Our Priorities

Key to progressing the diversity of our workforce is attracting, developing and retaining talent which represents the communities we serve. Our approach to creating a truly diverse workforce focuses on two areas: developing diverse talent pipelines and providing all colleagues with the tools and support they need to succeed and progress their careers at Barclays. 

Enhancing our inclusive and equitable culture helps retain our diverse talent and ensures equity of opportunity. We want to make sure that our culture is one where colleagues feel comfortable at work and supported at every step of their career.   

Highlights from 2022

• Over 24,000 colleagues globally are members in one or more of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). ERGs are contributing to Barclays’ DEI vision through creating mentorship and development programmes, providing diverse perspectives to our businesses, and creating communities of belonging.
• Scores in our annual Your View survey increased in all six indices, including a 3% increase in ‘Inclusion.’
• In 2022, we added two new features to our internal phonebook that allow colleagues to display their pronouns as well as the phonetic spelling or audio recording of their name. We also collaborated with our technology provider Microsoft to introduce a pronouns feature to our messaging platform, Teams, helping to make our systems more inclusive to people of all gender identities and backgrounds. We support the sharing of pronouns as a personal choice. 
• Partnered with organisations to expand our family and health benefits for colleagues in all regions, removing barriers to care. This includes coverage for neurodiversity diagnoses and menopause support in the UK, family planning and specialist support in the US, and additional offerings for a wider range of medical conditions in our APAC countries.

Our leadership play an important role in accelerating our DEI journey and meeting the rising expectations of colleagues, customers, clients and communities. To help enact change from the top, Accountable Executives (AEs) from the Group Executive Committee have been appointed as visible advocates for the DEI agendas, shaping and delivering against priorities.  

1000+ Senior leaders who participated in our Inclusion Summit

In June 2022 we hosted the second annual Inclusion Summit, a virtual two-day event created to engage and mobilise senior leaders in respect of the DEI strategy. Over 1000 senior leaders and Employee Resource Group co-chairs attended, with 71% of participants agreeing that Barclays has made meaningful progress since the 2021 Summit. 

 Data plays an essential role in delivering our DEI strategy, allowing senior leaders to make informed decisions and track our progress. We are developing our internal capabilities to better collect, analyse, and leverage data to reflect our commitment to transparency. 

We partner and actively develop relationships with external partners across all six agendas and in each region. Our partners challenge our thinking and enable further growth and change, helping us to leverage best practices and access diverse pools of talent whilst also engaging leaders as we work to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture. 

Highlights from 2022

• In September 2022, we sponsored the HBCU New York Football Classic between two storied Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUS), Morehouse and Howard University. Combined with our partnership with US-based organisations such as National Urban League, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility (HACR), as well as UK-based organisations such as Black Young Professionals, Black Professionals Scotland, and Reach Next Gen, we are strengthening our relationships with key communities, broadening pathways for talented professionals to join Barclays.
• In 2022, 8.5% of our global spend was with either size- or ownership- diverse suppliers. We continue to make progress against our goal of doubling spend with Black and women businesses by 2025 against the baseline year of 2020.
• 50 businesses – ten more than in previous years – were selected to be part of the Black Founders Accelerator 3.0 cohort out of a record-high 400+ applicants. Aimed at boosting diversity in entrepreneurship, this free, twelve-week virtual programme provides Black founder-led technology businesses in the UK with the masterclasses, mentorship, and networking needed to grow their business.
• As part of our partnership with The FA, in 2022 we had a network of 50 strategic leads working across15,500 schools in the UK to help PE teachers deliver football programmes to girls in schools across England.