DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Recent Highlights

ATTRACTING AND RETAINING DIVERSE TOP TALENT

• In April 2020, we launched an industry-leading Global Parental Leave Policy, designed to help all new parents feel supported as they take care of their families and when they return to work.
• We were recognised by the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the second consecutive year, scoring cored well above the company average across the female leadership and talent pipeline, inclusive culture and pro-women brand categories.
• We were recognised in the European Women on Boards Gender Equality Index as a Best Practice Leader and named a best performer in the inaugural FTSE Women Leaders report.
• We have adopted the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles.
• Building on mandatory annual unconscious bias training for talent acquisition teams, we have also introduced interview skills training for all line managers to support inclusive interviewing techniques and mitigate unconscious bias throughout the interview process.
• We began piloting anonymous screening of CVs and including diversity information monitoring forms in candidate applications in the UK and US, with disclosures being voluntary and data being collected in line with local market regulations.
• We have introduced digital interview skills training for all line managers as hiring processes pivoted to being fully virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• We continued to support creative art scholarships in a bid to improve access to the creative industries for people from underrepresented communities. The scholarships support more than 50 students over five years at renowned creative institutions, including The New School’s Parsons School of Design in New York City, Institut Français de la Mode in Paris and Central Saint Martins in London.

FOSTERING AN OPEN AND INCLUSIVE CULTURE

• All members of our Executive Committee and all line managers have formal D&I objectives included in their goals, demonstrating accountability for attracting and retaining diverse talent and fostering an inclusive culture.
• Our dedicated wellbeing space hosts online information, tools and interactive resources to help support the mental and physical health of our colleagues. We are also a signatory of the Time to Change pledge and have a longstanding partnership with the Samaritans. 
• In 2021, we expanded some of our Employee Resource Groups globally, reaching over 650 colleagues across our regions. Each ERG arranges events and celebrates cultural moments throughout the year, educating others and raising awareness.
• We celebrated Black History Month with an internally curated musical playlist and hosting open forums focusing on mental health. We discussed bystander intervention in the wake of the #stopaapihate movement, which grew in response to acts of hate and violence being directed towards Asian American Pacific Islander communities in the USA, and created educational series and activities around cultural heritage calendar moments.
• For International Women’s Day 2022, the Women Empowered ERG held a number of global open forums and networking sessions, focusing on themes including mentorship, career progression and leadership.

EDUCATING AND RAISING AWARENESS

• We pursued the global rollout of our Diversity and Inclusion Education Programme.
• All colleagues globally are required to complete unconscious bias training. 
• In addition, all senior leaders globally, including all our store managers, have completed inclusive leadership training.
  
•  We created Demonstrating Allyship, a virtually delivered workshop programme, which creates space for colleagues to understand identity, recognise how to be an ally, and practise allyship
•  In 2022, we expanded our Internal Diversity and Inclusion Council to include 27 colleagues to ensure representation across demographics, function, tenure and geography. 

IMPLEMENTING A GLOBAL APPROACH

• We have set out global standards for how we can foster an inclusive environment in our global Diversity and Inclusion Policy, encouraging diverse capabilities, perspectives and meaningful allyship.

INCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIPS

• Burberry was the first luxury company to partner with organisations including the Business Disability Forum, Investing in Ethnicity and the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme, and one of the first luxury companies to join The Valuable 500. Burberry also works with The Prince’s Trust Women Supporting Women initiative.