6 March 2024
PTSB is an equal opportunities employer committed to creating a professional environment in which our employees feel valued, included and empowered to succeed in their career, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, race, religion, ability/disability, background or life experiences.
At our core we are an organisation built on the diversity of many different cultures and sub-cultures, established through mergers and demergers over a 200 year period.
Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) became a strategic area of focus for the Bank in 2017 and following an external assessment and consultation with over 100 colleagues we launched the first iteration of our D&I Strategy in 2018.
We set out 8 areas of focus, from customer to brand, recruitment, selection and appointment, to learning, governance and D&I data. We introduced colleague conduct policies and we have worked consistently on creating a culture of speak freely to mitigate group think and support diversity of thought.
In 2023 we launched our revised Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Strategy with the addition of Equity being an important step forward, connecting DEI with our sustainability charter, the UN SDG’s and recent focus areas such as GPG reporting and our smart/hybrid work model – view the highlights of our strategy launch below where we invited colleagues and external partners to join us as we celebrated successes and communicated our future areas of focus.
PTSB has made significant progress since launching our D&I Strategy, and in 2023 we received both the CIPD Award for Diversity & Inclusion and the Workplace Excellence Award for Excellence in Workplace Diversity & Inclusion 2023, both recognising our journey and the achievements delivered. We are incredibly proud to be the 12th company in Ireland to receive the Investors in Diversity Gold Accreditation following an in depth assessment across 5 Pillars; Diverse & Inclusive Leadership, Policies, Procedures & Processes, Recruitment Retention & Progression, Recording & Monitoring, and Impact on External Diversity. DEI is always evolving and we will use this accreditation process to continue to drive improvements, we go through a re-accreditation process in 2025.
Initiatives that we believe are differentiators for PTSB include; Parental Supports, Smart / Hybrid working model, DEI training for all colleagues with additional content for leaders and customer facing colleagues, recently launched pre-conception support package and 5 volunteer led Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s).
Volunteer groups have delivered menopause supports and education, and recently launched domestic violence guidelines, training and awareness where PTSB has committed to supports above the statutory requirements.
DEI is now part of our DNA from brand standards to learning design and while all initiatives are employee led, the governance and leadership is evidenced through board reports, ExCo sponsorship of ERG’s and visibility of leaders who show up, to march in Dublin Pride or participate in panel discussions reflecting their own lived experiences related to DEI.
PTSB’s commitment to DEI is evident in our partnerships and commitments to external organisations; we are one of the founding signatories of the Financial Services Women in Finance Charter, we partner with Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) on the Elevate Pledge and submit our DEI data to track progress for the annual Elevate Report.
We partner with DCU on the Access Scholarship Programme and partner with Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCIPD) internship program and with learning trips for classes to branches. We are also working with AsIAm and Specialisterne to make PTSB a more inclusive employer.
At PTSB we are committed to building a Bank where everyone is included and encouraged to share different views and perspectives. We want to represent the modern Irish society we serve and to do this authentically we need to appreciate each other, respect each other, value our diverse contributions acknowledging that the richness of our diversity leads to richer engagements with consumers and society more broadly.
At PTSB we believe the better we understand our colleagues, the better we understand, relate to and build trust with our customers and wider communities.
To support the delivery of our DEI Strategy a number of volunteer led Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) were established to enable employees to join together based on shared characteristics or life experiences.
The ERGs aim to help diverse groups obtain a collective voice within the organisation and serve as an organised and established platform to promote change, organise events and create awareness to support PTSB and our people to become more inclusive.
There are currently five ERGs in place:
Sources
You can learn more about our commitment to DEI in our Annual Report.