Delivering for our clients by enabling our people to thrive
As the Chief People Officer at Charles Russell Speechlys, I see our people strategy as the fundamental way we deliver service for our clients in the ever increasingly complex geopolitical and regulatory environment. By using data analysis to remove or reduce barriers to entry and progression, we are building teams with greater diversity of thought and experience, strengthening judgement and aligning outcomes to our clients’ changing needs.
At the same time, navigating in an ever-changing landscape, we are cultivating a wellbeing culture that recognises the shared responsibility in achieving the balance required between high performance and organisational resilience.
Through continued investment in our leadership capability, ‘Speak Up’ and psychological safety, we are creating an environment where people feel supported to challenge constructively, act with integrity and perform sustainably.
This focus on culture, conduct and inclusion underpins the long term value for our clients, our people and our Firm. Over the past year, we have changed our focus from individual strands of diversity towards a more integrated ‘People’ framework that brings together our work on diversity, culture, and values. This approach is central to our strategy and underpins how we operate as a Firm.
Our values sit at the heart of our business and serve as our guiding principle. They shape how we serve our clients, support our people, and engage with the communities in which we operate. Living our values provides stability and clarity, guiding our actions and reinforcing our commitment to create an inclusive workforce where everyone is supported to perform at their best.
In the pages that follow, you can read more about how our ‘Speak Up’ channels, sexual harassment training and approach to wellbeing are supporting responsible growth for all our stakeholders.
We operate in a highly demanding client led environment. We are acutely aware of the realities of operating within a professional services firm, where the intensity, pace and complexity of our work can place sustained pressure on our people. Through our focus on Inclusion and Wellbeing, we are creating an environment where our leaders are equipped to role model our values and behaviours and the skills to support effective team practices. In doing so, we can provide tailored support to all our people across their different career stages, ensuring they can thrive over the long term.
We have reported our Gender Pay Gap figures since 2018 and Ethnicity Pay Gap figures since May 2020. Although not a regulatory requirement, we report on our Ethnicity Pay Gap in the interests of transparency. Similarly, although the regulations do not require it, we report on the Gender Pay Gap in our Partner population.
Building on this, we have committed to report on our Socioeconomic Pay Gap from 2026. While this is not yet a regulatory requirement, the Social Mobility Foundation is campaigning for the Government to introduce mandatory socioeconomic background reporting for all large employers. Our aim is to also begin to report on our Disability Pay Gap when our data is sufficiently robust and we are monitoring the progress of the consultation on mandatory Ethnicity and Disability Pay Gap Reporting.
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