Westbourne Partners are committed to an inclusive and diverse work place. We believe that a diverse workforce enables us to better understand our clients and candidates needs and provide new and varied thinking. We’re building a culture where difference is valued. Westbourne Partners have found that greater diversity has not only delivered additional expertise, knowledge and understanding relevant to the wide range of clients that the firm assists but also enhanced its continuing success. We strongly believe that no individual should be regarded differently due to race, gender, sexuality, disability, age or their beliefs.
Diversity, Corporate & Social Responsibility
Corporate and Social Responsibility
Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) is important to our business. Westbourne Partners has a responsibility not only to our employees and clients but also to our wider community within which we operate and the environment.
We have a strong belief in CSR and are happy to see that this is reflected in the clients that we work with, it is important to us that everyone we work with respects CSR and their wider responsibilities.
A fundamental pillar of our recruitment process is candidate welfare and ensuring that wherever they are placed is a fair and ethical firm. There is no place for anything less in our recruitment process.
Here are some of the ways we meet our ongoing responsibilities.
Community
We provide both paid internships and training opportunities to students at our local university; City, University of London. It is challenging for many young people to gain a foot in the door and we believe providing them some experience gives students the opportunities they may not otherwise have had.
Testimonials from City, University of London:
“The Careers team at City, University of London and Westbourne Partners have been collaborating on the Micro-Placements Programme since 2017. They provide fantastic work based learning opportunities for our students as part of this social mobility initiative. Westbourne has even been awarded Best Micro-Placements Host at our award ceremony for the quality placements they provide. We receive excellent feedback from students regarding their valuable recruitment experience with Westbourne, and we look forward to working with them again on this year’s Programme.” – Wendy, Employer Engagement Manager at City, University of London
“Starting my time at Westbourne Partners through the City, University of London Micro-Placement’s Programme, I had limited practical experience in both the recruitment industry and the finance sector. During my placement, I had invaluable hands-on project involvement which assisted in developing my research strategies, candidate management, sales techniques, and client relationships. The placement monitored my personal progression and outlined areas of growth, expanding my knowledge of various financial markets. I have now had the opportunity to continue my work at Westbourne and look forward to bringing valuable insights to the financial markets team, continuing my development.” – Tom, International Banking & Finance Consultant
Better Mental Health and Wellbeing
Prioritising the mental health of our staff is a core feature of our business. We are aware that overworking can have a huge impact on the mental health of employees which is why we have implemented various initiatives to protect our staff’s mental health and wellbeing while also looking to improve their work-life balance. We aim to achieve this through actions such as:
- Flexibility for staff to work from home once a week;
- Flexi-time (option of one hour of free time a week);
- We encourage staff to be physically active through the cycle-to-work scheme as we know physical health is important for both physical and mental wellbeing;
- Regular social events to enable staff to engage informally with their colleagues; and
- Training managers to specifically recognise the signs of and risk of deteriorating mental health and help support those staff that may be struggling. We believe it is important to break the stigma around those struggling with mental health by educating and encouraging staff to normalise the process of speaking about wellbeing.
When implementing and continuing to pursue these initiatives, our aim is to create a supportive and inclusive workplace culture.
Our approach to Mental Health & Wellbeing doesn’t just stop with our staff as we look to apply these principles when dealing with our clients and candidates.
We are always looking to improve and adapt these initiatives and are constantly looking for new ideas to help support our staff so they can enjoy a healthy and happy lifestyle.
Sustainability and the environment
We have implemented a paperless environment. This has improved our efficiency while minimising the impact our business has on the environment. Our policies focus on reducing waste wherever possible, particularly, in our use of paper, stationery and ink and the maximisation of recycling.
Staff Volunteering
When we’re not helping job seekers find their dream job or visiting our clients building relationships, our team are busy supporting local charities. We provide all of our staff with the opportunity to spend time with a charity of their choice; whether that be a charity walk, running a marathon or other fundraising events. We enjoy giving back to the community!
Best Practice
Westbourne Partners are members of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and uphold their strict code of ethics and observe the highest principles in our professional conduct. It goes further than our legal obligations. We encourage high standards of professionalism through the company and are always promoting best practice in respect to ethical behaviours.
