Carers – HSBC UK previously held Carers UK accomplished status for the last 3 years, and in September we were awarded Ambassador status, which is the highest level of recognition for supporting carers in the workplace. HSBC UK is one of the first ten UK organisations to achieve this status which recognises the support we give to our carers through time off, coffee for a carer and the carers charter to name but a few. It also recognises the contribution our sponsors and volunteers make to ensure our carers can have the opportunity to thrive at work whilst caring for their loved ones.
One of our proudest moments was our cross-industry collaboration and trailblazing – During Carers Week, HSBC hosted and supported five diverse events, in collaboration with Aviva, Sainsburys, National Highways, Bank Workers Charity and Carers UK. With an overall total of 241 attendees, 158 came from HSBC. Topics covered included “Lasting Powers of Attorney”, “Sleep – Advice for Carers”, “Dealing with Dementia”, “Recognising, Valuing, and Supporting Working Carers”, and “eating disorders and the Caring Journey
We have ran Coffee for Carers sessions throughout 2023, every two weeks, as a safe space for our Carers to talk about the issues they are facing, share best practices, and know that they are not alone
The bank also recognises our colleagues who have disabled children, and we have created and chaired monthly support sessions for parent carers called ‘Parent Carer Connect’, where we share guidance, support and sign-post, making this a conduit for members to support one another and take conversations off-line
Physical Health and HIV -We continue to excel with our workplace adjustments, and have increased these to over 1000 in 2023, whilst also implementing a new digital solution to make the process easier for colleagues to get the support they need.
We have led the celebrations for International Day of Persons with Disabilities, hosting Panel events featuring Anita Aggarwal British, Para Climber and Robin Christopherson from Ability net, the event had over 2000 participants. As part of the celebrations, we shared a video from a Head teacher of a SEN School that local Branch colleagues had been working with. It highlighted disability equality and the relationship HSBC financial Education have had with the School, building a mock bank branch in the School to help teach the children the value of money and customer service skills.
HSBC was headline sponsor of AbilityNet’s TechShare Pro and we hosted it at our Head Office in Canary Wharf, the event was a huge success bringing all the key players from industry in attendance – sharing, learning and discussing accessibility and its benefits in the workplace.
Neurodiversity—We have delivered events to over 1000 colleagues globally – ran three flagship Celebrate ND Week (March); Autism Awareness week (April); Dyslexia and ADHD week (Oct). Furthermore, HSBC Ability UK have collaborated with the Bank of England to create a session highlighting valuable ideas and best practices for fostering inclusivity, especially around neurodiversity. Featured speakers included Julia Dunn, Chief Risk Officer at HSBC UK and Victoria Cleland Executive Director for Payments at the BoE. We are also mobilising a new initiative whereby we hire Neurodiverse individuals into technical roles, and realising the benefits that those amazing group of individuals bring to our organisation.
Mental Health -The Mental Health Strand of the ability ERG held 61 events in 2023 touching 3500 colleagues from HSBC UK, sessions included line manager training, mental health awareness on specific topics such as suicide, loneliness, and baby loss. We have also worked with the Bank Workers Charity to host various webinars with teams across the UK.
We now have 221 (Dec 23) Registered Mental Health First Aiders up from 101 in Jan 2023 – MHFA support our colleagues across the business in managing mental health. Approaches of support are both proactive and reactive depending on the situation. We have also run quarterly development calls for mental health first aiders, to increase their knowledge and share best practice amongst members.
We have driven the number of Mental Health advocates to 388 in the business – this role helps promote general mental health wellbeing across the bank. The Ability UK ERG provide monthly calls to develop the advocates and their development.
Inclusive Building Design
HSBC Sheffield Branch has been renovated with the original brief being simply to meet the following – be the most accessible, inclusive, and sustainable branch in the global network. The project consulted with HSBC UK’s Disability Inclusion ERG (Ability UK). Here we connected with colleagues with a range of diverse disabilities, abilities and lived experiences. This involved detailed surveys and focus group sessions to obtain input on all areas of the design.
