NatWest Aiming for 3% Black U.K. Senior Staff Target by 2025
NatWest Aiming for 3% Black U.K. Senior Staff Target by 2025
(Bloomberg) -- NatWest Group Plc will aim to have 3% Black representation in its senior U.K. management positions as the British bank refines its diversity targets.
The lender was already seeking to boost the share of senior British roles held by Black, Asian and minority ethnic people to at least 14%. The bank aims to reach both targets by 2025, NatWest said in a presentation Tuesday.
“As Black colleagues are under-represented in senior roles across the U.K., relative to the U.K. working population, we are introducing a new Black target,” NatWest said.
NatWest will also publish more data on ethnicity pay gaps, aim to use more diverse suppliers, and tackle racist behavior by customers, closing accounts where necessary. Other measures include a partnership with Getty Images “to fundamentally challenge stereotyping in business imagery.”
The firm said 10% of roles in its top four levels of leadership were occupied by people from BAME communities as of this year’s third quarter, of whom 1% were Black.
NatWest’s British peer Lloyds Banking Group Plc announced a “Race Action” plan in July that also included promoting Black employees to senior roles. Lloyds revealed Black employees currently account for 1.5% of the firm’s total workforce and 0.6% of its senior management.
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