: Talking of branches, the teams can be remote from HQ, how do you manage that?
BH: Each branch will have its own ways of working and that’s fine, as long as it fits in with our broad culture. We are very clear about that. Our Values are embedded, we select against them, our recognition scheme incorporates them and they are linked to annual performance reviews.
Richard has a schedule to visit every branch and, after our annual results, the senior leadership team goes on tour and conducts colleague roadshows around the country. We close the branches early, so everyone can come along. Another neat thing we have is a colleague app, ‘Totem’.
SC: Totem?
BH: Yes, it’s a great tool to link everyone together: a social tool where colleagues can read and post articles and comment, both Society-wide and within their own functions. It is used to post business news, results, and updates – as well as shout-outs for birthdays, charity events and what colleagues may be doing outside work. It helps people find out more about each other and keep connected socially. We believe it’s a great tool to help bring people together.
If you were a new colleague Solat, we’d ask you to join Totem before you started with us, to help you see what’s going on in your new team. It is a good leveller … not everyone has to post, of course; some people prefer just to view more than post.
SC: There is certainly a lot going on. Another achievement was your first entry into The NCFD Top 100 you went in at number 50.
BH: Yes, and we were delighted and will work on moving up!
SC: Can I just bring you back to something I picked up on. You have a rigorous selection process here. How do you manage unconscious bias?
BH: Recruitment is something we work hard on. Our selection process is rigorous and we believe we’re good at ensuring we can pick the best person for the job, regardless of gender etc. However, the traditional approach can be quite limiting, resulting in selecting someone ‘like yourself’ or purely against criteria set in job descriptions. A typical CV lists ‘achievements’ which can be very results- oriented and potentially gender biased. I’m sure you have heard the research that men often talk up their achievements and are more likely to speak proudly about themselves, compared with women.
We‘re trying to overcome that by spending a bit more time ahead of advertising a role to understand specifically what we need the role-holder to deliver in the next two to three years. Who will they be working closely with and what attributes will they need? The shortlisting of candidates is against responses to questions which ask for specific examples against these priorities, whilst the CV is only used for due diligence purposes. Where possible, the ‘interview’ has an element – such as a case study, for example – which brings the candidate’s skills to life. Of course, in the FS sector, there are always a range of specific questions we need to ask, as well!
SC: So, the interviewers choose the candidate without a CV in front of them?
BH: Yes, that has happened – we’re trying out this new approach with some of our senior appointments and learning from each occasion. We don’t necessarily withhold the CV fully but it doesn’t form part of the shortlisting process, meaning we get to see the candidates who have the best fit to what is required from the role. We believe that without changing how you recruit, you’ll continue to get the same results and may miss out on diversity.
SC: What next… how do keep the momentum going?
BH: We try not to scattergun, instead choosing to focus on two or three things. In terms of diversity, we have gender and mental health forums, which are still going strong, and this year we’ve introduced a BAME forum. We are still in the education stage, letting colleagues know what we are doing. We have an inclusion week coming up and BAME will be more of a focus.
SC: Authenticity is a key word here, telling a story and creating a narrative. I feel there is a thread running through all the LBS initiatives.
BH: Yes, we would rather go slowly and get it right.
SC: What about the sector in general though – any last thoughts?
BH: For the building society sector, we are all doing good things, placing culture at the heart of what we do. For FS more broadly, there remain areas where solid leadership from the top is needed.
SC: You are doing great stuff and getting the message out there.
BH: Thanks. The NCFD awards help to get the message across, are a source of pride for the business, and lead to opportunities. Our career website portrays our culture. Social media is also a great way to showcase our brilliant people in their varied roles, and how we are constantly changing and adapting.
SC: Thank you.
