Creating a Thriving Workplace
Our ambition
We aim to create a thriving workplace where all our people feel they belong.
Inclusion, Belonging and Wellbeing at Santander
We want to be a company that helps our people to thrive. We focus on well-being and providing support in the moments that matter. Through our Inclusion strategy, we celebrate and promote diversity. We want to create a culture where everyone can grow while being themselves.
We aim to attract and develop the most talented and diverse people. We believe in doing the right thing and contributing to positive social change. Inclusion and speaking out against prejudice is our top priority.
Our award-winning approach to well-being provides holistic support spanning:
Physical
Mental
Social
Financial
We aim to put well-being at the heart of what we do each day. With our proactive approach to well-being, we help our people thrive. We provide support for our people when it’s most needed. We work with external experts to improve our approach to inclusion. Our partners include:
Business in The Community
Stonewall
MyGwork
Working Families
Tommy's Pregnancy & Baby Loss Charity
Peppy and more
Find more details on our approach to Inclusion and Wellbeing at our site.
Awards and recognition
We're proud to be one of the UK’s Best Workplaces by Great Place To Work. We're one of the Best Workplaces for Women and Wellbeing.
We’re awarded for our approach to inclusion and wellbeing at Santander. We’re proud to feature in:
Top 20 of the Social Mobility Employer Index
Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index, where we hold a Gold Award for our commitment to LGBTQ+ Inclusion.
We also hold awards for:
Best Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy from Workplace Savings and Benefits
Best for Mental Health and Wellbeing by Working Families
Large Financial Services Employer of the Year award from InsideOut.
We’re also accredited as a:
Disability Confident Leader
A member of The Smallest Things Hall of Fame, for our support for parents of premature babies
How do our colleagues feel about working for Santander?
We regularly ask our colleagues how they are feeling. We aim to create a thriving workplace where all our people feel they belong.
You can find out more about how our colleagues feel on Glassdoor here.
Attracting and rewarding talent
We know the more diverse our workforce is, the better our business prospers. We work with our partners to identify talent through our scheme.
Sponsorships and Partnerships: We are a sponsor of National Student Pride, a careers fair for LGBT+ students. Our Embrace (LGBT+) group, graduates and careers team attend the fair.
Apprenticeship Opportunities: Our apprenticeships are available across 14 schemes. Each scheme offers permanent employment after completing the programme. We have used the levy to fund apprenticeships in Care and Digital Sectors. We have committed to invest £1m over the next two years.
Our impact
Shared Parental leave: We are proud to be leaders in this space. Over the last few years we have:
Doubled our paternity leave pay benefit across the business
Advertised flexible working adjustments on all job adverts
Enhanced our Shared Parental Leave policy to be more flexible. Colleagues can choose when they can take their leave. This allows them to take paid shared parental leave within one year of the birth or adoption of their child.
Gender Expression Policy development: Over the last 4 years, we have developed our Gender and expression policy. In 2017, one of our colleagues shared her transitioning story with the business. This served as a catalyst for change when it came to our policy. Since then, we have ensured our policies are as gender-neutral as possible.
Carers: Our 'Working Carer Guidelines' help people to identify as a carer. They detail the support available and encourage open discussions. We are committed to ensuring that working carers are well-supported.
Black inclusion plan:We recognise that our black colleagues face barriers that others do not. We want to support them in navigating these barriers. To do this we have developed and launched our Black Inclusion Plan. We have identified three areas of focus:
Leadership
Allyship
Networks
We have applied measures to build black inclusion and amplify black voices.