November 27, 2023

Santander’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Journey

How Business in the Community helped support Santander’s Disability Inclusion policy.

Santander is widely acknowledged as being a leader in workplace Wellbeing and Inclusion, specifically around race, age and gender. Santander’s intention is that its culture ‘helps all their people feel they belong through everyday inclusion and prioritising wellbeing’.

To strengthen its practical commitment to inclusion, Santander regularly reviews and evolves detailed inclusion plans, to promote positive Wellbeing and Inclusion for all colleagues – regardless of their background or personal characteristics. One plan, the Disability Inclusion Plan, aims to continuously improve support for colleagues who are disabled, whether they have formally disclosed or not.

When reviewing its Disability Inclusion Plan, the organisation actively sought to engage with colleagues to better understand their lived experience, identify best practice and understand where there is room for improvement.

How Business in the Community helped

Business in the Community (BITC) previously ran listening circles to support inclusion in the business. Santander used this approach to gain qualitative data on various aspects of the employee experience from disabled colleagues.

BITC’s expert advisers facilitated three intimate virtual listening circles. They then compiled and analysed the anonymised responses of participants to produce a report, detailing key findings and recommendations.

What was the outcome

The report was shared with Santander in late March 2022, with the intention that it would support the development of the bank’s Disability Inclusion policy. The report will be reviewed by Senior HR Managers and presented to the organisation’s Executive Committee via its Executive Sponsor for Disability, with support from its Disability Employee Resource Group.

These key stakeholders will approve key recommendations to update the Disability Inclusion Plan, to prioritise and deliver on the recommendations throughout the business, ensuring disabled colleagues feel included and valued and have a more consistently positive experience of working at Santander.